Sermon: The Hidden Servant (Isaiah 53:1 3) Text Isaiah 53:1 3 Dan Mueller, 9th April 2017, Palm Sunday 1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Matthew 21:1 11 1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away. 4 This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet: 5 Say to Daughter Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? 11 The crowds answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 1 of 6
Sermon Introduction The movie Shrek tells the story of an ogre employed to rescue feisty Princess Fiona, being held prisoner in a castle tower protected by a dragon. Fiona has just been rescued by Shrek the ogre, but thinks she s been rescued by her Prince Charming. Watch what happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuo-iwypdi PRINCESS FIONA: You did it! You rescued me! You re amazing. You re, you re wonderful. You re a little unorthodox I ll admit. But thy deed is great, and thine heart is pure. I am eternally in your debt. And where would a brave knight be without his noble steed where would a brave knight be without his noble steed? DONKEY: I hope you heard that. She called me a noble steed. She think I m a steed. PRINCESS FIONA: The battle is won. You may remove your helmet, good Sir Knight. SHREK: Uh, no. PRINCESS FIONA: Why not? SHREK: I have helmet hair. PRINCESS FIONA: Please. I would st look upon the face of my rescuer. SHREK: No, no, you wouldn t. PRINCESS FIONA: But how will you kiss me? SHREK: What? That wasn t in the job description. DONKEY: Maybe it s a perk. PRINCESS FIONA: No, it s destiny. Oh, you must know how it goes you must know how it goes. A princess locked in a tower and beset by a dragon is rescued by a brave knight, and then they share true love s first kiss. DONKEY: Hmm? With Shrek? You think. Wait. Wait. You think that Shrek is you true love? PRINCESS FIONA: Well, yes. DONKEY: You think Shrek is your true love! PRINCESS FIONA: What is so funny? SHREK: Let s just say I m not your type, okay? PRINCESS FIONA: Of course, you are. You re my rescuer. Now, remove your helmet. SHREK: Look. I really don t think this is a good idea. PRINCESS FIONA: Just take off the helmet. SHREK: I m not going to. PRINCESS FIONA: Take it off. SHREK: No! PRINCESS FIONA: Now! SHREK: Okay! Easy. As you command, your Highness. PRINCESS FIONA: You. You re a, an ogre. SHREK: Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming. PRINCESS FIONA: Well, yes, actually. Oh, no. This is all wrong. You re not supposed to be an ogre. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 2 of 6
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem at the height of his popularity. The crowd has heard whispers about some prophet from beyond the black stump, out in Galilee. We join the crowd, excited to see Jesus and expectant about what may unfold in the Holy City. We throw an ancient equivalent to a ticker-tape parade. We roll out the red carpet lay down cloaks on the dirt road. We throw confetti and wave banners throw flowers and wave palm branches. We re expecting a warrior king to swagger into town. Standing on our tip-toes we see his head appear over the rise. Then shoulders. Then what? wait? a donkey?! That s a little unorthodox. Oh well. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Jesus passes us by, through the gates and on into the city. You lean to the person beside you: Who exactly is this guy? The crowd are expecting Prince Charming to ride into town on his noble steed. And instead they get a lowly prophet on a donkey? Oh, no no no no. This is all wrong. Jesus, the Servant, is not what the crowd expected. They were expecting Jesus, the King and Messiah. They don t want a Servant. Their expectations mean they miss what s right in front of them. Jesus the Servant is hidden to them. Let s compare what the crowd sees to what a disciple of Jesus, looking with eyes of faith, sees. 1. Jesus is the King Firstly the crowd see Jesus as a mighty king. Matthew quotes the prophet Zechariah: Say! to Daughter Zion, See!, your king comes to you (Matthew 21:5) The crowds shout: Hosanna to the Son of David! David was their favourite king (a man after God s own heart), and by shouting to the Son of David, the crowds are placing Jesus in that royal line. By spreading cloaks on the ground, they pay homage to their king, so he doesn t have to walk on the dirty ground. Waving palm branches was a greeting for mighty conquerors and kings. But it s interesting that nowhere in the Gospels do we hear Jesus call himself the Son of David it is other people who see him as earthly royalty, and use the address Son of David. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 3 of 6
And unlike Alexander the Great, who rode through the gates of Jerusalem in 332 BC atop a mighty warhorse, Jesus rides through the gates on a donkey. To be sure, a donkey is a royal animal, but the image is very different than a noble steed or warhorse: a donkey symbolises humility and peace. So Jesus is revealed as the humble and peaceful king. But the crowd cannot see what is right in front of them. The Servant Jesus is hidden from their worldly eyes. Seeing these events through the eyes of faith, the Gospel of Matthew reveals Jesus as the lowly King. When Matthew cites the words of the prophet Zechariah, he tellingly selects the words for his quote. Matthew writes: Say! to Daughter Zion, See!, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Matthew 21:5 NIV) Yet the cited passage, from Zechariah 9:9, says the following: [Say], Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! [See], your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, [gentle] and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 NRSV) What s missing from Matthew s quote? Shout in triumph and He is righteous and victorious are missing. There s no triumphalism for Matthew. This is not a triumphant entrance. Rather the hidden Jesus is humble, gentle, and peaceful. Jesus does not come with glory revealed, but with glory veiled. Unattractive. Ugly. Messy. Weak. Application What does it mean for us today that Jesus comes as a lowly King? Well, it might lead us to ask the question: How do we see Jesus? Do we see Jesus like the crowd, expecting a Prince Charming, but instead disappointed with an ugly ogre? In Jesus do we only want to see a triumphant king? A Jesus who will heal us of all sickness? A Jesus who will make us successful? A Jesus who will take our pain away, if only we have enough faith? Do we only want to see the victory of the Easter resurrection, without the crushing pain and suffering of the cross on Good Friday? Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 4 of 6
There is no doubt that Jesus is king: he can heal and give success. But mostly he is a humble, lowly, gentle, and peaceful king. Jesus has two natures: he is both divine and human. This means his kingdom may not look how we expect. The kingdom of God has no beauty or majesty to attract us. Rather, the kingdom of God is typically a daily plod with Jesus. As we follow Jesus we hurt, feel pain, fail, fight, suffer, get sick, and die. But Jesus the lowly king sits on a donkey, a beast of burden for carrying heavy loads. For he carries your burdens your sickness and pain and grief he takes them on himself. He comes to bring you peace and healing, but in an unexpected way: by bearing the punishment you deserved, by willingly and innocently being wounded and crushed in your place. 2. Jesus is the Messiah Secondly the crowd see Jesus as a mighty saviour, the promised Messiah. They see him as their earthly saviour, here to save them from the oppression of the Romans. The crowd shout: Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Hosanna is a prayer that means save us, please! Save us, you who are in David s royal line! Save us, using power from the highest heaven! By using this word Hosanna the crowd are saying that Jesus is their longawaited Messiah. These are phrases from Psalm 118, and were attached to the coming Messiah, He who comes in the name of the LORD. In previous encounters Jesus has been able to avoid this question of Messiahship: he slips through the crowd or deflects questions. But now Jesus has no choice he is unable to deny that He is the promised Messiah any longer. Yet Jesus seeks to show his disciples and the crowd the kind of Messiah he is: he s no man of war, but lowly, riding on a donkey in peace. Jesus does not enter the city in pomp and power. It is true Jesus enters as the Messiah, but he is the crucified Messiah, on the path toward the cross. And this is a path most unexpected for the crowd, and only days later they turn on Jesus their Hosanna shouts to save are transformed into the death chant Crucify him! (which ironically does ultimately offer them salvation). Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 5 of 6
Application What does it mean that Jesus comes as the crucified Messiah? How do we want Jesus to come to us? Perhaps we want to see Jesus act in spectacular ways? Perhaps we long to see his Spirit do amazing things? Perhaps we want Jesus display his awesome power in our everyday life? Jesus can and does work in this way, but he most often comes to us in plain and simple and lowly ways. Ways that on the surface appear very weak but are actually God s power to save. Jesus comes to us as we read words from an ancient book. Jesus comes to us as we stuff up yet again but ask for forgiveness and hear those sweet words: You are forgiven. Jesus comes to us as plain water is splashed over a baby s head. Jesus comes to us in bread and wine that is his body and blood at the meal of Holy Communion. Blessing 1 Who has believed our message? 2 He grew up like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:1 2) Just as Princess Fiona from Shrek looked at her rescuer and didn t see what she expected, sometimes you may look at your rescuer and saviour and see the unexpected. But I encourage you to join the crowd on that first Palm Sunday, to behold and look at Jesus and wonder Who is this? Is this Jesus the King, who marches triumphant into the Holy City? Or is this Jesus the lowly King, whose kingdom is one of humility, gentleness, and peace? Is this Jesus the Messiah, who comes to free his people from earthly oppression? Or is this Jesus the crucified Messiah, who must suffer and die to free all creation from sin, death, and the power of the devil? Jesus is your true love, even if he s not much to look at. He does not ride a warhorse or noble steed. He does not come with dazzling pomp and fearful power. He does not come to terrify or fight. Jesus comes as a servant, a lowly King and crucified Messiah. He comes to humbly serve and die for you. So as you look at this despised, rejected, weak, unattractive Jesus, may you be given the eyes of faith to see his veiled glory. May the hidden servant be revealed to you as the true strength of the Lord, the power for you to be saved. This Easter season as you look upon Jesus may he come to you in the simple and lowly things of his kingdom. Amen. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Dan Mueller Page 6 of 6