Matthew 26:1 –
27:66; Philippians 2:5-11; Zechariah 9:9-12; Matthew 21:1-9
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Each year on
Palm Sunday we remember and we celebrate the coming of the Son of God Jesus
Christ to be our King. We remember how the crowds received Him that day waving
palm branches and laying down their cloaks before Him crying, “Hosanna,” “God
save us!” “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of
the Lord!” Indeed, the coming of our King is so momentous an event that we
remember and sing those very words, not only on Palm Sunday, but each and every
Lord’s Day in the Divine Service as we prepare to receive our King who
continues to come to us again and again in the Lord’s Supper.
However, this
day we also remember how quickly the fickle crowd turned on their King. When He
proceeded, not to Herod’s or Pilate’s palace, but to the temple, where He
angrily turned out the money changers and those who traded in sacrificial
livestock, they quickly became disillusioned and wondered, “What kind of king
is this anyway?” By Friday of that same week, their cries of “Hosanna” and
“Blessed” were replaced with shouts, “Crucify Him! Crucify!” Either by
acclamation or by silence they all together handed over their King to be
crucified. Wittingly or unwittingly, they confessed, “This man is not our King.
We have no king but Caesar. Let Him be crucified.” And, He was. King Jesus was
crowned with thorns, sentenced as the “King of the Jews,” and was mounted to
His wooden throne for all the world to see.
Either way,
indeed in both ways, He was their King. And so is He our King. This truth we confess
in the Small Catechism, in the explanation of the Second Petition of the Lord’s
Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come”: “The Kingdom of God certainly comes by itself
without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.”
The point is, as we confess each year in Advent with the same Gospel theme as
today, our King is coming, ready or not, like it or not, whether you receive
Him or not. Therefore, the question is only and always, “How will you meet
Him?” Will you meet Him in faith to your temporal and eternal blessing, or will
you meet Him in unbelief and rejection to your judgment and condemnation?” The
King has come. He comes now. And He is coming again. He comes in blessing to
those who receive Him. But, woe to the one who rejects Him, who betrays Him,
and will not receive Him as King. In Jesus Christ, God’s Kingdom has come. O,
that it would be received by all His creatures. O, that we would receive His
Kingdom amongst us and live under His gracious rule in love and obedience.
At the
beginning of St. Matthew’s Passion narrative, Jesus 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.” The phrase “will be delivered up” in Greek is
one word, paradidotai, which
literally means “is betrayed.” This
word was translated into the Latin as traditur,
from which we get our English word traitor
and its derivatives to betray, to hand over, and, perhaps surprisingly, tradition. The point that Jesus makes is
that, in His Passion, He was being “handed over” by His Father to be the
atoning sacrificial Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the
sacrifice of God’s self-offering, the Lamb that Abraham confessed the LORD
would provide for Himself. Jesus is Isaac’s ransom, Israel’s ransom, and the
ransom of you and I and all who receive Him as their Savior, Redeemer, Lord,
God, and King.
As the Prophet
has written, “It was God’s will to crush Him.” Indeed, it was God’s will to
hand over His Son to suffer and die for the sins and redemption of men, but
still, Jesus says, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is [handed over].”
Immediately the Evangelist tells us of the plot that the chief priests and
elders of the people were putting together in the palace of Caiaphas the high
priest. And then we are told of Judas who went to the chief priests and offered
to hand over Jesus for a price, thirty pieces of silver. From that moment Judas
sought the right opportunity to hand Jesus over and betray Him. On Thursday
evening, when Jesus gathered with His disciples for a final Passover meal,
Jesus took this opportunity to teach about His Kingdom and the kind of King He
was and would be. Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of
Him.” The LORD’s Messiah and King was prophesied of old from that First Gospel
was proclaimed by the LORD in the Garden after the Fall of our First Parents.
Since then the LORD renewed His covenant promise with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, Moses, and David. The Prophets proclaimed it again and again in Word and
Sign. The Son of Man Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all those prophecies,
and He was about to pour out a New Covenant in His blood. Truly, this Passover
celebration would institute a New Passover. Once again the Angel of Death would
pass over those marked by the blood of God’s sacrificial Lamb, Jesus. But, woe
to the one who rejects Him and His Kingship in unbelief.
“The Son of
Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born,” Jesus
taught. Greatly distressed, the disciples each began to ask, “Is it I, Lord?”
When Judas asked the same, Jesus answered him saying, “You have said so.” Now,
Christian theologians and laity alike have debated for centuries the role of
Judas and the nature of his betrayal. The questions they ask are typically
these: Did Judas truly have a choice? After all, it was necessary that someone
betray Jesus, right? Is Judas culpable for his betrayal? Didn’t God use him in
this capacity? Wasn’t Judas actually being faithful in furthering Jesus’ mission
and purpose? Etc. I say to you, all this is speculation. Truly, God’s will in
this matter is a great mystery. We have only what He has revealed to us in His
Word, which may not answer all our questions, but provides us what is necessary
for faith, life, and salvation. In such cases, let us then consider simply what
the Lord has said. When Judas asked, “Is it I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered only,
“You have said so.” Should we conclude from this that Judas had no choice? That
he was destined to betray Jesus? That he could not have done otherwise? By no
means does the Word of God say any such thing! That is a reading that is forced
upon the text by human reason and rationalism. What lies behind those words is
the wisdom and will of God which is a light too bright for man, His creature,
to gaze into. What we have is His Word, and it is sufficient for all our needs.
What is clear,
however, is that there is a “handing over” that is holy and good – the Father’s
“handing over” of His Son to suffer and die – and there is a “handing over”
that is sinful and wicked – the rejection and betrayal of God’s self-offering
in His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it and
gave it to His disciples saying, “This is my body.” Then He took the cup of wine,
gave thanks, and He gave it to them saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this
is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins.” Herein Jesus instituted a new Passover, a New Covenant. He offered to
mark all with His atoning blood that the Angel of Death might pass over and
spare them from death. This covenant is for all who will receive it in faith, but
woe to the one who rejects this covenant of grace.
That night in
Gethsemane, Jesus prophesied to His disciples that they would indeed all betray
and hand Him over. Though Peter insisted that he would never do such a thing,
Jesus prophesied that he would deny Him three times before dawn the next day.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” We are all traitors. But,
are you Judas or Peter? Do you believe that Jesus’ sacrifice is for you? Do you
believe that it is finished, just as He said? Do you trust in the New Covenant
in His blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, the New Passover
blood which marks and seals you that the Angel of Death may pass over? Judas
did not believe; he fell into despair and hopelessness and took his own life in
desperation to be relieved of the agony of his guilt. Peter, though every bit
as guilty, trusted in Jesus’ mercy and forgiveness. After His resurrection,
Jesus restored Peter, forgiving His sins, much like the Prodigal Father
received his wayward son home again and restored him proclaiming, “This my son
was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Thanks be to
God that He has handed over His Son as the atoning sacrifice that covers our
sin and restores us to sonship with the Father. Glory be to Jesus who willingly
handed Himself over as the sacrificial Lamb of God that His blood might mark us
prodigal sons and daughters who have strayed far and wandered from the love of
our Father that the Angel of Death might pass over us that we may live now and
forever in His mercy, grace, and love. Let us not betray Him and hand Him over
with sins and unbelief we treat as lightly as a kiss. For such sins and
unbelief did Jesus shed great drops of blood in intense prayer in Gethsemane.
For such sins and unbelief was Jesus’ soul in anguish and did suffer the
separation from His Father’s grace and mercy that we justly deserve. For such
sins and unbelief does Jesus hand over His precious body and His holy blood
that we might eat God’s Passover Sacrifice and live now and forever.
This is the nature
of God’s Kingdom, and this is how God’s King reigns: in selfless, sacrificial
love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. “Thy Kingdom come.” Though “the Kingdom of
God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, […] we pray in this petition
that it may come to us also.” “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous
and having salvation is He, humble and mounted” in bread and wine which are His
body given and His blood of the New Covenant shed for you for the forgiveness
of your sins. How do you receive Him? Believe and receive; He is for you. He is
your King, and He is for you. God has handed Him over for the life of the
world. Take. Eat. Believe. Receive. Trust. Keep. Live.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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