Sermon on Philippians 2:5—11
Palm Sunday
28 March 2021
Our Hope Lutheran Church
Text: “Think the way Jesus thinks. Even though he was fully God, he did not think to assert his equality with God, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a slave, being born fully human. Being human, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and gave 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 Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father.” (translation by Robert E. Smith)
Intro: Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Thy triumphs now begin
O’er captive death and conquered sin.
The Ministry of Jesus is full of contrasts. Jesus, as both God and Man at the same time has a right to use all his power as God, yet he performed no miracle for thirty years. When he first performed miracles, he did just enough to create faith in him — and then told those who saw them to keep quiet. He lived in every way like we do and performed most of his ministry the way we do. Then there was the Palm Sunday – and its lead up.
“It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish,” prophesied Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest. (John 11:50) On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had healed a blind man, performing a sign of the Messiah. A week before the first Palm Sunday, Jesus was at the Bethany home of his friends Mary and Martha. In this bedroom community, he raised their brother Lazarus, who had been in the grave four days. On Palm Sunday, he did not calm the fears of his opponents, but intensified them. Like Solomon had done one thousand years earlier, he rides a donkey into Jerusalem along the road from Bethlehem. The people spread their coats and palm branches on the road before him, sung praises to God and shouted, “Save now! Son of David” Jesus not only did not discourage them, he accepted their praises. The leaders of the people united in their plans to kill Jesus. He was in their minds a blasphemer and a threat to them and to the nation. What they missed was that Jesus the Messiah was not intent on earthly revolution, but to die for their sins and the sins of the world and rise again to open the tombs of all believers. He agreed with Caiaphas. He must suffer and die —and rise again.
A few decades or so, everyone was encouraged to think, “What would Jesus do?” Jesus answered that. Die … that is what he would do. We heard last week Jesus ask James and John if they would do same. Are we ready to die with Jesus?
- Paul urges us to think like Jesus thinks.
- a. Serve God above all things.
- b. Put the welfare of others first.
- c.Set aside personal glory.
- The world prizes glory, fame, honor above all else.
- a.We celebrate the rich, glorify entertainers and athletes.
- b. We dream of being like them, work hard at it, and sometimes try to take shortcuts.
- c. We think that people are troubled because they lack self—esteem.
- d. Some preachers play to this culture, insisting God wants to make Christians rich.
- e. Self—service ends in conflict, quarrels and discord.
- Jesus thinks differently.
- a. He set aside all His glory and was born to Mary.
- b. He took our nature and went to the cross.
- c. He died so that we might live and rose that we might live forever.
- d. He is with us to strengthen us for our journey.
- e. So… Think like Jesus thinks.
Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your pow’r and reign.
