Helped - Palm Sunday

“Hosanna, loud hosanna, The little children sang; Through pillared court and temple The lovely anthem rang.” This Sunday’s Gospel reading invites us to remember and imagine Jesus riding on a young donkey, entering Jerusalem surrounded by crowds of excited people … and especially children … children crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” It’s a jubilant scene to start a somber week.

Not that everyone who was present was jubilant. The Gospel of Luke records that the Pharisees confronted Jesus and told him to “rebuke” his disciples. But Jesus received the children’s praise and told the Pharisees that if they weren’t crying out, the rocks would … that’s how significant this moment is. This was no normal trip to Jerusalem. No, Jesus had come – the servant of the Lord was there to do what His Father had given him to do. His back would be struck. His cheeks punched. His beard pulled. His face spit upon. He would bear it all to save us from sin and death, and it’s all coming to a head. Friday is coming – the Friday we call “Good” – and with it comes Jesus’ cross and death. So today, he revels in the children’s praises, knowing what is to come.

Long before these events, God gave his prophet Isaiah a vision of these events. God knew that his creation was in rebellion against Him, and yet He was determined to redeem His people. We read the prophecy:

The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
⁶ I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

Who is speaking here? Is it Isaiah? God had touched his lips with a coal from the altar and set him aside to hear and to speak as the Lord taught him! He suffered at the hands of wicked kings. Is it Jesus? Verse 6 sure sounds like Jesus’ suffering during his trials and the beatings he underwent before he was crucified. He certainly had a word for the weary and he was not rebellious against His Father’s direction. Is it any believer, every servant of the Lord? Jesus taught (and teaches!) us through the Apostles. The Holy Spirit opens our ears to hear, believe, and obey. And Jesus warned us that we would experience rejection, persecution, and our own cross if we follow Him. Who is this speaking of?

The prophecy speaks of all of us – Isaiah, all believers, and Jesus. But it only speaks of all of because we are connected to Jesus … we are “in Christ.” His tongue is first. His word to sustain the weary was Isaiah’s and ours; we received it from Him. He listened to His Father and prayed, “Not my will be done, but yours!” And he has opened our ears to hear the Word of the Lord, to believe, and to live by faith. Our willingness to suffer persecution is firmly grounded in Jesus’ suffering for us – suffering that reveals so deep, so broad, so high, beyond all thought and fantasy.

As Jesus faced his suffering he did so trusting His Father.

⁷ But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
⁸     He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
⁹ Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?

Luke echoes some of this language when he says that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew what was ahead, but He was determined to go. He would be treated disgracefully and with shame, but he settled on this important part of Isaiah's prophecy … the part that is repeated twice … “The Lord God helps me.”

Have you ever noticed that there is help and then there is help?

Sometimes we ask people to help us so that we can teach them. – Electrical work, Cooking, Trades

Sometimes we ask people to help us because there are parts of the job that don’t require much skill and if we can get someone else to do them … so much the better! Clean up, errands for tools, hold the flashlight.

Sometimes we ask people to help because we know they have more skill than us and they will do the job much better than we would ourselves. Plumber, Carpenter, that really handy friend.

But sometimes we ask for help because … we’re drowning … we’re choking … we’re having a heart attack … someone is dying. We ask for help because … we need to be saved.

Which do you think applies when Isaiah, Jesus, or we say, “The Lord God is my helper”? Even the word used here in the original points us to more than just help; it points to salvation.

Jesus faced the cross trusting that His Father would vindicate him and raise Him from death.

Isaiah suffered faithfully because God had promised to send such a helper that none could declare him guilty in the end.

And we … we have heard how God has helped us, and having Jesus’ death and life … who will declare us guilty? Who will contend with us and overcome us? We are those who will be raised up: even if we die, yet shall we live because Jesus died and rose for us. The Lord God is our helper … our savior. Ultimately, we have nothing to fear.

Which brings me back to the children of Jerusalem and “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.” There is a note on the bottom of the page under the hymn – 443 – it says, “‘Hosanna’ is a Hebrew word of praise meaning ‘save us now.’”

They were crying for Jesus to do exactly as the Lord God would do. Help us! Save us!

He has. He will.

This week we’ll remember Jesus’ suffering and death. Maundy Thursday. Good Friday. But then on Sunday … we will shift from Hosanna to a different Hebrew word of praise. We will see the strange way God has helped us played out … and then we will celebrate that our God has saved us. Amen.