Procession of the King

Procession of the King

Palm Sunday T All Readings

INI

“Behold, your King is coming to you.” That’s the cry of Palm Sunday. That’s who the crowd shouted for, whether they understood it or not. And it’s still what we confess every time we gather around the Word and Sacraments. Your King comes to you.

Andh that’s good news. That’s the Gospel. Because the last thing you and I need is a King who waits for us to come to Him.

He makes the first move —He comes to us.

And where does He come? Into the Church, yes. But also—into the world. His Cross leads the way into both.

At the start of the Divine Service today, we followed the processional cross into this holy place. It’s not just liturgical tradition. The processional cross is a sermon. It’s a confession. The cross leads because Christ leads.

And where Christ goes, He brings His kingdom.

This sanctuary is holy ground. Here, your King comes in mercy. Here, God acts. He absolves you of your sin. He declares you righteous for the sake of Christ. He feeds you the body and blood of His Son—given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins. Here, the merits of His Passion are applied to sinners like you and me.

You know this well. You come to receive it. You come because this King doesn’t stay far off. He draws near to sinners like you and me.

But let’s not forget what that cross—the one we process behind—really means. It’s not just a symbol of comfort. It’s a declaration of war. A war against wickedness and sin. It’s the instrument of death through which Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to destroy God’s wrath on sin. That means, Jesus took on the wrath of God— wrath for your sin, wrath for my sin, wrath for the world’s sin—and He bore it alone.

And we heard that this morning in the Passion reading from Matthew. He was betrayed by a friend. Spit on by soldiers. Mocked. Beaten. Abandoned. Even abandoned by His Father.

The sinless Son of God—alone.

But we dare not think that His reign merely stays inside the Church. Because here’s what the Pharisees said as they watched Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. They said,
“Look! The world has gone after Him.”

And they were right. But not in the way they thought.

Because Good Friday tells a different story. The world did go after Jesus—but not to praise Him. Rather, to destroy Him. They didn’t throw their coats down in worship—they stripped His clothes and casted lots for it. They didn’t raise palm branches—they raised a cross. They didn’t cry ‘Hosanna’—they cried ‘Crucify Him’.

The world He came to save rejected Him. But He still came despite their sin. And He still comes despite ours.

Because that’s what kind of King He is. He doesn’t just rule from a throne in a temple. He reigns from a cross on a hill outside the holy city. He doesn’t just come to redeem a holy place—He comes to reclaim an unholy world.

He comes into our chaos. Our disorder. Our rebellion.

He comes to be pierced by it and suffer as one who deserved it.

That’s why we dare not confine Him to Sunday mornings. He isn’t only the King of the Church. He’s King of the World.

The cross you see at the front of this church? That cross is also planted in the heart of a broken world. That’s where Jesus marched—not just to the temple to cleanse the wickedness from it, but through the city gates and out to Calvary. For His reign isn’t just over just the sacred things—it’s over everything.

And Easter declares that this King who died now lives. He didn’t rise just for a select few. He rose for all people. He rose to reign in thoughts and hearts and actions and relationships. He rose to reign over the home, the rulers and the rebels. He rose to reign over your finances, your work, your worldview, and the places you think that’re too small for Him to care about. He rose to reign over your temptations, your anger, your pride, your lust, your depression, your grief and pain. Most importantly, He rose to conquer death itself and gives the spoils of victory to His sons and daughters.

He’s King. Not just here, but everywhere.

Zechariah prophesied Jesus’ reign – “He shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:10).” And Paul affirms it to the Philippians – “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and UNDER the earth.”

It’s important for us to realize this,

because if we act like Jesus only matters in here…
If we think the Gospel only changes Sunday mornings…
If we treat faith like a private habit rather than the reign of Christ over our entire lives…

Then we’ve limited the work of God.

Because the fact of the matter is,

He didn’t stay in heaven.

He didn’t stay in the sanctuary.

He didn’t stay on the cross.

He didn’t stay in the tomb.

And He doesn’t stay away from the places that scare us most.

He comes to you—in your guilt, in your grief, in your daily life. He walks into the Monday morning world with you. For He’s claimed it. All of it.

He brings His cross with Him. And He brings His cross for you to march behind too.

So today, as we wave palm branches and walk behind the cross, remember:
Your King is coming to you.
He comes into His Church—to save sinners.
He comes into His world—to redeem it.
He comes into your life—not to take a portion of it, but to rule all of it.

He’s not just King in heaven, nor just in the Church.
He’s your King as you follow Him outside this sanctuary,

As your tongues confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, lift your eyes this Holy Week, not just to the cross, but to the King who reigns from it.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston