Palm Sunday

March 24, 2024

Hebrews 12:1-3

Rethinking Religion—

Rethinking Real Strength!

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today is Palm Sunday. If you were asked to describe Palm Sunday using just one word, what word would you choose? To help you answer that question think about how you would finish this sentence: Palm Sunday is a day of (you fill in the blank). Could we say that Palm Sunday is a day of fulfillment? Yes we could! About 500 years before Jesus of Nazareth rode into the city of Jerusalem, God the Holy Spirit had the prophet Zechariah describe Palm Sunday in miraculous detail! Could we say that Palm Sunday is a day of praise? Yes we could! In our Gospel Lesson for today (Mark 11:1-10) Mark enables us to hear and to join in those familiar words of praise that are all but synonymous with Palm Sunday: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Could we say that Palm Sunday is a day of humility? Yes we could! Palm Sunday is the day that we see the King of the universe ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Could we say that Palm Sunday is a day of strength? Yes we could! Think about it. It took strength for Jesus to fulfill the 500-year-old prophecy of Zechariah— perfectly! It took strength for Jesus to hear and to accept the praises of the people— without any pride whatsoever rearing up in His heart. It took strength for the One who created the universe to victoriously ride into the city of Jerusalem— knowing that what awaited Him was the cross on Calvary’s hill! (Pointing to the cross)

Strength. That is the word we want to focus on today as we have the privilege of celebrating Palm Sunday. Since that is our goal let’s see how these words from Hebrews chapter twelve lead us to: Rethink Real Strength!

The writer to the Hebrews opens up our text for today by focusing our attention on real examples of real strength. He says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses….” Who is this “great cloud of witnesses”? It includes the “Heroes of Faith” whose names are mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven. It includes the names of people who exhibited real strength on their journey through this world. It includes Abel who “offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.” It includes Enoch who was “taken from this life so that he did not experience death.” It includes Noah who built an ark— in the middle of a desert! It includes Abraham and Sarah who trusted in God’s promise to give them a son in their old age. It includes Moses who “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” It includes children of God who “faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated.” It includes more names than the writer to the Hebrews had time to record!

Where did all these Heroes of Faith get the strength to do and to endure all of this? Their strength came from their God! The God who possesses all strength gave them whatever strength they needed for whatever situation they found themselves in! Because we have that same God as our Source of real strength, the writer to the Hebrews goes on to say to us, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Notice how God the Holy Spirit wants us to see our life as a child of God as a “race.” What kind of “race”? Certainly it is not a 100-yard dash! That’s why He tells us to “run with perseverance”! Our life as a child of God here on this earth is a race that takes endurance. It is a race that requires a long-distance struggle against exhaustion. It is a race that takes strength— real strength. Sadly all too many Christians try to sprint or jog through the crises of life and then settle back into a casual and at times aimless stroll from one day to the next. What they fail to see is that all round us are things that “hinder” us and “entangle” us.

The word that is translated here as “hinders” is the word “ogkos.” Very literally it refers to “a weight, a burden, an impediment.” The Greek word “ogkos” is where we get the English word “oncology”— the study of tumors. Tumors attack the healthy cells in our body. Malignant tumors not only hinder the health of our body, but they threaten to kill our body. While the Greek word “ogkos” does not specifically refer to tumors, it does help us to understand what sin does to us. Sins that come easily have the potential of “entangling” us. Sins that start out small can grow. They can even grow big enough to “hinder” us and become an “impediment” that destroys our faith!

What are some of the specific things that can “hinder” us and “entangle” us? There are many non-sinful things that can “hinder” or “entangle” or “get in the way” of a child of God. For example, a simple glass of wine with a meal is not automatically sinful. But if we insist on having wine with our meal even though we know that another person at our table struggles with alcoholism— that simple glass of wine can indeed cause problems for that person. Working long hours to provide for our family is not automatically sinful. But if those long hours negatively impact our worship life and/or our family life then that is a problem.

Then there are obvious examples of the sins that “hinder” us. There are obvious examples of the “sins that so easily entangle” us. We all have our own personal weaknesses. Satan knows exactly what these weaknesses are. Since Satan knows our weaknesses he is very good at tailoring his temptations to target those weaknesses. He sets a trap in our path and we walk right into it. He places a temptation in front of us and convinces us that it won’t hurt to indulge— just this one time. This is why the Holy Spirit tells us to “throw off“ anything and everything that could “entangle us” or “hinder” us. This is why the Holy Spirit tells us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Do you have the strength to do this, my friends? Do I? Does anyone? No, we do not! So where do we get the strength we need? Look at verse two of our text, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

While the testimony of the “great cloud of witnesses” encourages us, our real strength in this struggle we call life, the strength that we need can only be found when we “fix our eyes,” when we stay focused on Jesus! Why? Why do we need to “fix our eyes” on Jesus? Why do we need to say focused on Him? Because He is the “author and perfecter of our faith”! The word that is translated here as “author” can also be translated as “founder, originator.” This reminds us that Jesus is not only the Source of our faith, but He is also the object of our faith. At the same time, Jesus is the “perfecter” of our faith. The word that is translated here as “perfecter” is the word that automatically paints the picture of “reaching one’s goal.” Through His holy Word and through His holy Sacrament Jesus “perfects” our faith. Jesus gives our faith the strength we need to “reach our goal”— heaven!

How do we know that Jesus can do this? How do we know that Jesus can give us the strength we need? We know this because Jesus has already revealed to us that He has strength— real strength! That strength is found in what He has already accomplished for us! As the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

These words take us back to the strength that Jesus revealed as He victoriously rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a humble donkey. Even as Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday He knew that what waited for Him was “the shame of the cross.” Yes, Jesus knew that it would be “shameful” for Him to be nailed to a cross to suffer and die in full view of everyone who was there. But Jesus also knew that far more “shameful” than being nailed to a cross was the “curse” that was attached to the cross. Think about that. The holy and perfect Son of God would allow mortal sinful human beings to proclaim Him “cursed”— by the heavenly Father! This would be by far the most “shameful” aspect of His crucifixion.

Why was Jesus willing to allow Himself to be “shamed” to such a degree? Because of “the joy set before him”! Jesus drew His strength from the fact that His “shameful” suffering and death would result in “joy”— “joy” beyond measure! Not only would Jesus experience the “joy” of returning to His rightful place “at the right hand of the throne of God” as the Victor over sin, death and the devil , but Jesus knew the “joy” that His ”shameful” suffering and death would bring to everyone who believes and trusts in Him as their only Savior from sin! We have the “joy” of knowing that through faith in Jesus our sins are forgiven! We have the “joy” of knowing that through faith in Jesus we are the dearly beloved adopted children of the heavenly Father! We have the “joy” of knowing that through faith in Jesus when our journey here on this earth comes to an end Jesus will escort us into that room that He has specifically prepared for us in our heavenly Father’s home! (See John 14:1-6) The “joy” that Jesus is now experiencing as the victorious Savior of the entire human race and the “joy” that we now have through faith in what Jesus has done for us— that is what gives us strength— real strength!

That “joy” ties in well with the closing verse of our text, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Is your life as a child of God relatively free of troubles? Is the faith that God the Holy Spirt has created in your heart relatively free from spiritual distress? We all know that the answer to both of those questions is— No! There are any number of things that can cause us to be troubled and distressed. There are any number of things that remind us that on our own we do not have the strength that we need!

Whenever we come face-to-face with something that “troubles” us, whenever we come face-to-face with something that is “distressing” our faith, instead of depending on our own strength to overcome these situations we need to turn to Jesus and remember the strength He revealed as He “endured” everything that was necessary to secure our salvation! For example, when we are troubled by an illness or a disease our real strength is not found in the doctors or in the medicines or in the medical procedures they use to help us. While we thank the dear Lord for our doctors and for all of the medicines and all of the medical procedures He has graciously provided, first and foremost we turn to Jesus. We put our trust in Him and we receive our strength from Him.

When someone we love dies and we are struggling to cope with the loss, the loneliness and the emptiness that we feel, we do not “grow weary,” we do not “lose heart” — even though we know that we do not have the strength we need to deal with all of this all by ourselves. That is why we turn to Jesus. We trust that He will give us the strength that we need!

Today is Palm Sunday. Today is the day that we join the praises of the crowds as they escort Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. Today is the day that we see the perfect example of real strength as Jesus humbly rides into Jerusalem knowing full well that what awaits Him is the cross on Calvary’s hill. (Pointing to the cross) May God grant that the strength that Jesus revealed on that first Palm Sunday will always remind us that He is our Source of strength— real strength— no matter what we encounter on our journey through this world!

To God be the glory!

Amen