Sun Dec 01 2024

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Gospel reading today is when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. There are some unusual aspects to this story. Jesus told his disciples how they would find a donkey’s colt when they entered the village. They didn’t need to buy the colt. They would only say, “The Lord has need of it,” and the colt would be sent along. The animal upon which Jesus sat is also unusual. Donkeys are already somewhat small animals to ride. A colt would have presumably been even smaller. Matthew, in his Gospel, tells us that the colt’s mother might have also been involved. I’m not sure what that would have looked like. In addition, this colt had never been ridden. That means he wasn’t broke. Nevertheless, Jesus was placed upon him and it seems to go fine as he rode into Jerusalem. All these strange details are not just strange for the sake of being strange. They have Old Testament connections. Zecharia...