Rev. Thomas E. Myers

March 16, 2008

Isaiah 50: 4 – 9

⁴ The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.  Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.  ⁵ The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.  ⁶ I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.

⁷ The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;  ⁸  he who vindicates me is near.  Who will contend with me?  Let us stand up together.  Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.  ⁹ It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

Matthew 21: 1 – 11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

⁵ “Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷ they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  ¹⁰ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

“Who Is This”

We like parades.  One reason why we go downtown and stand for hours on the sidewalk, waiting for the floats to come by, with thousands of others is our hope to get a glimpse of what is happening.  What’s happening in the community, what is happening with the multitude of people who form organizations and service groups.  What’s happening with music and dance, art and theater.  We arrive early, find a good place along the curb.  Then, we find that someone left a couch there to claim the spot, so we look around until we find a place with a good view.  We take our place along with the others who like a parade, others who want to find out what’s happening, and we wait.

I’ve been to a few surprising parades.  Like the parade we went to in Kenai, Alaska when our family first arrived in that vast state.  It was the 4^th of July parade.  We arrived to the area the last week in June.  The parade down Main Street was a great distraction from our preoccupation with unpacking of boxes.  We were still getting our feet on the ground after a long trip up the Alcan.  We saw a lot of unexpected things along our trip to Alaska, but it wasn’t the Kenai.  We wanted to find out what was happening, and this parade was telling.  There were a number of floats from the various service groups, businesses, and others who mixed patriotic themes with their need to advertise.  We were shocked at the response from one float, however.  As it came down the street people stood up and cheered – all along the route.  It really wasn’t much – just a flatbed truck with a few people standing on it and waving to the crowd.  Plastered along the side of the truck was a large sign.  What was this float?  We were strategically located on a curve, and as the truck made the bend the sign came into view...  “K-Mart.”  It was the K-Mart float.  These were desperate people.  You would have thought that it was a presidential candidate!  They were cheering and clapping.  It told of a larger story.  Yes, it was telling.  The new K-Mart store was about to open on the Kenai Peninsula, bringing goodies for boys and girls of all ages.

It’s amazing what isolation, poverty, or powerlessness will do to people.

Today on Palm Sunday, the hero of the parade didn’t drive in on a tacky float, to the roar of the crowd of hungry shoppers.  It was Jesus who arrived up the hill and through the gate that lead into Jerusalem to the roar of a small crowd and the waving of palm branches, that patriotic symbol of Israel.  These were people who were hungry for justice, freedom, and the Realm of God.

At last Jesus had come to Jerusalem and everyone could see who he was.  But, I imagine that most of the people in Jerusalem responded much like our family did when the K-Mart float rolled by.  What is this all about?  Here is a dusty and raggedy dressed person on a dusty donkey...  These people must be desperate!  One question stood out on this day, says Matthew, “Who is this?”  “What’s all the commotion about?”  The crowd was quick to come to their conclusion about Jesus.  Some were excited, others were amazed that such a simple parade could attract so much attention.  Then people could hear what people were saying.  Here is the one who will bring us salvation, “Hosanna!”  “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.”  (Mt 21:11)  This was the cry of desperate people in desperate times.

They were excited because Jesus offered them what they could not obtain otherwise.  He was not primarily a wonderworker of miracles, a successful physician, a rabbi who knows the Bible backward and forward.  Others could provide those services.  No, this parade was about something new, and somebody different.  Jesus is a prophet, but more than a prophet, a speaker of the truth of God, but even more.  This is the one upon whom our hope rests.

I expect that there were at least two reactions in the crowd that day.

If you were one of the common people, if you lived in isolation, or if things always seemed to be against you; that is, most of us, then you would have been excited, ecstatic.  You would tear up a few palm branches and waved them patriotically.

If you weren’t desperate, if you were rich and powerful, living in the city.  If you were part of the educated elite, then you would have viewed the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem with skepticism.

Here comes the one who will bring us salvation, here is the one who brings us hope, Hosanna!  The crowds yelled...  And, the people were divided into their camps.

So when those crowds along the parade route waved their palm branches and hailed Jesus as the messiah, there was reason for their spirit of celebration.  They were looking for someone who was more than a prophet, they hoped for someone who would do more than just speak the truth.  They claimed that he was the truth.  He did not just talk about God, he offered a wisdom that was more.  In him, was comfort and wisdom, and people claimed to see as much of God in Jesus as they would ever hope to see.  That’s why passion week progressed as it did.  People chose their camps, and they were divided.  And Jesus was nailed to his cross.

So much for noble ideals.  This is the messiah of a desperate people. 

Matthew tells us that Jesus became an earthquake that shook the place to its foundations.  He took charge, turned over the tables of the moneychangers, and set the religious people straight. 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”  (Mt 21:9, 15)

Here is something to cheer about.  That’s why we are here, even if you didn’t know that’s why you are here.  We need a change of course, we need to change of direction, we need atonement, we need God.  Some already knew, others were moved from asking, “Who is this?” to a singing and shouting, “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  Others just didn’t get it.

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