Sermon for Palm Sunday: "What's Next?"

+ Palm Sunday – April 5^th, 2020 +

Series A: John 12:12-36

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

After lunch or dinner, our kids will often ask, “What’s next?” After we finish reading a good book, we ponder, hmm, what’s next on my reading list? After watching a press conference about the virus, we’ve probably all asked that same question lately, “What’s next?” 

Palm Sunday is a day of “What’s next?” The crowds gathered in the streets of Jerusalem, waved palm branches, shouted out Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! And Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey.

The crowds, the disciples, the pharisees – they’re all wondering, “what’s next?”

After the Hosannas have ceased their echo in the city streets. After the palm branches are left on the road side or thrown out. After the crowds have gone home. What’s next?

And here, we have an advantage over the disciples. We know why Jesus enters Jerusalem. We know where he’s going. What he’s doing. What’s next? Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and crucifixion is next.

But before that, Jesus takes some time, in the rest of John 12 to teach his disciples about what he is doing.

And I, when I am lifted up^[g] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going

Perhaps these words from our Lord stand out more than usual this year. With fears of illness and economic uncertainty, with death and disease – it feels like we’re walking in darkness, constantly wondering, what’s next.

To be sure, Jesus was not talking about the coronavirus. He was talking about Himself and about what life is like for those who live apart from Him. And yet, there’s a similarity here in our present day. 

We enter Holy Week this year unsure of many things. It’s a reminder that so much of life is out of our control and that we live every day not knowing, what’s next.

The crowds on Palm Sunday were in a similar situation. They went out to meet Jesus because He had raised Lazarus from the dead (12:17-18). But they did not understand why He had come or where He would lead them. 

Same was true of Jesus’ disciples. John explicitly tells us they did not understand what Jesus was doing as He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey (12:16). In both cases, they were in the dark until after Jesus’ resurrection. Only in the light of Easter did they understand who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him.

More this year than most, we are acutely aware of our ignorance. Like the crowds and disciples at the beginning of Holy Week, we don’t know what’s next. But, also like the disciples, we have heard about Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. We believe, having been lifted-up, He is in the process of drawing all people to Himself (12:32). That is why we continue to gather even online to celebrate such things as Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. We are witnesses of His glorification through His suffering, death, and victory over the grave. Our God-given faith, despite our lack of sight, has made us sons and daughters of light (12:36) who walk in the light even during dark times.

Though we may not know what today or tomorrow will bring, we do know how the story ends. In a way, during this Holy Week we know even more than Jesus’ own disciples during that first Holy Week. 

We know that Jesus’ death and resurrection is coming. We know that it has already come. We know what’s

next. Jesus crucified for you. Jesus risen for you. Jesus returning in glory for you. Jesus with you in his Word, even in the darkness of this world. Jesus with you as you love and serve your neighbor.

We don’t know how, or when, or what will take place in the short-term. But we know this, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We know that Jesus is God’s Hosanna for us. Lord, save us. And he does. Christ is crucified. Christ is risen. Christ will come again and raise us from the dead. 

And that means, to paraphrase St. Paul, that no amount of social-distancing, or quarantining, or stay-at-home orders, or anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the resurrecting love of God in Christ. He has made us sons and daughters of light and He sends us to live in and share His light with a world struggling through darkness and uncertainty.

A blessed Palm Sunday to each of you…

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.