March 25, 2018 – Palm Sunday                                           Text:  Zechariah 9:9-12

Dear Friends in Christ,

Legend tells us that once upon a time there was a city named Troy.  Troy was located on the coast of Asia, across the sea from the Greek city-state Sparta.  Walls were built around cities back then to protect the people.  Gates were built into the walls to allow people to enter the city.  During times of war, the gates were closed and people could not enter.

For years the people of Troy and the Greeks fought.  The Greeks had been trying to get over the walls of Troy and couldn’t.  Year after year, neither side won.

One day, a Greek general, Odysseus, had an idea.  “Let’s pretend to sail away,” he suggested.  “We’ll leave a gift for Troy, a gift to announce the end of the war, a large wooden horse.”  That is how things were done back then, when you admitted defeat you supplied a gift.

Could this really trick the Trojans?  The Greeks thought it was a brilliant idea.  Their best artists built a magnificent horse.  When it was ready, the Greeks brought it as close to the gates of Troy as they could without it being shot full of arrows.  Then the Greeks pretended to sail away while playing the music of Styx!

Anyway, the Trojan archers could not believe that the Greeks were sailing away.  Had the Greeks finally given up?  Had the Trojans won?  It appeared that way.  The Trojans dragged the horse inside the city gates, closed the gates and celebrated.

But this horse had a little surprise for the Trojans.  Hidden inside were thirty Greek soldiers.  Later that night, as sugarplums danced in the heads of the Trojans, the thirty Greeks snuck out of the horse, opened the gates of Troy, and let the Greek army inside.  That was the end of Troy.

Palm Sunday is the Trojan horse of the Church Year.

“YOUR KING COMES (TO TROY?)”

Like the Greeks and the Trojans we have all been engaged in a prolong battle.  People we don’t care for.  Situations we make worse with our tongue.  Misjudgments in tweets and Facebook postings.  The battle in our mind that plays out with the devil.  Sin is a force that controls our lives.  We may be thousands of years removed from “the chariot of Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem” (v. 10) but we know the consequences of sin and the brokenness of our lives.  We’d like to hide in the wooden horse because of our shame.

As with the Greeks – and God’s people of Zechariah’s time – it seemed as if our battle was lost.  Like the exiles in Babylon who could not free themselves, we are unable to defeat our enemy of sin.  “The wages of sin is death” and we are trapped in the grave of despair.

But the Lord has a plan and oh what a brilliant plan.  His humble King rides a donkey into Jerusalem and the crowd goes wild.  But then, the city and all it stands for is besieged from within as the King does battle with sin.  Jerusalem will fight back, and by the end of the week, the humble King will hang in shame on a cross.  For a short period of time it will look like evil has won.  The gift of a wooden horse given to the Trojans, but this is also part of the plan.  What could be next?

Satan is duped.  He is asleep in supposed victory and the Trojan horse arrives.  Before He knows it, the King will appear in power – alive! – in Satan’s own fortress.  The King only appears weak and helpless.  His humility is actually His most powerful weapon.  Jesus never exalts Himself.  His weapon in war against sin is his own active righteousness – His perfect obedience to God’s plan.

He takes our punishment on Himself.  He sheds his blood and died.  And then He rises again and presents himself in hell as the victor over Satan.  Like the Trojans, Satan had to be quite surprised.  “It can’t be, He is supposed to be dead.”  Not so fast, you wily and perverted prince of darkness.

This was God’s plan all along.  This was the covenant he made with his people long ago.  He does cut off the power of Satan and He does set us free.  We rejoice at the victory we could never win for ourselves.  We jump out of the horse and sing to Satan, “Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye!”  That is our chant in the victory waters of baptism and the continued joyful celebration of Holy Communion.

It is enough to warrant a parade.  The hero selflessly rides into Jerusalem to become the victim.  Hero and victim?  We don’t think in those terms but God the Father did and Jesus achieved it.  He is our hero because he is the victim!

“Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Amen.