Philippians 2:5–11
St. Matthew 26:1–27:66
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
“Hosanna” is a tricky word to translate. It’s a shout of greeting and prayer and praise all at the same time. It means, “Save now!” But what exactly was that Palm Sunday crowd asking for? What did they want to be saved from? Save us now… from the tyranny of the Romans? From the corruption of the religious leaders? Or from poverty and sickness?
What do we ask God for? What do we want to be saved from? Save us now… from a frustrating government? From a decadent and immoral society? Or from inconvenience? Save us from being uncomfortable? Or from sickness? What about, “Save us from death”? Do we actually believe that prayer can be answered? Do we ever think about death? Do we fear it as we should? Can we face it as we ought?
Our culture celebrates death in many ways. Abortion and assisted suicide have their champions. TV and movies make death part of our entertainment, almost as bad as the Romans who watched gladiators kill each other for sport. But at the same time, death is not something we talk about in our culture. We let hospice take care of the dying, preferably tucked away somewhere, with lots of drugs, so they’re not uncomfortable… or so that we are not uncomfortable. And we have plenty of other nice ways to soften death’s sharp touch, some sweet phrases to sprinkle over death’s stench: “He passed on… She’s in a better place… It’s just a natural part of life… They live on in our hearts or memories... or in the wind…”
It’s strange. Death is on display, and yet, we don’t want to talk about it. If someone tries to bring up death or making plans for death, we get uncomfortable and try to change the subject. Really, it’s extraordinary that we are so good at avoiding this reality, when it is the one absolute certainty in our existence.
The fact that everyone has panicked so much during this epidemic proves that as a society, as a culture, we do not take the time to think and prepare for death. This virus comes, and everyone acts as if the threat of sickness and death is some new thing, as if they’ve never heard of it before. It’s certainly clear that they are not ready for it, that we are not ready. And that should tell us who are in the Church that it’s at least partly our fault. We have dropped the ball a few times along the way. Because it’s the Church’s job to tell people, “Hey. Wake up. Pay attention. You’re going to die. You better get ready for that.” It’s the Church’s job to prepare people for death and offer them the only true source of comfort that will sustain them in the face of death. I think the fact that people both outside the church and inside the church are acting this way is a sign that we have not been doing our job.
So, let’s go back to the crowd on Palm Sunday. Because even if they didn’t have their thinking quite right, even if they weren’t sure what they needed to be saved from, they prayed the right prayer: Hosanna! Save now! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! They were praying Psalm 118, and that Psalm certainly shows us how to think about death.
Psalm 118, verses 8 and 9: It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. Don’t we need to hear that right now? We cannot put our trust in the government or in certain political parties. We cannot put our trust in doctors, in the experts, in miracle drugs. We cannot put our trust in our own knowledge or strength, not in the strength of our bodies or even the strength of our faith. If it comes from us, if it comes from man, then it can fail. This doesn’t mean we can’t use these things. We appreciate and benefit from good government, and good doctors and scientists, and from sound human logic and reason. We use these things to take care of ourselves and our neighbors in this life. But we can’t trust these things.
We must take our final refuge in the Lord. This means that if the things of men fail, when they fail, and when we fail, when we die, we still have a refuge that lasts beyond all the rest. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Psalm 118, verse 14. The Lord is our only true life. If all we look out for, if all we prepare for, if all we strive for, is this life, then we are dead, and that’s where we’ll stay. But if the Lord is our life, if He is the One we seek for first, the One we turn to first, the One we go after even if it means giving up everything else, including physical health, then we have His strength that will sustain us forever.
And we will be able to say with Psalm 118 and with Jesus Himself: I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Jesus died, and yet He lives. He was disciplined more severely than any man. He suffered under God’s wrath for all our sin. But He was not given over to death entirely. He did not remain in the grave, but rose from the dead. And all who trust in Him also cannot be held by death.
And so we continue to declare with Psalm 118 and with Jesus: Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. Death itself is now nothing more than a doorway, a gate into life everlasting. The empty tomb is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. We are able to say all this because of our Lord Jesus who has gone before us. He entered the gates of Jerusalem on a donkey as the king of Israel, but that was only a shadow of His kingship. What He did and what happened to Him at the end of that week was His true kingly work.
Psalm 118 prophesies that The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders, despised and crucified by the leaders of the people. But He has become the cornerstone, the foundation of our faith and of our victory. He was chosen by God. It was His doing and it is marvelous. His rejection, His death, His blood, and His rising again, means that we can rejoice and be glad. The day that the Lord has made is the Day of Jesus: the day of His death, the day of His resurrection—the day, the hour, the time of our salvation.
So we can pray with that Palm Sunday crowd and with Psalm 118: Save us, we pray, O Lord! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is Jesus who came to His fallen creatures in our own flesh and blood. Blessed is He who came to His city as her true king. Blessed is Jesus who hung on His cross, suffered, bled, and died for sinners. Blessed is He who rose from the dead in victory. Blessed is Jesus who comes in the bread and the wine with His body and blood, giving us the food that conquers death.
We should fear death. Without the Lord Jesus, death would swallow us up forever. We must prepare for death. It will come and there are no second chances. We can prepare to meet death with confidence. With faith in Jesus, we swallow up death. His body given and His blood shed in death is what destroyed death. So in eating that body and drinking that blood, we are made more than ready for death. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
