Palm Sunday (from 2005)

THERE IS NO NEW SERMON DUE TO THE PALM SUNDAY RETREAT. I AM POSTING THE 2005 PALM SUNDAY SERMON.

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +

Text: Matthew 27:11-54
Theme: Where Time and Eternity Meet

Dear Followers to Calvary,

People often reflect upon the past with a combination of sentimental fondness and regret. They often understand the present as something to simply get through, something to survive. And they often face the future with a certain amount of anxiety and fear. These tendencies are to a significant degree the result of the frailty of humanity and the uncertainty associated with it. As Christians, we have both the challenge and privilege of understanding the past, present and future in relation to Christ. God is eternal. He dwells outside of time. He transcends time. Christ, as God, does too. But Christ, as the one who has also taken on human flesh and lived in historical time, merges and integrates time and eternity. On this Palm Sunday, our focus is not so much to be drawn back in time to the events of those days, as it is to understand how those events are part of present and future reality. The death of Jesus Christ was an historical event. But the meaning and power of it are an eternal present. His death and resurrection are not merely events that continue to shock, interest or inspire people. They are events that continue to give life to the dead.

So how, in the context of the Passion of Jesus Christ, can we understand the past, present and future? We do well to begin by remembering the Scripture that says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”1 Yesterday, the past; people do tend to be forgiving towards the past because there is truth in the phrase, “time heals all wounds.” Yet we still harbor anger and regrets that can fester and cripple us. As Christians, we need not merely cope with the problems of the past by hoping time will erase our memories. We can truly forgive and make a new start. We can express sorrow, but take confidence that Christ resolves even things we no longer have opportunity to address. The past must always serve as a mirror. Whether regarding what God has done or what we have done or failed to do, the past is for our learning. We learn the dynamics and consequences of sin so that we are warned not to repeat. The Scripture says regarding such things, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.”2 We also learn from the past of the abiding grace and mercy of God towards His people. At His trial and crucifixion, the Palm Sunday shouts of “Hosanna!” were but a distant memory. Jesus Christ has reconciled the past for us. It is not our place to live in it, or relive it, but learn from it.

Concern with the present is what consumes us on a regular basis. The pressures of daily existence, of making ends meet tend to put us in survival mode. In survival mode we are less likely to learn from the past or consider wisely the future. We can become so wrapped up in the present that it controls us. We find ourselves just trying to get through the next day. It is both a delight of Satan and a craving of our sinful natures to be enslaved to our present needs and desires. But the believer lives continuously, lives presently in a state of grace. Not only was God with us in the past, not only will He be with us in the future, He is with us now. God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is not with us as a remote observer. He is with us in His full power to intercede, to create, to destroy, to sustain, to comfort. What is remarkable about this is that God actively and dynamically dwells with sinners; yet only in and through and because of Christ. Because the Father forsook His Son, we are never forsaken as His children. On the cross Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”3
So that He could say to His disciples, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”4 Christians are not in bondage to the fallen creation, they are free to serve the Creator.

The pressures to live in the present are often matched by anxieties about the future? What if this happens? What if that happens? Will I be protected from this or prepared for that? These common questions must be left to the care and wisdom of God. Worry is a sin because it betrays a lack of confidence in the Almighty. Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear……For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”5 And the apostle says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”6 Christ has laid out the future and He will not fail to bring us safely into it.

Dear friends, as a believer, it is a profound privilege that you live your life in time under the auspices of eternity. Time and eternity are not really comparable. Time is of the finite creation. It will cease. Eternity is undiminished fellowship with the triune God. We are creatures that are elevated to share with the Creator because sin is vanquished. We are time-bound beings freed for eternity. That is the import of everything Christ came to do. It is the meaning of today’s Scripture, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life….When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely He was the Son of God.”7 He was and is the crucified, risen and living Lord for all eternity. At the crucifixion of Jesus Christ the dimension of time was reconciled with eternity. The entire created sphere was reconciled with the eternal realm. And regardless of how many days this earth will exist, the crucifixion will always remain the portal to eternity. And this portal is opened wherever and whenever the gospel reaches and changes the heart, wherever and whenever the forgiveness of sins is received in true faith, wherever and whenever the Holy Spirit works through baptismal water, wherever and whenever the body and blood of Christ is received in humble trust. For in all these things, but in these things alone do we receive Christ alone for our timeless salvation.

Indeed, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”8 He is the crucified and living one. Therefore when St. John looks into heaven, he sees this profound and magnificent sight, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.”9 Let us raise our hosannas on this Palm Sunday, for He has put to death our sins for eternity.
Amen.

+ in nomine Jesu +


Palm Sunday
Sunday of the Passion
March 20, 2005
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Hebrews 13:8
2 1 Corinthians 10:11
3 Matthew 27:46
4 Matthew 28:20
5 Matthew 6:25-32
6 Philippians 4:6-7
7 Matthew 27:50-52, 54
8 Hebrews 13:8
9 Revelation 5:6