Palm Sunday, The Sixth Sunday in Lent, 2022
Link for the saved service on Vimeo box
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Live service on Vimeo - below
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Be not Thou far from me, O Lord: O my Strength, haste Thee to help me.
Save me from the lion’s mouth: and deliver me from the horns of the unicorns.
Psalm. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me?
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation
The Collect p. 19
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast sent Thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross that all mankind should follow the example of His great humility, mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of His patience and also be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
Thou hast holden me by my right hand: Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory.
V. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart: but as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped; for I was grieved at the ungodly.
Tract. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
V. Why art Thou so far from helping Me: and from the words of My roaring?
V. I am a worm and no man: a reproach of men and despised of the people.
V. Be not Thou far from Me, O Lord; O My Strength, haste Thee to help Me.
V. I will declare Thy name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.
V. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born: that He hath done this.
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Promises Fulfilled
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #341 Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #341 Crown Him with Many Crowns
Prayers and Announcements
- Medical care - Kermit and Maria Way, Pastor James Shrader and Chris Shrader, Callie and her mother Peggy, C.
- Maundy Thursday Holy Communion, 7 PM Central Daylight Time.
- Good Friday Vespers, 7 PM.
- Easter Sunday Holy Communion.
KJV Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes t hat went before, 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.
Palm Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast caused Thy beloved Son to take our nature upon Himself, that He might give all mankind the example of humility and suffer death upon the cross for our sins: Mercifully grant us a believing knowledge of this, and that, following the example of His patience, we may be made partakers of the benefits of His sacred passion and death, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Promises Fulfilled
KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
Background
The setting is described in the Gospel of John, which gives us so many details associated with all that Jesus did. It is very important to see how the Gospels together give us the entire drama of Holy Week, as if four people were telling the story and each one had details to add.
For example, one verse is easily overlooked, the details about crowds coming out to greet Jesus and following after him -
9 And the multitudes that went before, 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.
This engulfing crowd was stirred up by the raising of Lazarus, dead in his tomb for days. The crowds came out of the city because Jesus and Lazarus were together. They heard about the raising of Lazarus and came out to see this wealthy and influential man and the Lord who raised him from the dead. Naturally, the Bethany residents followed Jesus from their nearby city and hailed Him as well. Lenski is very good at showing how much is in the tiniest details of the New Testament.
We must always remember that the raising of Lazarus, found only in John's Gospel, was the trigger point for the arrest and execution of Jesus. Everything had to be done in order, as the Father commanded and promised in the Old Testament.
Jesus did not merely walk into Jerusalem, but rode on a donkey, symbolizing His return as the Son of David. This has been done before with Judas Maccabeus entering as conqueror, palms before his feet, but there can only be one Son of David, which was soon proven by Jesus.
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
By the way, several clergy on the ALPB discussion page told how they did not preach sermons during various parts of Holy Week, but "let the Scriptures speak for themselves." How noble! How gracious! They boasted ignoring the cornerstone of the true Church - preaching faith in Jesus Christ and explaining the meaning of so many unique events. But alas! that is the problem with liberal preaching, whether it is marketing theories from Pasadena, or explaining how everything is mythical because they do not believe the very texts they read to their members. This very common today, because the apostate clergy do not want to expose their lack of faith to the same people who come to Church because they do have faith or want that faith strengthened and supported. Many feel they are themselves dimming burning wicks and resent having that bit of faith, like a mustard seed, snuffed out.
Lenski has a funny, rational statement about Jesus knowing the owner beforehand, though the text says nothing about this guess by Lenski. ("We draw the obvious conclusion that these owners were very good friends of Jesus and of his disciples. Matthew, Lenski p. 801)The Son of God did not need to use friendship or advance training for the owner. The will of Jesus was carried out on both sides, by his two disciples and by the owner or even the bystanders. This is an example of God making the most unlikely things happen, and those divine interventions or commands giving people hope and greater faith.
God gives us these talents and drives to accomplish His will, often providing the very people who will help carry out the plan, the circumstances that will save the day.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
This is a double message for Palm Sunday: one is Jesus riding into Jerusalem as the Son of David, Messiah, Lord and Savior. The other is His humility, carrying out the role of Servant. Those are the Two Natures of Jesus, united in One Person.
KJV Zechariah 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
The crowds saw a great religious leader with power over life and death. The Roman leaders feared the opposition of a king. The Jewish leaders, as recorded by John, feared they would lose everything - which is fact happened 40 years later. They plotted against Jesus and Lazarus, the well known man raised from the dead and proof of the divinity of Jesus.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
The disciples obeyed the cryptic commands of Jesus and brought the two animals to Him. All the Promises were being fulfilled,
- from the Star of Bethlehem,
- to His presentation at the Temple
- and later His astonishing talk with the scholars there,
- to His public ministry of preaching and miracles.
There were several attempts to make Jesus the King earlier,
and attempts to kill Him. This event was so powerful for the people that no one dared to question it, but that did motivate the leaders to use someone to turn against Jesus.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
KJV John 12: 13 - “Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The crowds were hailing Jesus for fulfilling the Promises of the Old Testament. Many already believed without seeing Him.
9 And the multitudes that went before, 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.
In effect, the crowds celebrating the raising of Lazarus, right there, were also celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Much is often said about the crowds jeering Jesus and mocking Him in short order, but they did indeed celebrate. What God the Father accomplished through His Son and the disciples - all this came from the raising of Lazarus and two others before and the Old Testament Scriptures teaching them the Gospel, even before they understood large parts of it.
This gives us confidence, that the infinite majesty of God not only has the power to forgive sins, through the Son, witnessed by the Holy Spirit, but also has the power to help us in our daily lives.
That power keeps us from despair and overwhelming sorrow, because we know the rest of the story will follow the teaching of the Gospel. Our generation is troubled because we think we know so much, and so little is credited to God. We think our wisdom and cleverness are overwhelming traits, when they are nothing compared to to infinite power, grace, and wisdom of God. My Old Testament students, when asked for their favorite passage in Proverbs, inevitably say,
KJV Proverbs 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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