Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Philippians 2,5-11. Palmarum

Friday, March 29, 2024

Philippians 2,5-11. Palmarum

Philippians 2,5-11 2124

Palmarum 30

Gabriel, Archangel

24. März 2024

1. ℣ Hosanna to the Son of David:

℟ Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of Yahweh: Hosanna in the highest (Matthew 21,9 vul).

O Jesus, we know that You are the innocent and undefiled Lamb of God who was slain for us, and Your hot blood flowed abundantly for us, so that when we receive it by faith and by grace and are reconciled with God. Amen. (Starck 503 1852; English transl. 78).

2. »Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a slave,being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.«

3. The Apostle Paul teaches that Jesus, the Son of God, took on human form, became our servant and humbled Himself. His Palmarum entry into Jerusalem highlights this humbleness and also speaks to His exaltedness. 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.

4. Many of Jesus’ contemporaries longed for the Messiah to be like David the Warrior King who would defeat their enemies and drive out the wicked, idolatry Romans. That sounds good, unless the Jews are likewise reckoned to be wicked like the Romans they despised. Time and again, prophet after prophet, called out Judah’s own sinfulness and hypocrisy. Even today we are tempted to want Jesus to be a Messiah with thunder in His footsteps and lightning in his fists smiling the wicked. None of us would stand unscathed from such a Messiah.

5. Rightly did John the Baptizer prepare us for Jesus. »„Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand.“ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: „You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves: ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire“« (Matthew 3,2.7-10). Throughout Lent we have heeded the Baptizer’s proclamation and confessed our sinfulness.

6. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem like David the Poet who had a love for Yahweh and humbled himself before Him. David addressed his Messiah and declared: »I will sing of merciful steadfast love and justice; to you, O Yahweh, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. O when will You draw near to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil« (Psalm 101,1-4). Christ humbled Himself by becoming obedient to dying on a cross. Jesus does His saving work by dying (Boyle Reading Zechariah in Light of Christ 2023 presentation).

7. Jesus is the Warrior King who defeats our enemies of sin, death and the Devil by being a Humble King who is crucified. „The prophetic text conveys to us obscurely that in becoming man, the Only-begotten intended to put under the feet of those who love him ‘principalities, powers and the cosmic powers of this present darkness’ … to crush every enemy (418) and to bring gladness through the good things stemming from peace. … The prophetic text, therefore, introduces also a promise of security and peace for us (Cyril 191).

8. »Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! Yahweh has taken away the judgments against you; He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil« (Zephaniah 3,14-15). Quod Prophetae annuntiant eventurum, in Christo Iesu adimpletum est, qui Hierosolymam humiliter ingressus, manus et pedes ad crucifixionem obedienter extendit. What the Prophets proclaim will occur has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus who humbly entered Jerusalem and obediently stretched forth his hands and feet for crucifixion. Before »Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father« for Christ is our Redeemer and Savior.

9. O Lord Jesus, so stricken by the Father,

Great Man of sorrows, thank You for what You suffer:

for Your soul’s anguish, for Your band and distress,

for Your scourging and Your bitter death.

(Du großer Schmerzensmann elkg 415,1 2021 Adam Thebesius bef. 1638)

This is most certainly true.

9. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

10. 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; for Thine own mercy’s sake. Amen. (Palmarum, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.)

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.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, March 29, 2024

Philippians 2,5-11. Palmarum

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