I wondered what kind of welcome this person would get when
they arrived at their destination…red carpets, warm handshakes and greetings, amidst
the flashing bulbs of a media scrum, or if they were an unpopular politician,
the chant of protesters and yet more police to keep the peace. They would get
the grandest of accommodation and the best of service.
I checked the newsfeeds to see if there was someone
important coming to New Zealand but there was no mention of anyone. Maybe if it
had been someone big there would have been more fuss more ceremony, tighter security
and more coverage. Just remember back to Bill Clinton’s visit in 1999 for the
APEC summit in Auckland, or the Royal visits that so many look forward to and
cherish. All the trappings show us how important and significant these people
are… there is a paradox in that to how Jesus enters Jerusalem, and his welcome…
He comes humbly riding on a donkey, a borrowed donkey at that…
Today we come to look at Jesus entry to Jerusalem, amidst
the crowds of pilgrims coming for the Passover festival. We are looking at it
from Luke’s perspective. For close to a year now we’ve been following Jesus
journey to Jerusalem in Luke’s gospel, a journey that takes up the central
third of the gospel. I know I said we’d finished that series last week with
Jesus parable of the ten Mina’s but the journey really finishes here as Jesus
enters the city. It finishes here as Jesus goes to the temple, and drives out
the merchants. It finishes here as he teaches and the crowds are attentive to
his words. It finishes here as the religious establishment want to have Jesus
killed and they put into effect the events that will lead to the cross, Jesus
death and his resurrection.
Luke’s account of Jesus entry into Jerusalem, is told in
four sections marked by different geographical indicators of Jesus final
journey up from Jericho to Jerusalem and on into the very temple itself. The
focus of this passage is very much on Jesus himself, it’s full of Old Testament
witness to who Jesus is, and it picks up themes that have been running through
the gospel: That Jesus is God’s chosen king, but his kingdom is totally
different than the realms of this world and how are we supposed to respond to
Jesus, there is both worship and acclaim and disrespect and rejection in this
passage.
We are told Jesus went ahead, going up to Jerusalem, and he
approaches the villages of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. The mount of olives
is mentioned twice in Luke’s account because in Zechariah 14:4-5 it talks of
God’s messiah coming from the east from the Mount of Olives. The scene here
focuses on Jesus sending his disciples to go and get a colt, that had never
been ridden from one of those villages. He tells his disciples if they are
asked what they are doing to tell the person who asks the Lord needs it… and
they will be given it. This is what happens.
The motorcade that James and I saw had been meticulously
planned and practised and there is the feel of some prior planning going into
the mission to get a donkey for Jesus. We know from John’s gospel that Jesus
visited Bethany on a regular basis. In first century, Jewish customs if a rabbi
needed something he could ask and it would normally be lent to him. But the
emphasis in this section is not on Jesus strategic planning but his prophetic
insight and the fact that what is about to unfold is part of God’s plan. If the
planning has gone on it is God’s divine plan. Jesus has on three occasions in
his journey to Jerusalem told his disciples that in Jerusalem he would be
rejected betrayed and killed and in the final part of Luke’s journey narrative
that he would rise to life again on the third day. What is about to unfold is
not a tragic end to a good ministry, political intrigue and the happenstance of
history, it is God’s purpose and God’s plan, right down to the minute detail of
providing a donkey.
The disciples bring the donkey to Jesus and they throw their
cloaks on it and in front of it on the road. Jesus ridding on a donkey is
fulfilment of scripture in the book of Zechariah 9:9 the prophet says
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This act is to show that Jesus comes as
God’s chosen king. The placing of cloaks in front of the donkey reinforces the
Picture of Jesus as King as in 2 Kings 29:13 we have the coronation of Jehu as
king of Judah and it tells us that cloaks were laid before his bare feet.
But the donkey also speaks to what sort of
king Jesus is as well. This is not the conquering hero coming into the city at
the head of a victorious army, claiming the spoils of war and demanding the
accolades of the people. Commentator Darrell Bock says “the humble animal
denotes not a messiah of power but of humility and service.” That this is at Passover signifies sacrifice
for forgiveness of sin. God’s king and God’s kingdom stands in sharp
juxtaposition to the realms of this world. Down through history attempts to use
political or military power to instil the Kingdom of God have led to tragic
consequences. The crusades, the Spanish inquisition, parts of the reformation,
with civil war and revolt. In recent
times aligning the Christian faith with this party or that government or
putting our hope in this candidate or that candidate, has done more wrong that
right. We must ask ourselves is Jesus
the humble king of peace, and see his kingdom come as he did in humble service,
care and compassion for the least and the lost, and the display of the churches
reflection of Jesus righteous and just character. Not demanding influence and
power but siding with those with influence and without power.
The story moves on and we move closer to
Jerusalem. Again we see Jesus coming from the Mt of olives and down into the
last valley before the city. We are told that the disciples begin praising God
for all the miracles they had seen. As the city draws near their belief in
Jesus as the messiah turns into worship
and thanks to God. I preached on psalm 124 at the Edmund Hillary retirement
home on Thursday. Psalm 124 is one of the psalms of ascent, which gives thanks
to God for his help in a series of trials and sufferings, described in a wonderful
array of vivid images. The Psalms of ascent were used by pilgrims coming to
Jerusalem and I can imagine a psalm like that one sparking the disciples to
think of all God’s help they had seen in Jesus signs and wonders. It prompts
them to use the words of another Psalm associated with the pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, a royal psalm, Psalm 118 ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name
of the Lord! ‘peace in heaven and glory in
the highest’.
if you are wondering where the hosannas are in Luke's account. Luke's quote of Psalm 118 focuses on Jesus aas King and the hosanna's in the psalm are right before he starts to quote. Like wise the palm fronds are not mentioned but again they are in Pssalm 118 as they follow on from this quote by talking of a procession with palm fronds to the altar in the temple.
There response to Jesus is to praise God
for all the things they have seen and heard, to acknowledge Jesus as their king.
That their hopes for the future are in Jesus and who he is. They don’t fully
understand it yet, there will be big doubts and hard times ahead, God’s
purposes will look a lot different than how they had hoped for, but their
response to Jesus is faith and worship. The same response we are called to
make. There hope of Heavens peace and glory, are our hopes, reconciliation with
God and his justice and righteousness to reign.
But we also see in the middle of this
rejoicing the voices of opposition that have been with Jesus all along. There
are no police barriers or security guard to keep them away. Pharisees come to
Jesus and tell him to stop his disciples
saying the things they were. The Pharisees you see may be spiritually blind,
but they are not dumb they know what these words mean, they know that Jesus
disciples are hailing him as king and messiah and saviour. They do not
recognise him as such, he does not fit their image of what the king and messiah
would be. Jesus reply here does not quells
their anxiety rather it fuels it. Jesus really in an open affirmation of his
divinity says well if the disciples stopped, then creation itself would cry
out, and acknowledged who Jesus is. The Pharisees hearts maybe like stone when
it come to Jesus but the stones beneath their feet would tell of Jesus. This is the wonderful task and privilege that
you and I are given to tell and share of what we know of Jesus and give praise
for God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. Creation the psalms tell us speak their
praise but it is left to you and I to speak and declare the truth of Jesus to a
world that needs to know.
The journey moves on. In verse 41 it tells
us that Jesus approaches Jerusalem, as he comes up out of the last valley the
whole city comes into sight. Jesus response is to weep, in this last stretch of
the journey we’ve seen Jesus act as a prophet and as a king, now he acts in a
priestly manner. He shows God’s care and love for the city and it’s people. He
laments that the city and its people, represented by the Pharisees in this
passage, have not recognised who he is, have not realised that the peace they
seek has come to them in the person of Jesus Christ. They had a chance to
embrace a different way of living a different way of dealing with the powers
who were occupying and oppressing their country but they missed it. He uses a whole raft of military imagery, ramps
being raised against the walls, siege, brutal conquest to speak of the
consequences of not recognising the time of God’s coming to them. It’s a very
accurate portrayal of the Romans destruction of the city in 70AD in response to
a Jewish revolt seeking their independence from Rome, their own understanding
of the Kingdom of God. Jesus as priest
tries in here with the Passover as he has come to Jerusalem not only as its
king but to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. This is the true
salvation and peace that Jerusalem was looking for…
The narrative then changes location again
and Jesus enters the temple, cleanses it of the merchants and money lenders and
starts to teach. You know that’s a sermon in itself…
You know I don’t know who was in that
motorcade that flashed past us that Sunday afternoon. I don’t know where they
were going or what they were about. It’s just the image that is stuck in my
mind. But in Luke’s account of Jesus entry to Jerusalem we are invited to see
who Jesus is. The Jewish scriptures show us the significance of his every
action here. We see Jesus as prophet, king and priest. AS the gospel goes on we
see where Jesus is going, his betrayal, his death on the cross and his being
raised to life again, and ascending to the right hand of the Father, we have
seen what Jesus is about and experienced in our lives as well as we have known
his grace and love and calling and purpose.
We are invited to join the disciples in giving him praise, being
attentive to his word, hearing it and obeying it. We are challenged about
rejecting him and how that road leads to judgment. Today I simply want to finish by inviting us
to first be still and think in our own minds how we want to respond to Jesus as
king. Then I am going to invite us to stand and join our voices with Jesus
disciples and the children mentioned in John’s gospel and the people of the
kingdom of God to sing hosanna ‘god save us’ lets be still, lets pray.
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