We have all heard that scripture story numerous times.  Was it written just as a historical event in the life of Jesus?  What was going on?

Luke wants us to know that Jesus wasn’t just making this up as he was going along.  There was actually a purpose in this particular event. 

Jesus riding into Jerusalem was predicted centuries before that time, written in the book of the prophet Zechariah, chapter 9:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
   Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
   triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
                      (Zechariah 9:9, NRSV)

When the disciples looked back on the events of the last week of Jesus’ life, they saw how closely it followed the promises of God given by the Old Testament writers.

Isaiah chapters 7 and 9 speak of the birth of Jesus.  Micah 5 promises Bethlehem would be his birthplace.

Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Jesus, is a detailed description of the death of Jesus as the perfect payment for the sins of humanity.

Jesus was following the plan God had laid out.  He knew what he was doing.

The people thought the descendant of King David had come, and they were hailing him as the long awaited Messiah of God.

They chose to piece the scriptures together as they wanted to see them and they came to a wrong conclusion.  Many believed that the Messiah would give a signal, and the archangel would blow a trumpet and every Jew would rise up, joining the angel armies, and overthrow Rome.

Jesus was riding on a donkey.  No one goes to war on a donkey.  The great warriors always had strong, beautiful horses and sometimes speeding chariots.

The donkey was the symbol of peace.  Jesus came into Jerusalem not to cause an uprising, but to offer himself in peace.  Even though there would be much violence against him, he would present himself as Isaiah said, “a sheep on its way to slaughter,” offering no resistance. 

When the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover pulled down the palms and shouted, “Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” they were not thinking Jesus was headed toward his death.

The victory they had in mind was not the victory God had in mind.  Their victory was to be won over Rome, and Israel would rise to be the supreme ruler of the earth.  The victory Jesus was about to win was about winning the human race back to himself by giving his life as the payment for the sins of humanity.

The people with the palms were seeing the kind of Messiah they thought they needed.
In our day we are tempted to look at Jesus and see the kind of Messiah we think we need.

We think we need someone to make life perfect, take away our troubles, and heal our bodies; and give us good jobs that are lots of fun, a life-mate who is the love of our life, great kids, and good homes.

We’d like a Messiah who can win those victories for us.  If he would just call down that angel army we know is waiting, everything could be fixed forever. 

Instead, the real Jesus talked honestly about how his followers would bear a cross and encounter challenges, others who would make fun of us and even persecute us for our beliefs.  He said that we would have to stay close to him for comfort, direction, and peace.  Jesus said the world could not offer those things, because the world did not have them to offer.

Jesus said that those who loved him must be willing to step out on faith and maybe do something that risky.  He said we should forsake our comfort zones of what we have known with mother and father and be willing to follow where he leads.

We know that.  We hear those words with our ears, and then we are so disappointed when Jesus does not become the personal miracle worker messiah we feel we deserve.  Jesus never once said, “Follow me and your troubles will be over.”  So why then do we not hear what he did say?  Why do we expect something else? 

God had a plan that was for the good of the whole human race.  Aren’t we glad the people spreading palms in the road that first Palm Sunday did not get the messiah they expected?

What do you say?  Is Jesus the Messiah of God, the one who guides your life, or are you waiting for the messiah of your creation?

Is your plan your priority?  Is victory only a dream?  Can you give up your plan for what God has planned?

It seems to me that we can go on hoping and praying for the messiah of our design, and continue to be disappointed that Jesus doesn’t do what our messiah is supposed to do, or we can accept the Messiah that God has sent and enjoy the victory he has accomplished.

Jesus, the Messiah that God offers, is the one who has performed for us a miracle above all other miracles.  By his death and resurrection he has connected us to God.

He has become the payment for our sins.  There is nothing we can do about our sin.  We cannot pay for our sins.  God knows that. 

Paying for your sins is not what is required.  God’s Messiah has won that victory for us.  What is required is that we forsake our sins, turn from them, and ask for forgiveness, believing that the payment has been made in the death of Jesus. 

So far as our sins are concerned, no one can pay-as-you-go.  In order us to obtain victory over our sins and be forgiven, we must put our faith in the Messiah that God has provided, Jesus the Christ.

That forgiveness opens a relationship possibility between us and God.  That relationship can be as intimate as we choose.  God would like to know us and be a part of every aspect and every relationship in our lives, even until the last day of our lives on this earth.

God would like to be closer to you than your skin.  God would like to dwell inside you and guide you to the victorious life God wants you to have.

Just as surely as God had a plan for the life of Jesus that ended in victory, God has a plan for each of us.  If we ask God, God will reveal that plan to us day by day, and that plan will always draw us closer to God.

The people who were on their way to worship at the Temple to celebrate the Passover thought Jesus was their messiah.  They hailed him as the descendant of King David.  He would bring about victory.  They were disappointed, and in just a few short days they stood by as he was crucified.

So, what do you say?  Which messiah are you looking for?  Are you looking for the quick-fix messiah who is going to make your life perfect?  Jesus proved he was not that kind of messiah.

Today, I want you to take a palm home with you.  Let it be a symbol of the victory Christ has won for you in connecting you to God. 

The Messiah of God is the Christ who died as the payment for our sins and rose victoriously, so that we may be forgiven and have a relationship with God that will last us not only through this life, but even beyond our last day on this earth.

                                                          Amen.

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