Taking the Form of a Servant
Philippians 2:5-11
Palm Sunday
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for Palm Sunday is the epistle reading Philippians 2. King George V of Britain once paid a visit to the city of Leeds, England. Elaborate preparations were made for his coming. Excited crowds filled the streets to wave and cheer. There was a large elementary school in Leeds with a playground parallel to the railway line. His majesty agreed to wave to the boys and girls as the royal train passed by on the last day of his visit. The children crowded to the playground wall overlooking the railway. Soon the train moving slowly emerged from a long tunnel and gradually drew alongside the playground. Then the king himself emerged from the royal coach and stood on a small platform where all could see him. He wore no crown or purple robe but was dressed in a plain suit, just like an ordinary man. From his jacket pocket he plucked a bright handkerchief with which he waved to the cheering children. All too soon the train glided by and disappeared. Then the cheers subsided into silence, expect for one little girl who sobbed. One of the teachers asked her why she was crying. The little girl said that she wanted to see the king and all she saw was a man. George V was the king but in the girl’s mind he did not look like the king. She wanted him to have the purple rope and crown on his head. What she saw was an ordinary man wearing a suit. (Concordia Pulpit, CPH)
On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem. As you well know our Lord is the eternal Son of God. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the promised Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. He was the one who had just brought Lazarus back from the dead the day before. Because of this miracle the crowd in the city was excited to see him. Many people who were there had heard about our Lord’s miracles, and I am guessing wanted him to perform more miracles for them. Many in the crowd looked to Jesus to overthrow the Romans and make Israel a powerful nation once again. The people who greeted Jesus as he entered the city had great plans and expectations for him and yet when the crowds saw Him riding into the city, they saw a man. They saw a man who dressed and looked as ordinary as any other man. Jesus is God in the flesh yet on Palm Sunday He humbly came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people wanted Jesus to show greatness according to the world’s definition. What they saw in Jesus was a man who humbly walked according to the will of His Heavenly Father.
Like the little girl in my story and like the crowds in Jerusalem we often measure things according to the standards of this world. The person with lots of land and money is the most successful. The person with excellent health is the most fortunate. The person who is able to influence others is the most powerful. The person who looks the best is the most happy. As for a King, well he is the one who is to live in a castle. He is the one who commands large armies.
We will be tempted to look at things according to the world’s definition of greatness but we must remember that the Lord does not reveal Himself according to the ways of the world. Instead Jesus entered the city in the most humble of ways. Paul explains this to us very well in our epistle reading for today. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who , though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”.
Jesus came into this world not to become the most successful, the most fortunate, the most powerful or the happiest. He did not come to live in a castle or to lead armies. Instead He came into the world as a servant. He came to serve all of us and to save us. No one has ever served like He did. He is the Son of God who possessed all glory from eternity and yet He came into the world and became a human being in order to win our salvation. From the time of our Lord’s conception to His burial, our Lord did not fully use His Divine power. He experienced pain, sadness, and betrayal. He faced rejection. Jesus rode into the city on Palm Sunday and by the end of the week on Good Friday He was poor, rejected, mocked and hated. Christ humbled himself to the point of death on a cross. Our Lord’s death on the cross certainly does not fit the world’s definition of greatness but at the cross we see the greatness of God. With His shed blood and death, Christ atoned for our sins. Through the death of Jesus we have been forgiven, renewed and given the gift of eternal life. Jesus has showed us the love of God not based upon the world’s definition of greatness, but He showed us the love of God by laying down His life for us so that we could live.
The Lord laid down His life and then He rose from the dead. The Lord is now highly exalted and fully using His Divine power. Remember what Paul said in our reading. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
As we look to Christ, we are able to see that success, power, happiness, and good fortune in this life are not what is most important. What is of far greater importance is being part of God’s kingdom. It is to live under Christ Jesus in His kingdom and receive His gifts and to trust in Him. It is to live according to the Word of God and to serve our neighbors in the places that God has put us. It is to look forward to the time when the Lord will bring us into His full presence for all eternity.
We turn to the Lord in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. We are now in Holy Week. We are given the opportunity to come to church on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to receive the Lord’s gifts and to worship Him. Let us walk humbly this Holy Week and confess the Name of Jesus. As for today we remember Palm Sunday and where it was all leading, to the cross and empty tomb. Our Lord knew what He needed to do. He knew what the obedience unto death would entail. He knew what agony and suffering of the cross would bring. Yet He humbled Himself to do what needed to be done. Why? Because He had you in mind. He did it for you. Amen.