Rochester, MN UCC - "A Humble King" - Matthew 21:1-11

 “Look your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.”   - Matthew 21:5

 There is a wondrous sense of hope to Palm Sunday. Jesus enters Jerusalem as a triumphant king to the shouts and celebrations of the crowd. Yet this king is markedly different from all others. Jesus has not returned from a military conquest; he has no army processing with him. He is described as humble. A humble king. A peaceful king. A king whose dedication and obedience to God lead him to give his very life for others. On Palm Sunday we are invited to join the crowds in welcoming this humble, peaceful, faithful servant as our king. We have the opportunity to turn away from all worldly kings and their values and to embrace the Prince of Peace as the king of our lives.

  As hopeful as Palm Sunday can be, it also inevitably leads to Good Friday. The crowds that at first welcomed Jesus with shouts of joy and celebration have changed their minds. They have chosen to stand on the side of the kings of this world. They have chosen to accept the values of dominance, and violence, and self-interest as their own. They collude with the rulers of this world to put to death the Prince of Peace, to stamp out the humble king who offers a life of love, grace, and sacrifice instead of victory, triumph, and power. We too fall away from our embrace of Jesus Christ during difficult moments. We too become overwhelmed by our self-interest, intoxicated by power, and led astray by crowds. We also often side with the values of this world and its kings.

Just as Palm Sunday leads to Good Friday, so too does Good Friday lead to Easter. The story does not end with our failure and Jesus’ death. All our failures and all the power of death are overcome by Jesus Christ in the resurrection. He is risen. Love is triumphant. And we are offered once more the invitation of Palm Sunday- to choose Jesus the Christ as our king, the one in whose service we will find new life. We will always fail to follow Jesus perfectly; we will always go astray from time to time. But our failures and our faithlessness do not cancel out God’s invitation to follow Jesus. Each year at Palm Sunday we are invited once more to claim Jesus as our King and to serve him in love, peace, and faithfulness. May God grant us the grace to accept this invitation and embrace our new life in Christ once more.

Rev. Andrew Greenhaw