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- So let us offer under God, our unison prayer of confession, let us pray. Eternal God thou unseen source of power. We confess our unfaithfulness to Jesus Christ. We who like ancient Jerusalem have welcomed Him with professions of loyalty, have crucified Him before the week ended. Amid the way weirdness of a violent world. We have denied His faith and forsaken His way. We have not walked kindly with one another, nor humbly with thee, nor honorably with ourselves. We ask thy forgiveness and restoration through this same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. here are the gracious words of our Lord Jesus Christ unto all who truly repent and turn to Him, "Come on to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Him that cometh onto me, I will in no wise cast out." May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen. And now as our savior Christ has taught us, let us pray together saying our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen. (liturgical music) The scripture lesson is found in the 21st chapter of the gospel, according to St. Matthew. "And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, 'Go into the village, opposite you. And immediately you will find an ass tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them.' And he will send them immediately.' This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, 'Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on an ass and on a colt, the foal of an ass.' The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the ass and the coat, and put their garments on them and he sat there on. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him shouted, 'Hosanna to the son of David, blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.' And when He entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred saying, 'Who is this?' And the crowd said, 'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.'" Here the lesson ends. (liturgical music) The Lord be with you. 

- And with your spirit. 

- Let us pray. Oh God who are glorious and holiness, full of love and compassion, abundant in grace and truth. All thy works praise Thee and all the earth. By glory is revealed in Jesus Christ Thy son. Therefore we praise Thee Father, son, and holy spirit, one God. Blessed be Thy name above all names forever. All mighty God our Father, who has so loved the world as to send Thy son to seek and save our rebellious creatures. We give thanks for the grace by which he came among us as a servant, meek, and lowly. The friend of sinners and the companion of the poor. We remember with joy that the common people heard Him gladly and the multitude welcomed Him with Palm branches and songs of praise. Grant us grace, oh God, to join with all our hearts in the spiritual triumph of the prince of peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Almighty God, who has taught us to pray for others, hear our prayers of intercession. Hear us as we pray for those who have been unfortunate in life and bruised in spirit. For those who have toiled without success. For those who are lonely and hurt. For those who have endured with no outside encouragement. For all these, our Father, we pray that sure knowledge of Thy boundless compassion made known to us in Thy lonely bruise and suffering son. Oh God who has called our nation to a place of trust and responsibility throughout the world. We only humbly Thee for all the ways in which thou has blessed and guided us unto this day. We confess before Thee, with shame, all that has been evil in our history and all that now makes us, an unworthy nation before Thee. Take from this nation, pride, greed, and injustice. And temper it with a spirit of unselfish service Here I say as we pray for this university, may knowledge be increased among us and may scholarship flourish. We pray for all who teach here and all who learn, that in humility of heart, they may ever look unto Thee, the fountain of all wisdom. Grant that all who served this university in any capacity may labor as unto Thee. Oh God, we pray for Thy church. Baptize her afresh with a life-giving spirit of Jesus Christ. Bestore up on her a more imperative response to duty. A swifter compassion with suffering and utter loyalty to Thy will. Help her to proclaim boldly the coming of Thy kingdom. Fill her with the prophet scorn of tyranny and with Christ light tenderness for the heavy Laden and the downtrodden. Bid her seize from seeking her own life, lest she lose it. Make her value to give up her life to the world. That like her crucified Lord, she may come into Thy kingdom by the path of the cross. All this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now our Father hear us as we pray for ourselves, make us perfect in Jesus Christ. Out of His fullness, may we all receive and rest in Him forever more. May His passion be our deliverance, His wounds our healing. His cross, our redemption and His death, our life. Suffering with Him here, may we reign with Him hereafter. And bearing now His cross, may we hear after wear His crown. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh thou in whom we live and move and have our being, at this time we offer and present onto Thee ourselves, our spirits and bodies, our thoughts and desires, our words and deeds to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice under Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (liturgical music) 

- Almighty God, from whose bounty we have all received, accept this offering of Thy people. And so follow it with Thy blessing that it may promote peace and Goodwill among man, and advanced Thy kingdom through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (liturgical music) 

- Let us pray. Grace be unto you and peace from God the father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In Matthew's gospel the lesson for the day we read, "And the multitude that went before Him and that followed cried saying, 'Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.'" As in the season of lent, Christians retrace the toilsome steps of their Lord to the Mount of Calvary. They do not forget that in some mysterious way, Palm Sunday is a glad day in the long, long memory of the Christian Church. From the first it was such a day. It was a day of rejoicing for the Pilgrim throng that accompany Jesus to Jerusalem. Coming up for the celebration of the Passover, the Pilgrims from Galilee and beyond Jordan swelled the company of Jesus' followers. As they recognize the prophets of Galilee with His disciples, they broke into noisier claim hailing Jesus in words of historic messianic import. That recalled the words of the Old Testament prophets. Somehow the ancient phrase is formed on the lips of one or two were passed along to become a chorus. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna in the highest. Evidently the contrast between the kingly role, they ascribed to the prophet of Nazareth, and His lowly mount quite escaped Him. Seemingly they took no notice that he rolled upon a donkey, a humble beast of burden. And a memorial symbol of patient service and uncomplaining endurance. It did not occur to them that Jesus, after the fashion of the older prophets, might be enacting the meaning of His message and mission. And that the words of Zachariah might be the clue. "Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion. Shout oh doctor of Jerusalem, behold thy king cometh onto thee is just and having salvation. Lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt, the foal of an ass." The throng was excited. Now it didn't festival mood. It moved it no question of Jesus' real identity or hidden meaning that might attach to His kingship, crowds do not reflect, they react. It was enough to be carried on the upwelling tired of their own spontaneous enthusiasm. They rejoiced in the reputation of the celebrated prophet of Nazareth in Galilee. He was their own countrymen. And with Him for a moment and with high expectations, they were glad to be identified. But we know that the two molt and the shouting died and that the exalted gladness of the first Palm Sunday was soon to pass. The fidelity of a crowd is as substantial as the measure of its understanding and of understanding this crowd had not enough. And shortly in retrospect Jesus' disciples, had to view the acclaim of their master on Palm Sunday. It was only a passing interval of welcome relief in Jesus fateful and relentless march to Jerusalem and to Golgotha. From the north country, the Mount of transfiguration you will remember, Jesus had steadfastly set His face like Flint, to go to Jerusalem. Here was the seat of theocratic authority and power. Here was the Citadel Lavon bending and hostile resistance to His mission, His message, and His person. Here was Mount Zion and the temple that crowned the hill that enthroned established cultic law and practice. Here in Jerusalem, Jesus was set upon making His final appeal for the obedience of Israel, to the imperatives of God's kingdom. Here He was to confront decisively and climatically the of reaction. And here also was to be settled for all time to come. The question of His own identity and the real meaning of His kingship. And now the moment of arrival was at hand. And the long way is behind Him. And before Him beyond the brow of the Mount of Olives lies the wall city of Jerusalem. Honduras gates, glistening temple, and around Jesus and His followers is the throng of pilgrims converging on the holy city, they all gust city of David. We do not know what sparked the recognition of the prophet of Nazareth by the festival throng. As he rode astride, a lonely beast of burden accompanied by His disciples band, He was recognized and hailed in language that surely recall the long awaited Messiah of Israel's ancient hope. Hear the words again, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is He that cometh is in the name of the Lord. Now knew better than the one acclaimed the hidden mockery. Yet it was all so spontaneous and with all soul right, even if for the wrong reason. But when the Pharisees enjoined Jesus to rebuke His disciples for their scandalously exorbitant praise, Jesus justly replied, "I tell you that if thee shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out." Our Lord fully understood that the joyous acclaim of the throng, was based upon some misunderstanding and miss identification of His role and purpose. Yet that he found in it a right instinct, is attested by His adroit and perfectly calculated reply to the complaining priests and scribes. "Did he never read?" He asked. Out of the miles of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise. Jesus irony is crystal clear in all of this episode. And yet he knew that the untutored and half childish recognition of His mission and message by the Pilgrim throng was nevertheless a partial comprehensive. It was plainly to be honored for such truth as it comprehended and embraced. And it was much to be preferred to the poor blind obstinate and craft the obliquity of rulers, Priests, and scribes. Whose minds were fast closed, indeed impervious to neutral. Yes. Out of the miles of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise. Except you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. If there had to be a choice, then Jesus had always made it clear that over sophistication, not simplicity, is the great deceiver. And so we may confidently believe there was for Jesus on the first Palm Sunday, a measure of satisfaction and joy in the glad recognition of the crowd. And for Jesus' disciples, it doubtless was a triumphal entry. However trench, for them it was at least a momentary fulfillment of hopes they had half abandoned or no longer there to entertain in view of Jesus repeated warnings of His own eventual betrayal and death. Never quite to be forgotten where the shouted Hosanna's, the waving palms, and the crowds tumultuous to claim. But in accordance with their worst misgivings and against their irrepressible but deepest hopes, the disciples were to learn that the exaltation of the crowds, was only a brilliant and fleeting interlude. It was like a shaft of glorious sunlight that momentarily illuminates a darkening landscape in the face of an advancing storm. As we know, the storm broke. And we move quickly out of the joy and gladness of Palm Sunday, into the deepening gloom and menacing shadows of the final days of Jesus' earthly ministry. So rapid is the descent into the darkness of Gethsemane and Golgotha, that it is easier for us as it was for the disciples to account the Hosanna's of Palm Sunday as hollow mockery, than was on Hosanna's praise. And with pier in vain, among the throngs that followed Jesus to His crucifixion. For the remnants of that Pilgrim ban that on Sunday, had hailed His entry with words of messianic acclaim. If there were remnants present, they were silent and then conspicuous now. Had they been mistaken about Jesus' real identity? The answer is plainly, yes. They had expected and overpowering deliver are not a prisoner or under sentence of debt. But the prevailing witness of the gospels is that not only were these mistaken about Jesus real identity so was everyone else. Not the fouls of Jesus only, but even His intimate disciples were mistaken. Consider the disciples, consider their fear, their uncertainty, their indecision, and their desertion of Jesus in the hour of crisis. And Peter's denial following upon His vehement protestations of loyalty, all of this points to imperfect understanding of Jesus' mission and consequently of His identity. And not only Peter, but such other prominent disciples as James and John. At a late hour in Jesus' ministry, these to reveal a painful misunderstanding of Jesus' intention and work. Almost at the last they secretly asked for places of preeminence in the messianic age to come. It was then that Jesus disclosed with rare and on the custom directness, the nature of His ministry. It is a ministry of uttermost service, not a rulership of earthly prerogative and supremacy. "The son of man." He said, "Came not to be served, but to serve. Not to make claims, but to give His life a ransom for many." Doubtless to the disciples, these words were veiled in mystery, a mystery that was sharply to be embodied in the cross. But even in the cross, the embodied mystery remained. It remains for us to this day when we enter into it and take in the magnitude of the spiritual achievement it in shrine. When we do, we know, and in reverence confess, that we stand shamed and overpowered by the supreme moral event in the history of our race. In its spiritual vision and majesty, it remains in comparably and unapproachably the highest. It is the sign of the cross incomparable and hung somehow mysteriously between heaven and earth and somehow as a bridge between them. In the cross, somehow we do know that God becomes identified with man and man with God. And then this coalescence, the identity of the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth is revealed. Who does not feel this is not to be blamed, but to be pitied. For he has lost the capacity of deeper moral sensibility and often not through grossness of life, but through atrophy of His powers. The truth is none could know the identity of Jesus before Calvary. It could not be seen in prospect. The simple pilgrims did divine, a charismatic greatness in the prophet of Nazareth, attested to them by His word and work in Galilee, within the slender limits of their vision they might exalt on His entry into Jerusalem. But neither they nor the disciples, much less the secular eyes Sadducees or the fanatical Pharisees, could probe the dimensions of Jesus' vision of His vocation under God. It was appropriate that all Jerusalem should be stirred saying, "Who is this?" None could expect an answer. The fact is the answer was not available. It had not yet been given. It could not be given. Saved by Jesus Himself as the outcome of an inward struggle. The issue of which was still pending and was to be settled only by a deed of final victory over all temptation, pay a small. It was to be a deed of absolute and in detectable commitment to God on behalf of deviant and wayward man. And therefore on Palm Sunday, Jerusalem asks saying, "Who is this?" The answer is not available. It is only in the making. Yet it was already in the making long before the entry into Jerusalem. If therefore we look at the events of Palm Sunday, now in the light of the deed of Good Friday, we may find a clue to the meaning of the triumphal entry and because our Lord purposefully put it there. Why did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? There is no evidence that Jesus ever transported Himself by land sail on foot. Now on His entrance into Jerusalem, He forsakes His custom deliberately and takes not to horseback the manner of princes and warriors, but to donkey back. Do you not see the irony, even the whimsy in it? The preventing conception of Messiah was that of king. Can you imagine a king making entrance to His Royal city, not on a donkey Marilee, but on a donkey's colt? For those who might have eyes to see the irony, the whimsy and with all the purpose, if ness of Jesus' action, this becomes plain. To all who can perceive Jesus is saying what He says, to pilot in the hour of His trial. "My kingdom is not of this world. That is, it is not your world. Your world of claims and counter claims, of status seeking, of prerogative, and inforce supremacy over men's will. The kingdom I represent is God's not man, nor even mine." But the point was missed by the disciples and the Pilgrim throngs, sensing that they were in the presence of prophetic greatness, it was enough for them that Jesus rode and did not walk. It was only in retrospect in the after days of the early church, that Jesus meaning was recovered from the writings of the prophet Zacharia and recorded in the Mathean Version of the triumphal entry, only then, was it seen to be a triumph, but of humility? "Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." But now the early church was divining the identity of Jesus. Now they knew in the light of the cross that He came as He said, not to be ministered onto, not to claim prerogatives, equal and commensurate with His station, but to minister and to serve. In truth His kingdom was not of this world, but He was revealed as the king in the realm of the spirit. There He was king of Kings and Lord of Lords, that is in perfect obedience onto God. And in entire service to man. He was Bartholomeus king, yes. But He was the miking came, Bartholomeus pray offs. For Jesus Himself had taught in work, He had enacted in life, He had embodied in death, and He had received in the resurrection. The truth of the beatitudes, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. On the first Palm Sunday, all Jerusalem was stirred say, "Who is this?" The answer was not fully available. Jesus was in process of making the answer. We know Him or may know Him as the ironical. Yes, the whimsical, the mysterious one, not simply the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. For in the cross, He ever lastingly identifies Himself for those who will stop to see, to gaze, to ponder, and to learn. In the cross of His entire self offering He is, in the centurion's words, words of dawning realization, truly the son of God. So likewise, if we come to see, and with the centurion at the foot of the cross, enter somewhat into the mystery that is embodied there. We will be better abled than the Pilgrims on the first Palm Sunday, to declare with confidence, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Oh king of man, master of human life, lettered into the glory by way of the cross and to whom all authority is given both in heaven and on earth, enter now into our lives and make Thy kingdom there, and subdue the world in us, by the might of Thy love through Jesus Christ our Lord. And now may the blessing of God almighty, Father, son, and holy spirit be among you and abide with you now and evermore. Amen. (liturgical music) (bell dings) (liturgical music)