March 24, 2013 – Palm Sunday
© 2013
Palm Sunday is a
bitter-sweet day in the liturgical calendar. We want to welcome Jesus with
cheers and not think too much about what’s coming on Friday. Those who don’t
have a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday experience jump from “Hosanna!” to “He is
risen!” without the Last Supper, praying in the Garden, trial and crucifixion. The
seemingly anonymous overseers of the liturgical calendar have tried to remedy
this by inserting Passion Sunday to focus on the events around Jesus’
crucifixion either the fifth or sixth Sundays in Lent. Few churches want to
give up Palm Sunday festivities on the sixth Sunday, and observing crucifixion
on the fifth Sunday, a week before Palm Sunday, is disturbingly out of rhythm.
I have heard
plenty of Palm Sunday sermons about fickle people who shouted “Hosanna!” on
Palm Sunday and “Crucify!” on Good Friday. Unique among the Gospels, Luke is
clear that these were two different groups. Vocabulary that is apparent
throughout Luke becomes blatant from Palm Sunday through Good Friday. Luke
calls those who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday “the people” or “the disciples,”
meaning all of his followers not just the Twelve. And Luke calls the mob that cried
for his crucifixion “the crowd.” Our English translations don’t always make
this as clear as it is in Greek.
While John 12:12
emphasized that pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for Passover went out to
greet Jesus on Palm Sunday, Luke emphasized those who had followed Jesus from
Galilee and witnessed his deeds of power shouted praises as they approached
Jerusalem. This is not a conflict but the bitter-sweet way Luke 19:29-44 sets
the stage for Jesus’ response as he came around the Mount of Olives for a
panoramic view of Jerusalem.
Jesus’ Triumphal
Entry concludes the transition we have been watching through Lent from Jesus’
ministry in Galilee to his destiny with the cross in Jerusalem. In this space,
Jesus was teaching on the go and had become increasingly pointed, foreshadowing
the climatic confrontation with the Temple leadership in Jerusalem.
When he had come near
Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of
the disciples,30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as
you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie
it and bring it here.31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’
just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”32So those who were sent
departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying
the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”34They
said, “The Lord needs it.”35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after
throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.36As he rode
along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.37As he was
now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of
the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds
of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who
comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest
heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher,
order your disciples to stop.”40He answered, “I tell you, if these
were silent, the stones would shout out.”
41As he came near and
saw the city, he wept over it,42saying, “If you, even you, had only
recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden
from your eyes.43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your
enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on
every side.44They will crush you to the ground, you and your
children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another;
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
For Luke, the
bitter-sweet of Palm Sunday was not fickle people but that Jesus’ disciples enthusiastically
shouting his praises, oblivious to his weeping over Jerusalem. Contemplating
this incongruity opens a vista into our spaces between humiliation and
exaltation, where we can listen for the voice of God to identify our growth
zones.
Matthew 21:5
quotes Zechariah 9:9 to specify that Jesus purposely chose to ride a donkey as
a sign of humiliation. Jesus presented himself, not as a conquering hero on a
white horse but as a servant riding a beast of burden.
In the midst of
the exhilarating exaltation of the cheers of his disciples, Jesus was insulted
by the Pharisees. Even deeper, his humiliation was knowing that he would not be
recognized by the Temple leaders in Jerusalem. He wept for the fate of
Jerusalem. If only they recognized him!
In that space
between humiliation and exaltation, Jesus yearned for the people of Jerusalem,
and I believe for us to identify where we are growing in the things that make for
peace: faith and harmony with God.
Philippians
2:5-11 is clearly a hymn of the New Testament Church. Scholars speculate
whether Paul inserted a known hymn to make his point or whether he composed it
himself. I’m inclined to think Paul used something the Philippian church
already sang in worship, but I don’t think it matters. But recognizing how Paul
introduced this exquisitely theological praise is critical. “Let this same mind
be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Paul is purposely practical!
Jesus leads the
way for us through humiliation to exaltation. When you think you deserve some
respect or appreciation, remember you are following the one who emptied himself
of divine prerogatives to ride a donkey to the cross, weeping, not for himself
but for people who couldn’t recognize the things that made for peace.
In your spaces
between humiliation and exaltation, how can you listen for the voice of God to
identify your growth zones? We may squirm, but these are not deficiencies as much
as the zones where the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to grow. Do you feel your
hackles coming up when someone challenges you? Maybe it’s when you’re sure
you’re right and someone else tells you that they’re sure you’re wrong. Maybe
it when you’ve made a decision that affects other people and someone questions
your right or authority to make that decision. Behind the noise of your own
heart, can you hear the whisper of Jesus saying, “Here is where you are growing
now”?
Much has been
made of Pope Francis being the first Latin American Pope, the first Jesuit Pope
and the first Pope to choose the name Francis. Francis of Assisi never aspired
to be a parish priest or bishop, much less a Pope. In fact, he clashed with Popes.
Yet in 1208 Pope Innocent III had a dream of the Church sliding off its
foundations, stopped by the little monk, Francis. You can see Giotto’s fresco of
that dream with the QR code or web address on the back of the bulletin. Francis
refused to be called the leader of the Friars
Minor, “Little Brothers.” We know them as the Franciscans. Francis would have
been horrified to have something named after him. He even refused to be the
leader of the band of 12 brothers with whom he lived and served. Though others
recorded some of Francis’ sermons, teachings and prayers (some of which are
more legendary than historical), he never wrote with the idea of leaving a
legacy. Nevertheless, Francis is one of the most influential Christian since
the apostolic age. While claimed by Roman Catholics, Protestants and even non-Christians
love Francis. Legend has it that in 1219, during the 5th Crusade, Francis
crossed enemy lines for an audience with the Sultan of Egypt who is reported to
have said, “If more Christian were like Francis, I would consider becoming one.”
For centuries
the Jesuits and Franciscans have been rivals, making Pope Francis’ choice of
that name extraordinary. Pope Francis’ recent symbolic gestures and statements
suggest he aspires to emulate Francis of Assisi. How that unfolds remains to be
seen. But Francis of Assisi shows us the journey through humiliation to
exaltation.
From Luke’s
bitter-sweet account of Palm Sunday, as you join the cheers of the multitude of
Jesus’ disciples, can you also watch Jesus weeping and hear him whisper, “These
things make for peace. You are growing here.”
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