“A Most Humble King”

Philippians 2:1-11

I am so glad that this church has a Tenebrae Service on Maundy Thursday. Without such services it’s very easy to move from Palm Sunday’s triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to his victorious Resurrection on Easter without ever having dealt with the realities of Holy Week. When we do that we end up neglecting the escalating conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. We omit the sadness, fear, betrayal, and desertion of Jesus on

Passover night. We deny the hellish agony of his crucifixion and death on Friday. We forget the overwhelming grief of those who lovingly laid him in a tomb.

Not only is this Palm Sunday. It is also Passion Sunday, the first day of Passion Week. The liturgical color preferred by many is the purple of royalty. We have opted for red today as a vivid reminder of the blood our Lord shed for us. That doesn’t mean that we ignore the more celebrative aspects of Palm Sunday, or even the simple joys Jesus experienced during Passion Week. On Thursday night we’ll be once again be decked out in royal purple. Jesus is our King after all. The red paraments and stole are simply one more means by which we own up to the reality that a lot happened between Palm Sunday and Easter, and that some of it was quite unpleasant.

In the Confirmation Class we’ve been dealing with those high, holy biblical and theological realities we call The Incarnation, The Atonement, and The Resurrection. Today’s text from Philippians has been one of our sources of information about these things. The Incarnation: “…[Jesus] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” The eternal Word – God himself – became flesh and lived among us.

The Atonement: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” Jesus - The incarnate God – God himself with us – was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins and to bridge the great chasm between God and us brought about by Adam’s sin.

The Resurrection isn’t explicit in Philippians 2, but it’s there: “Therefore God also highly exalted him…” Beyond the cross there came the crown. But there would have been no crown without the cross. The Messiah so happily welcomed on Palm Sunday lived out his Messiah-ship by taking upon himself the role of the Suffering Servant. Jesus claimed his crown, not with some mighty military victory or political upheaval, but by humbling himself and obeying his Father – even to the point of death on a cross.

The humility and obedience of Jesus didn’t spring up during Passion Week. It began in eternity with the decision of God Almighty to come to us in the flesh as Jesus – to empty himself. It continued Christmas night when the Messiah was born in a stable, with nothing but a manger to serve as his first cradle. It was tested in the wilderness as the Devil tempted Jesus to be the popular kind of Messiah everybody wanted. It was evident throughout his ministry, but never more so than, as Luke tells it, “He set his face toward Jerusalem.” Jesus knew where he was going and why.

His Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem was not all that magnificent in worldly terms. Yes, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. But according to the conventional wisdom of the time, kings don’t come to town on donkeys. They ride in on expensive pureblooded stallions. Nor do they go back to Bethany every night and hang out with Mary and Martha. They take up residence in the governor’s palace, kicking the governor out if he objects.

Such was not the way of Jesus. He kept it simple. He kept it humble. Other than chasing the moneylenders out of the Temple in a moment of righteous anger, he kept it peaceful. He did what he did and said what he said because that’s what his Father had sent him to do. If that upset people, so be it.

On Passover night Jesus maintained his humility and obedience. He got down on his knees and washed the filthy feet of his disciples – the job of a slave. And in the garden after supper, while his disciples drifted off to sleep, Jesus wrestled once again with the temptation to do what had to be done some other, some easier, way. Once again he rebuffed the Devil’s efforts to corrupt him.

He was arrested, but didn’t fight back. He was falsely accused of all kinds of things, but he never tried to defend himself. He was beaten, mocked, and spit on, but like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he did not open his mouth…”

Finally he carried his cross to Calvary, and on it suffered the death of a common criminal. He summoned no angels to come and rescue him. Instead he went through hell in our place, wondering for a moment why his Father had forsaken him, but ultimately surrendering himself into his Father’s hands. Along the way he even asked his Father to forgive his tormenters. He was humble. He modeled servanthood. To the very end he was obedient – even to the point of death on a cross.

The Apostle Paul used the great hymn of the early church found in verses 5-11 of today’s text to encourage the Christians in Philippi to deal with one another after the humble example set by Jesus. “Don’t be so selfish. Quit being so competitive. Don’t be so conceited. Get rid of all your me-first attitudes. Humble yourselves. Serve one another. Look out for one another. Wash each other’s feet. Live for one another. If necessary, die for one another. Be like Jesus.”

Be like Jesus, who even as he experienced the loud hosannas of Palm Sunday, never forgot why it was that he was entering Jerusalem. Be like Jesus, who kept on loving and trying to teach those thickheaded disciples of his that they were not riding his coattails to earthly glory. Be like Jesus: the Son of God who refused to exploit his divinity. Be like Jesus: the One who exercised his Messiah-ship by living and dying as the Suffering Servant. Be like Jesus, who took no shortcuts on his way from Palm Sunday to Easter. Be like Jesus as he walked every step of that lonesome valley we call Holy Week. Be like Jesus, who confronted Good Friday head on.

Celebrate Palm Sunday. It is a high, holy day of the Church. Wave, if only figuratively, those palm branches. Greet our Lord Jesus with loud and joyful hosannas. Enjoy this day. And enjoy next Sunday, the Church’s highest and holiest day. Celebrate The Resurrection. Give thanks that, because he lives, so shall we. But as we move through this coming week – as we make our annual journey from Palm Sunday to Easter – let’s not forget all that happened in between. Even as we celebrate and anticipate the exaltation of our Lord, let’s not forget what he went through to get there.

“Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” O yeah, that’s real. But just as real is this: “… [he] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -–even death on a cross.” There can’t be one without the other.

For Jesus Palm Sunday wasn’t the climax of his earthly life and ministry. It was the beginning of its end. He entered into Jerusalem. Amen and hosanna to that. There he suffered and died. Amen and hosanna to that, too. He arose. He ascended into heaven. He was and is exalted. But before he could wear the crown of glory, he had to first wear a crown of thorns. And he did so in all humility and obedience. Amen.