Note: As part of the service the entire passion narrative from Matthew 26 & 27 was read/proclaimed as Pastor Marrs walked out into the aisles. The narrative was interspersed with special verses from the hymn "Oh Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High. Readers this week are encouraged to read the Gospel narratives of Jesus' passion and crucifixion in preparation for Easter. These are found in Matthew 26 & 27, Mark 14 & 15, Luke 22 & 23, and John 18 & 19. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Gospel lessons (Matthew21: 1-11, and all of chapters 26 and 27, the Passion narrative) read earlier.

When WWI was over, President Woodrow Wilson was the hero of the world. Optimism was sweeping the world, an earthly hope that the war to end all wars was finished, and peace between nations would last for decades, even centuries. When President Wilson visited European cities in France, England and Italy, cheering mobs greeted him as the "hope for humanity" (World Book Encyclopedia). He received the Nobel Prize for Peace. Even children were infatuated with him. A Red Cross worker at a Vienna hospital told the story that when she told the children there would be no presents at Christmas because of the war and the hard times, the children didn't believe her. They were certain that President Wilson himself would come and bring them presents.

The cheering for Wilson lasted less than a year. Then gradually it stopped. Political leaders in Europe became more concerned with their own agendas than a lasting peace. Even in the U.S., President Wilson ran into opposition. The Senate refused to ratify the League of Nations treaty, the League that Wilson hoped would bring a lasting world peace. President Wilson began to feel the strain. He went on a whistle stop train tour to drum up political support for his policies. But, under the strain, his health failed. He collapsed while his train was in Kansas, heading for Wichita. He became an invalid. His party's next candidate, running on Wilson's platforms for world peace, was overwhelmingly defeated in the next election. Wilson died three years later, a broken and disappointed man. One of his biographies is actually titled "When the Cheering Stopped: The Last Years of Woodrow Wilson" (Basic idea from e-sermons.com, details from World Book encyclopedia).

We humans tend to do that, follow and cheer a hero, a savior figure, when it's popular. But then, regardless of the goodness of the cause, our commitment fades. Popularity wanes. It happened that way with Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem to cheering throngs. Leafy palm branches and clothing were spread before him, as if he were a conquering King entering his palace city. The crowds were shouting "Hosanna, Hosanna!!" which means "Save us now. Save us now! Jesus". Thousands came to see him and hear him preach. Even the lips of children and infants were praising him. Great hope and expectation surged through the country. But not for long. Wilson's cheering kept on for months. The cheering for Jesus was much shorter. Within a few hours it had died down. Within a few days only his closest followers were around him. And then, even they disowned and deserted him. Five days after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he was standing alone before the governor, unjustly beaten for crimes he didn't commit. A few hours later, he was hanging from a cross, the most horrible device ever invented to inflict the death penalty.

In President Wilson's last speech to a few friends before he died he said "I have seen fools resist Providence (God) before and I have seen their destruction… That we shall prevail is as sure as that God reigns." If Wilson was predicting eventual political success or world peace, I'm afraid he was mistaken. He was too optimistic. Human frailty will never bring world peace. Human sinfulness will always find and invent new ways to make war. Jesus himself warned us in between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday that world peace, which is something we should pray for, will never be achieved in this world (Matthew 24: 6-8). "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

In the last words of Jesus recorded from the cross by the Evangelist Matthew, Jesus doesn't sound at all like Wilson's "we shall prevail (is) as sure as (that) God reigns." Jesus' last words in today's lesson are the ultimate in rejection. Not only did humans reject Jesus after Palm Sunday, but even God the Father himself rejected Jesus while he bore our sin. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He cried (27: 46). From Palm Sunday to Good Friday, Jesus went from crowds of adoring fans, to rejection by all in the universe, including God himself. (Phillippians 2) "Jesus Christ, being the very nature God did not consider his equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant… He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross." For you and me, the Son of God came to this world, knowing he would be popular as long as people thought it beneficial for themselves. He knew that his popularity would fade and he would be rejected. He knew he would give up his life, for them who rejected him, for those who deny him. He knew he would give up his life for me, for you.

That is the story for this Holy Week. Today we celebrate his entering into Jerusalem as the King, the King of Love who would give his life as a ransom for many. That is the story of this Holy Week. We look forward to Thursday, when he gives us his own Body and Blood for our forgiveness and strength. We look forward to Friday, when he gives his life on the cross for us. We look forward to Sunday, when we see his exaltation.

Human efforts and human frailties will never bring world peace as President Wilson had hoped. But the work of Jesus Christ, the God-man, did bring peace where it was most needed, between God and man. No human leader will ever bring permanent peace between men. But Jesus came, and this week we celebrate the truly permanent peace he brought between God and humans. Now after his sacrifice for us he receives true acclaim. "Therefore God has exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phillipians 2: 9-11).

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always. Amen.