Matthew 21,1-9. Palmarum

Matthew 21,1-9 2123

Palmarum 30 

Theodosia, Virgin on Tyre, Martyr at Caesarea Palestine, † 308 (Diocletian, 284-311/12; persecution 302-11)

John Paul II, Bishop of Rome (1978-2005) (Karol Wojtyła, Polish), † 2005 

2. April 2023

1. ℣ Be not far from me, O Yahweh:

℟ O my Strength, haste Thee to help me (Psalm 22,19). 

O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou our Guide and Counselor; inspire us to receive Thee in glory, so that we are strengthened in our knowledge that you are pure in heart an good to Thy Church.  Amen. (Psalm 72,23b-24,1 Gradual)

2. »Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and arrived at Beth-phage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them: „Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say: ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.“ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying: »Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king is drawing near to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. [Zechariah 9,9] The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on the cloaks. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting: „Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!“« 

 3. Palmarum begins Holy Week, and this week starts with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ends with Him buried outside of Jerusalem. The entire Church Year involves a processional to this week or a recessional from it. 

4. Matthew 21 tells us 3 things about Jesus: He is  

A. a humble King (Zechariah 9,9),

B. the Son of David and

C. the prophet. 

5. Matthew points us to the Prophet Zechariah and his words that Jesus fulfilled with His Palmarum entrance into Jerusalem. In Jewish tradition, riding a donkey rather than a horse was associated with humility and peace rather than power and war. Donkeys were beasts of burdens and were considered a mode of humble transportation. This image is connected to 2 of Israel’s kings: Saul and Solomon. Saul was looking for some of his father’s missing donkeys when he met the Prophet Samuel who anointed him to be the first Jewish king (1. Samuel 9). Before David died, Solomon was put on David’s mule, was anointed king by Zadok the priest and the people shouted: Long live King Solomon! (1. Kings 1). Zechariah’s prophecy associates the riding on a donkey to the Messiah. Thus, Jesus is acclaimed by the crowds to be their King and Messiah. 

6. The title Son of David signifies one who was a descendant of David and the proper heir to his throne. Since a descendant of David was prophesied to be the Messiah, the title Son of David became a Messianic title. Several people in the Gospels call Jesus Son of David, thereby proclaiming Him to be the Messiah (12 times: Matthew 1,1; 9,7; 12,23; 15,22; 20,30-31; 21,9.15; 22,15.41-46; Mk 10,47-48; Lk 3,31; 18,38-39; John 7,42). 

7. There were in Jesus’ day at least 4 interpretations of what type of Messiah God would send: 

A. Political savior who would free Judea from Rome and rule as a king like David.

B. Spiritual redeemer who would bring salvation, redemption and usher in an era of peace, justice and moral renewal. 

C. Heavenly figure and Divine messenger sent to save humanity. 

D. Apocalyptic figure who would usher in the last day with the final judgment and usher in a new age of righteousness. 

8. The Palmarum crowd seemed to hold in tension the view that Jesus as their Messiah was both a political savior (Son of David) and spiritual redeemer (prophet). Jesus’ own disciples and apostles seemed to also hold these 2 opinions in tension. A 3. century theologian, Origen, proposed the idea that Judas Iscariot’s motivation behind his betrayal of Jesus was his intention to put Jesus in a position to reveal Himself as a political savior who had arrived to overthrow Roman occupation of Judea and reestablish the Davidic kingdom. 

9. What was Jesus’ opinion of His Messiahship? Throughout the Gospels He speaks about aspects of all 4 of the prevalent Messianic hopes of His day. This is why He preferred the title Son of Man because as a Messianic title it had no assumptions and Jesus could use the title and teach the crowds and and His disciples what the Biblical Messiah was truly sent to do. So when the people now heard Son of Man they thought of all the Messianic teachings Jesus had attached to it.

10. The primary teaching Jesus connected to the title Son of Man is that the Messiah is a Suffering Servant. Matthew points to 3 specific instances when Jesus did this, and He probably repeated this teaching often. »From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes, be killed and on the third day be raised« (Matthew 16,21). »As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them: „The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.“ And they were greatly distressed« (Matthew 17,22-23). »When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples: „You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified“« (Matthew 26,1-2). 

11. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palmarum set in motion the final stage of His ministry as the Suffering Servant. His triumphant entry is a prophetic sign that Christ will conquer not by force but by His own death and resurrection (Luther Commentary on Matthew 1522). Christ’s victory was not over Rome or His Jerusalem adversaries, but over sin, death and the Devil. He died to redeem all of us, including Pilate and the Pharisees. 

12. Jesus is not merely a Prophet but the Messiah. He is not only the Son of David but the Son of Adam who is the world’s Messiah. »It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of Yahweh shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: „Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.“ For out of Zion shall go forth the torah, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in merciful steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea« (Micah 4,1-2; 7,18-19). 

13. On Palmarum we recall and rejoice in the words of the Prophet Isaiah: »Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion: „Behold, your Salvation arrives; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him“« (Isaiah 62,11). This Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. Hosanna! 

13. Let Your wounds 

Heal our transgressions,

Let us find consolation 

Upon Your deathly impressions. 

O Jesus, let not 

Your cross, anguish and pain

Your suffering, death and agony 

Be in vain (Du großer Schmerzensmann elkg 415,7 2021 Adam Thebesius 1638)

This is most certainly true. 

14. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7).  Amen. 

15. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst humble Thyself to become man and to be born into the world for our salvation, teach us the grace of humility, root out of our hearts all pride and haughtiness, and so fashion us after Thy holy likeness in this world that in the world to come we may be made like unto Thee.  Amen. (Palmarum, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.) 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

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