Sermons 2025

Text: Luke 19:27-39
Theme: A Parade towards Salvation
Outline:
1.    Parade passes by, good for us
2.    Parade can focus on ends, Jesus’ end leads to our good

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the nineteenth chapter verses twenty-seven through thirty-nine.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever seen a parade? They can be for a variety of reasons, to celebrate a person, to celebrate a victory or an event, like our annual fourth of July parade. They can be great fun to watch. All of the trucks, all of the cars, all of the candy. Today, we see a parade for Jesus in our text for today. Is Jesus’ parade a happy one or a sad one? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Parade passes by, good for us

Today Jesus plans and carries out his own parade. Up to this point, He had maintained some degree of anonymity. He had been trying to keep a low profile, cautioning those who had been healed and helped, “Go and tell no one.” But now the time had come for some recognition. I think He acted totally without conceit. He needed a parade and He knew that the world needed this particular parade. He planned His parade unashamedly for His own sake, as well as for the sake of His followers, then and now.  

Jesus makes a parade for Himself to celebrate His greatness as a king. He answers the question, “Are you the Messiah? Are you a king?” Here Jesus says yes. However, Jesus is not the type of king that the people expect. That is why He comes riding on a donkey that no one has ever ridden on. You might wonder about the symbolism of an unused donkey. Anything offered to God had to be pure and perfect. So Jesus chose an unused, unbroken animal. The donkey was a symbol of peace in those days. Horses were symbols of military might. Conquering generals came on horses. An ambassador coming on a peaceful mission rode a donkey. Jesus was an ambassador of peace from the ultimate kingdom. Many people were so poor that a single family could not afford a donkey. A group might chip in and corporately buy one to share. And yet when these owners are told that the Master needs their donkey, they do not even protest. They don’t ask, “Where are you taking him and for how long? Will he be sacrificed?” They gave the colt gladly. 

Would you like it if someone made a parade just for you? I am sure you would. To be the center of attention, to have everyone celebrating your achievements. It seems fantastic. In our minds it sounds like a wonderous thing, finally Jesus is getting the recognition that He deserves. Everyone is celebrating. Everyone is waving palm branches, declaring Jesus to be the king. It seems like a grand celebration in the eyes of the world.

1.    Parade can focus on ends, Jesus’ end leads to our good

Yet, not all joyous at this parade. After all, what were they celebrating? A few clothes in the road, a borrowed donkey, a King who would not live the week out. It makes me think of the final scenes in the Wizard of Oz, when the Wizard is exposed as all sound and fury with no substance. The parade was permanent in that we live with its effects, but within a week’s time, it was as if the parade had never happened. Parades are for a time of rejoicing but they also signal the end. Often, we are being eased out at the very same time that we are being honored. At retirement, a gold watch and a banquet prepare you for being discarded. Even the celebration of a golden wedding anniversary or an eightieth birthday has its somber side. Your family and friends realize you are about to move on, and the party is part of a group farewell. A time of celebration is often the prelude to being discarded. Jesus was soon to be discarded. Judas was already in the process of discarding Him. Peter was about to discard Him in a brief conversation with a servant girl. Even those beloved brothers, James and John, thought about discarding him. The crowd, now cheering “Hosannah, Hosannah,” would soon be yelling, “Barabbas, Barabbas,” in Pilate’s court. When asked what to do with Jesus, the crowd shouts “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” The parade has a way of letting you down. 

So, at the end of this parade. Jesus mourns over Jerusalem because He knows the future in store for them. Jesus was the bringer of peace, that peace of which the angels and the crowd of disciples had sung. But Jerusalem, like the Pharisees, was not looking for the peace that Jesus came to bring. As a result, they would experience not peace but dreadful war. The future is hidden to the inhabitants of this walled city, but Jesus knows what is to come. The words of Jesus describe the Roman siege of Jerusalem that resulted in its capture in the year a.d. 70. Jesus’ words that “they will not leave one stone on another” are an echo of his statement to the Pharisees: if the people are quiet, the stones will speak. The people of Jerusalem were not ready to speak words of praise in honor of the coming King. Since they would not speak, the fallen stones will speak God’s word of judgment. 
Jesus mourns as well because of what this rejection entails for Himself. This celebration ends in His death upon a cross. He comes in cheers as the king of peace and will leave a corpse, dying an ugly and gruesome death upon the cross. He does this, as He did everything in His life, all for you. He dies your death that you can have His life now and forever. He takes upon Himself the full wrath of God so that God’s face can smile upon you as His dear and beloved child. Rising again from the dead, He lives to give you everlasting life. 

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead, you get to join in a wonderous parade. You get to join in the parade of the redeemed when Jesus comes again in power and glory. You join with angels, archangels, and all the host of heaven joined around the throne, singing praises to God forever for His salvation.

Until we join that grand celebration without end, may we always give thanks that Jesus comes in meekness for us men and for our salvation.

the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.