For a long time, the “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem puzzled me … the cheers and then the jeers … a welcome turned into a firestorm of anger … “crucify Him!”
What’s the rest of the story?
Is this a day of cheer, or day or irony?
Tradition turned this into a festival - pageants and processions, palms and praise, children singing Hosanna … a party, if you will.
Tradition has overlooked the irony of Palm Sunday …
It’s a happy time, all right; Hosanna in the highest … but beneath the joy … the Shadow of Death … the leaders of the City, uneasy and wary … Pilate on the alert to spot a potential threat … temple police and Roman soldiers ready to arrest a troublemaker.
Yet, when Jesus rode down from the Mt. of Olives, it was a festival … though Jesus knew well how it would end, He begins with how it should be.
Jesus the King … making His entrance into the Holy City … for a few brief moments, a real King … not the pretend kings of Caesar and Herod… nor their pretend kingdoms of Rome and Palestine … but the real Kingdom, God’s Kingdom …
A Kingdom governed by grace and mercy …
Forgiveness and fresh starts …
A Kingdom for the woman at the well and a Kingdom for the woman dragged before Jesus charged with adultery …
Zacchaeus up a tree …
Bartimaeus the blind man …
Ten lepers, the deaf and the lame …
A Kingdom for a ragtag band of fisherman, tax collectors and zealots …
A Kingdom of inclusion and welcome …
A Kingdom for all the world, and for all of God’s creatures.
It’s good and right that we celebrate Palm Sunday … here is our King … a modest King without pretense and power … it’s not a stallion He rides, but a beast of burden … the stallion prances and snorts, ready to carry its rider to war; but the donkey plods slowly and patiently, bearing its burden without complaint – as Jesus bears the sins of the world.
A few days hence, Jesus will wear the cross of Rome. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
Two processions entered Jerusalem that day …
From the east, Jesus rides a donkey down from the Mount of Olives.
From the west, the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, leads a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers.
Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God; Pilate proclaims the sovereignty Roman Empire.
Both enter Jerusalem for Passover: one to keep it; the other to keep it orderly!
Pilate lived in Caesarea Maritima, about 60 miles to the west, on the Mediterranean … Pilate mostly stayed away from Jerusalem, but for the major festivals, Pilate went to Jerusalem, just to make sure everyone understood who was in charge.
The imperial procession: cavalry mounted on mighty steeds, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on armor.
A sight to behold … and the sound of it: marching feet, creaking of leather, clinking of bridles, beating of drums … swirling dust.
The crowds watch silently as the occupying army of Rome rides into town to keep order.
[for the above “picture” of Pilate’s procession, my thanks to Marcus Borg & John Crossan – The Last Week]
Jesus rides in from the Mount of Olives … on young donkey, a colt never before ridden, with it’s mother close at hand to calm the young animal.
His follower shout the traditional word of welcome to the king: Hosanna – “God, save us!” A cry of praise and a cry for deliverance.
“In the highest heaven” … save us in the best way O God. Bring everything you have.
We need serious salvation … we’re a captive people … set us free from the Rome legions.”
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the LORD.
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
All of this prefigured in the Prophet Zechariah (9:9-10):
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble ad riding on a donkey, on a cold, the foal of a donkey.
He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem;
And the battle bow shall be cut off,
And he shall command peace to the nations.
Pilate rides the stallion, a war horse, surrounded by heavily armed solders.
Jesus rides a donkey, an animal of burdens, surrounded by disciples.
Pilate’s procession embodied the power and the glory of am empire. Jesus offers another vision – the Kingdom of God.
The confrontation between these two realms continues throughout the last week of our LORD's life …
On Good Friday, when all was said and done, Pilate washed his hands of the affair and walked away. Just another crucifixion; just another dead Jew … just another day in the life of a Roman governor.
But a momentous day in the Kingdom of God … Good Friday, we call it.
Oh, to have the eyes of faith.
To see beyond the glitter and the gold.
To see beyond the forms of this world,
To see the hand of God.
God’s procession …
God’s love …
To see the Christ …
A modest king,
A lowly LORD,
A very human God!
Listen to how Paul describes our LORD:
Though He was in the form of God,
He did not regard equality with God
As something to be exploited,
But 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 (Philippians 2:6-8).
Talk about downward mobility … one demotion after another … lower and lower He descends … moving deeper into the human realm … a sacrifice of unimaginable grace … plumbing the depths so you and I can reach the heights.
The details of the story are instructive:
Jesus sends two disciples to secure the colt; not one, but two.
It’s always good to have a companion … we all do better in the company of one another … Bible study, prayer, worship … we can do all of them by ourselves, but we can do them so much better in the company and strength of one another … the Christian life is devoted to rebuilding the human family … tearing down walls; bridging the chasms … welcoming back the excluded … repairing what sin has broken … healing the environment … rebuilding a just economy … seeing to it that the least are cared for; and the cared for never humiliated …
“Love one another,” says Jesus
“Pray for one another,” says Paul.
We’re all in this together …
What we do, we do together … and together, we do it best of all.
When the disciples reach town, they’re to look for two tethered animals – a donkey and its colt – “untie them,” says Jesus and bring them to me. If anyone asks, simply say, “The LORD needs them.”
What a wonderfully human thing to say, “I need them. I need them to finish my work. What I need, you have; what you have, I need.”
Does God need anything?
Yes, God needs what we have … and what we have is a heart … a soul, a spirit … a will and a love.
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but God doesn’t own us.
God gave us our character, our strength, our mind and heart … and God gave us a will.
These things belong to us … they remain our charge until the day we give them to the LORD … willingly and joyfully, freely and faithfully.
“Here I am LORD; use me.”
“My heart I give to you, promptly and sincerely.”
Yes, he needs what we have; but what He has, we need.
It’s a remarkable partnership … only we can give Him our will; only He can save us from our sins!
Jesus rides a colt never ridden …
This colt can be ridden only by Jesus.
Managed only by the Son of God.
No one else can take away the sins of the world.
Please note – the colt isn’t taken from its mother.
I suppose the great Son of God might have simply taken the colt from its mother, and with some divine command, break its spirit and render it docile.
But no taking the colt from its mother!
When colts are trained, they are trained with the mother at its side … to calm the colt and help it learn.
No cruelty here … no raw divine power … just a modest king, a lowly LORD, a very human God!
The donkey is a beast of burden.
Pilate rides a stallion.
Can ya’ see the contrast?
Pilate enters Jerusalem to oppress and command.
Jesus is here to bear the sins of the world and set the people free.
Can ya’ see the contrast?
The soldiers bear arms and wear the pride of power.
The disciples shout Hosanna, lay their garments down, and wave palm branches.
Can ya’ see the contrast?
The donkey is a sign of peace.
Pilate’s stallion is a champion of war.
Can ya’ see the contrast?
Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Pilate, the master of war.
Can ya’ see the contrast?
Now some historical observation … in the year 325, Constantine the emperor converted to Christianity.
The empire succumbed to the LORD it had killed … after 300 years of persecution and turmoil, the blood of martyrs won the day.
But something fateful in that turn of events.
The cross of Christ became the hilt of a sword; the violence once directed toward Christians is now directed toward enemies of Rome. … when the Roman Empire collapsed several hundred years later, the church was on the ascendancy … from humble house churches to great basilicas … from pastor to priest … from the simple robes of a rabbi to the garb of power and control.
The lively debate of rabbi and student lost in the rise of the magisterium, replaced by the teaching authority of a church no longer asking questions, but only giving answers … sacraments removed from the home and relocated in the church … only the hands now of the clergy could bestow the water of baptism, and only clergy hands could break bread and pour the cup; only clergy could read the Bible … the clergy were dressed up, and the people dressed down.
Gold crosses and silver chalices, heavy vestments embroidered and bejeweled; inquisitions and institutions … wealth flowed into the coffers of the church - land, power and influence.
Strange, how the church began to look just like an empire.
But today, Palm Sunday, we recall our LORD …
Today, Palm Sunday, we reclaim the mission and the meaning …
We set aside the stallion and ride the donkey …
We shun power,
And embrace mercy.
We set our eyes upon Jesus … a modest King, a lowly LORD, a very human God.
A King, true and good.
A King, loving and kind.
A King to save us from our sins.
Your King and my King.
The King of kings!
Amen!
