Matthew 21: 11-23
Rev. Nick Cheek
You can’t help but be drawn into a parade. They have that effect on you. They’re exciting. I imagine it was like that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. His popularity was arguably at an all-time high. Just days before the parade, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and large crowds were now following him. As the disciples processed into Jerusalem, I can picture children on parent’s shoulders… people peering out windows… climbing up trees, on top of homes and buildings, trying to steal a glance. Because it was Passover, Jews from all over the region were in the city. All kinds of people, from different backgrounds, communities… bringing with them a host of needs and expectations. And as they looked into the eyes of this man, a rabbi, a prophet… this mysterious miracle worker, they shouted out Hosanna- Which translated, literally means “Save us… save us Lord.”
I like to imagine what might be behind the Hosannas cried out that morning as Jesus rode by. Hosanna, help is on the way…. Hosanna… a true and righteous king is coming… Hosanna… save us from the corrupt and oppressive empire… Hosanna – be the messiah we’ve been waiting for.
With every new Hosanna that was shouted… came another expectation for what the people hoped Jesus would be for them. If Jesus were to ride through our own communities… and our own lives… or even our congregation this morning… what might our Hosannas be? What would we ask of the Lord?
Grant wisdom and guidance to our world leaders… Hosanna. Provide economic balance in the midst of uncertainty, Hosanna. Protect the children of the world living in the midst of war, or famine, or lack of provision… Hosanna. Watch over my children as they navigate a world so different from the one we grew up in… Hosanna… Heal my mother or father from sickness… Hosanna. Calm my anxious thoughts… my worry… my weariness… Hosanna.
We all have a Hosanna to shout. We all carry with us our own hopes and expectations of who we want this Jesus to be and how we want him to answer our hosannas.
This king… he marches in quite unusually. In the midst of the waving palm branches and the shouts of praise, Jesus rides in on a donkey instead of a war horse… marching alongside fishermen instead of soldiers… wearing worn and tattered clothing instead of armor.
As the crowd watched Jesus and his ragtag team… I wonder if some started to get the impression that maybe this Jesus wasn’t everything that they thought he was. For, what kind of king… spends his time with the lowly or those on the edges of society? What kind of messiah rides into town so humbly?
When expectations aren’t met, people start to worry. They begin to lose faith and trust… and Hosannas… they start to fall silent. And this is exactly what happened in the week following Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem. When the parade ends… the events that occur each day following, go from bad to worse.
The Jesus that rode in surrounded by waving palms begins to disappoint his followers while increasing the anger of his enemies.
On Monday – Jesus, walks into the Temple in Jerusalem… the place devoted to the worship of God. Inside there are money changers – scam artists trying to make a profit off of Jews who are simply trying to worship faithfully. In his righteous anger, Jesus turns over their tables, coins and baskets fly everywhere… doves escape their cages, and chaos ensues. Jesus even forms a whip out of rope and drives the money changers out of the temple yelling at them “This is a house of worship, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
After the commotion is over and the temple is silenced… the chief priests and scribes… the religious leaders get together and begin to plot on how they might find a way to stop Jesus and prevent his leadership and fame from growing. A Hosanna… goes silent.
On Tuesday – Jesus is confronted by the religious authorities again and they begin to question him in hopes to trap him… “Who gives you this authority Jesus?? Who do you think you are?” They want to trick Jesus into saying something that is illegal. So they show him a coin with Caesar’s inscription on it.
They lift the coin up and ask him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Rome?” He replies, “Give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s” This answer seems to appease the chief priests because Jesus remains obedient to the law and submissive to the authorities of the land. However, at the same time it most likely troubled his followers – because they were expecting Jesus to put an end to an oppressive government – a government that lorded over the people with unjust taxes and rules. Another Hosanna goes silent.
Other religious leaders join in. And challenge after challenge, Jesus answers their questions faithfully. But soon enough, he gets tired of their games. This is not how he wants to spend the last few days of his earthy life – arguing with ignorance. He is very much finished with their rigid faith… he’s finished with their constant condemnation of others… he is finished with their pride… and so he confronts them. He speaks loudly in front of the entire congregation…. all who are gathered… “Woe to you… Pharisees and scribes… you who do not practice what you preach… you who place heavy burdens upon your people and yet do not lift a finger. Woe to you! You are vipers!”
He says… “You are blind guides! You are whitewashed tombs… beautiful on the outside and yet full of dry bones on the inside! Woe to you! For you have rejected the most important parts of the law – Justice, mercy, kindness and faith.” [Pause]
It is no surprise that from this time on, Caiaphas the high priest, and his other allies work to devise a plan to have Jesus Killed. He is too dangerous. He doesn’t fall in line with the status quo… he is taking power away from the religious elite.
The temple leaders, along with many who waved palms a few days earlier… were unable to understand that this unique Rabbi… he came not to build a kingdom on stones… but to build a kingdom on our hearts. Instead of leading with power and pride, Jesus came to show the way of love… of peace…. Of self-sacrifice…and humility. The real Jesus had no intention of being a king on a throne… he would rather be a servant showing us how to wash one another’s feet.
Yes, most in Jerusalem that week seemed to misunderstand this King – Jews, Gentiles, religious leaders and roman guards alike. Even the disciples missed it – those who walked with him for three years, witnessing his miracles and listening to his teachings… the men and women who walked side by side with the messiah, even their hosanna’s fall silent. [Pause]
At the Passover meal, hours before he is betrayed, Jesus gathers around a table with his disciples for the assover meal. While celebrating he hears his disciples fighting over which one will be the greatest in the kingdom. They are discussing their positions in the hierarchy of power… while Jesus is breaking bread and serving wine saying – my body broken for you… my blood poured out for you.
Jesus is trying to tell them that he’s going to die for them… but they are too caught up in their own plans. Another Hosanna falls silent.
Later in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says to his disciples, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” Jesus begins pouring his heart out to God in the darkness of the night… praying and praying “Lord, if you are willing, take this cup from me… but not my will… yours be done.” During his prayer and in Jesus’ most desperate hour… his friends, the disciples can’t seem to stay awake. Three times he asks them to stay awake and pray with him… and three times, they fall asleep. Another hosanna falls silent.
The same night, Jesus tells Peter that he is going to deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows. Peter doesn’t believe it. He pledges that he will be faithful till the very end… even if it means prison or death. We know the rest of the story. After deserting Jesus and denying he ever knew him… Peter hears the rooster crow… another Hosanna goes silent.
Later into the evening Judas shows up bringing with him a gang of temple guards. He kisses Jesus on the cheek to show the guards who to arrest. The guards reach for Jesus and a scuffle ensues between the them and the disciples – during the fight… a disciple takes out his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the guards. Immediately Jesus yells to all of them… “Stop… stop! Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” He bends down… face to face with the guard, touches his ear… healing him – healing one of the people who would take take him closer to the cross.
As the guards take away their new prisoner all but one of the disciples scatter never to be seen again until after Jesus’ death and burial. Jesus walks the road ahead of him… to Calvary, very much alone. [Pause]
Friends, the events of Holy Week are not easy to recount. After a beautiful parade with waving palm branches… the week unfolds… and cries of hosanna turn into cries of “Crucify him.” Sometimes, I wish we could skip over this week – and go right into Easter morning. But… we can’t. It’s part of the story. The events of Holy Week are a dreadful reminder of our human condition – of what we’re capable of.
All of us are in this story somewhere. Perhaps we’ve been too caught up in ourselves while overlooking the needs of others around us. Perhaps we’ve made false promises to each other, to ourselves and to God. Perhaps we’ve scattered from leaders, friends or loved ones when our own personal expectations haven’t been met. Perhaps shouts of praise and shouts of judgment have come from the same mouth. And the very last thing I want to think about this week is that perhaps I may have been in that crowd… asking for Jesus to be condemned. [Pause] Though it isn’t beautiful… we need the experience after the parade. We need it in order to remind us of why this next Sunday morning is so vital to our faith as people of the cross and people of the empty tomb. For we are both.
Poet Ann Weams writes about the week ahead of us:
Holy is the week…Holy, consecrated, belonging to God… We move from hosannas to horror with predictable ease of those who know not what they do. Our hosannas sung, our palms waved, let us go with passion into this week. It is time to curse fig trees that do not yield fruit. It is time to cleanse our temples of any blasphemy. It is time to greet Jesus as the Lord’s Anointed One, to lavishly break our alabaster and pour perfume out for him without counting the cost. It is a time for preparation…The time to give thanks and break bread is upon us. The time to give thanks and drink of the cup is imminent. Eat, drink, remember: On this night of nights, each one must ask, as we dip our bread in the wine, “Is it I?” And on that darkest of days, each of us must stand beneath the tree and watch the dying if we are to be there when the stone is rolled away. The only road to Easter morning is through the unrelenting shadows of that Friday. Only then will the alleluias be sung; only then will the dancing begin.
Church, the week ahead of us is… it’s like a long, cold night before the warmth and brightness of the rising sun. I invite you to step into it… to walk humbly through it… But do so knowing that even the darkest of weeks, and the worst of our world… wasn’t enough to keep Jesus in the tomb. He will hear our Hosannas… they will not fall silent and in the end they will turn into shouts of Hallelujah. Thanks be to God. In the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit.