Luke 19:28-44
Last Sunday was St Patrick's
Day. If you were here you may recall I
said most of us would never have a parade in our honor. On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus didn't so
much have a parade as he was the parade.
Others may have fallen in line and entered Jerusalem with him but it
certainly wouldn't have been much of a parade without Jesus.
No doubt, among the things the
crowds in Jerusalem were discussing as the Passover season began was the
Teacher from Nazareth. He had been gradually
attracting attention for a little over three years and now people were
beginning to wonder what would happen next.
Some--but perhaps not the
majority--wondered if he would declare himself to be the long-awaited Messiah
who would bring a new day to the nation.
Some may have wondered if he
would call the people to insurrection against Rome and wondered if such an
insurrection would be any more successful than the others.
Some may have wondered if he
would show up at all. In fact, the
disciples wished he wouldn't. He had
been making ominous predictions about the Romans and crucifixions.
But Jesus was determined to
go. In fact, he had to make his own
travel arrangements.
If you and I were going to try
to make a memorable entrance to a city planning to celebrate the most
significant holiday of the year, we would look for a classic car. We wold have expected Jesus to look for a
white stallion, the kind of horse a Roman commander would ride.
But Jesus had something else
in mind. He recalled that prophecy of
Zechariah that spoke of the Messianic King coming to his people riding on just
such a humble beast. You wonder if
that donkey was Jesus' way of telling the crowd, "Don't make assumptions
about what I'm up to."
Robert Stein writes about
Jesus' intention:
In conscious fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy...he
arranged for an unridden donkey to be ready for him. Having fetched it, he
rode. Yet he mounted no warrior
stallion, for he was meek and humble. He
rode into Jerusalem not to mount a kingly throne but to fulfill his Father's
mission. In majesty he rode on--to die.
So, the Triumphal Entry was
the setting in motion of the final phase of God's great work through Jesus.
God would be something
wondrous and new. In only a week, the
world would never be the same again.
God still does wondrous and
new things. And what we see in this story is often repeated when He does.
When
God is about to do something wondrous and new...we shouldn't be surprised to
discover He'd been laying the groundwork beforehand.
For thousands of years God had
been preparing the world for the birth of Jesus. He was at work in the lives of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. At work in the
injustices Joseph faced. At work in the
heart of a prostitute named Rahab so that she allied herself with God's people
and became an ancestor of the Messiah.
At work in the life of David. At
work in so many ways to finally bring a puzzled but obedient couple to Bethlehem
almost three and a half decades before Jesus took his ride into Jerusalem.
With all this in the
background, should a quiet visit to the owner of a donkey surprise us?
In the 1930s and 1940s,
America reeled under a Great Depression and the impact of a world war on two
fronts. At the end of that war, the
nation needed spiritual renewal. Who
would have guessed that God was preparing the son of a North Carolina dairy
farmer to be the conduit of that renewal?
Of course if we step back and
take a broader look, we see that God was preparing others besides Billy Graham
to bring awakening to their nations and regions. Or getting those nations ready for the
attempts to shut out the gospel. John
Sung was the brilliant son of a Chinese Methodist pastor who, equipped with a
PhD in chemistry from OSU, might have taught wherever he wanted but chose to be
a traveling evangelist throughout most of Asia.
Though he died at 43 on the eve of the communist takeover of his
homeland, he made an indelible impact on the area.
No one can say how much of an
impact Sung made on the millions of Chinese Christians who have been subject to
repression and persecution. What is
clear is the miraculous growth of the Chinese church, despite the efforts of
the government to squelch it. One
estimate suggests that some 20,000 Chinese become Christians every day.
God knew the Chinese church
would face the fury of Mao and prepared his people to do remarkable things with
only his help.
Who knows what groundwork God
is laying right now.
When
God is about to do something wondrous and new...We know there will be a role
for those willing to take a risk.
The words Jesus instructed his
disciples to use in securing the donkey were in the form of a royal request for
something to be used for the king's own purpose. That says something about Jesus'
self-understanding.
But the event says something about the owner
as well. What would happen to the donkey
and colt? Would he ever see them again? It didn't seem to matter.
When God is about to do
something wondrous and new, he my ask us to take risks. We may be asked to give our time, talents,
and goods with no certainty of the outcome.
On such occasions, we have to
respond with simple trust. The donkey's
owner didn't ask if it was a good idea to go riding into Jerusalem during such
a turbulent time. He didn't ask if the
demographics suggested another approach, one less likely to antagonize the
religious and political leaders. He
didn't ask for guarantees his property wouldn't be confiscated by the
authorities. No, he just allowed Jesus
to use the animals as he saw fit.
This story reminds us of the
countless, nameless individuals who have had a part in God's work all because
they were committed.
When
God is about to do something wondrous and new...We can expect there will be
mixed responses.
Picture the excitement of the
crowd. They were shouting and throwing down their
coats as they would for a king about to enter the city. They were filled with joy, despite any
apprehension they may have had.
Of course, we know their
enthusiasm would soon turn to shock and disappointment. Not only would Jesus fail to act as they had
believed he would act, the authorities would crucify him. Their commitment would be tested. While I think it's unfair to assume the crowd
that celebrated his entrance to the city formed the same crowd that would cry
"Crucify him," many of them may have assumed they had embraced a
false hope. But we also know that hope
would be renewed when they realized God was doing something greater than they
expected.
Picture the resistance of the
Pharisees. In
his last specific mention of the Pharisees, Luke tells us they were displeased
about what was happening. Jesus wasn't
one of them. Not every pharisee was born
an aristocrat but, once a pharisee, he didn't keep associating with the
untrained and undisciplined. Jesus seemed to relish being around all the
"wrong" people. Then, too,
Jesus seemed to consider minor what they considered to be major. Washing hands and tithing garden herbs didn't
seem to interest or impress him. All
this hubbub over Jesus just showed how confused his followers were.
Jesus' response to the
Pharisees is interesting. After telling
him to silence his disciples, Jesus told the Pharisees, "I tell you, if my
disciples were to keep quiet, the stones will cry out." The notion that inanimate objects might give
praise to God is found in other places.
Psalm 19 begins, "The heavens declare the glory of God." If Jesus were gesturing toward the stones of the
city wall or the stones of the temple, the idea would be that the great city
and the beautiful building dedicated to God's glory would not miss the
opportunity to give their praise. But
there may be yet another meaning here.
Apparently, some referred to the Gentiles as being like stones. Trying to teach them the truth of scripture
was like trying to teach a stone, the reasoning went. Jesus may have been looking ahead to the time
when the Gentiles would acknowledge him.
David Garland comments on
Jesus' words: "The primary point of
the saying is that silencing the disciples and even silencing Jesus will not
negate that Jesus is King, nor will it derail God's purposes."
Picture the absence of the
leaders. Usually, a king would be greeted by the
leaders of the city. They would come out
to greet him and enter the city with him.
There would be speeches of welcome and celebration. The indifference of the leaders amounted to
rejection.
This led to Jesus' lament as
he approached the city. In rejecting
Jesus and God's plan for his people as revealed in Jesus, the city was sealing
its fate. Decades later, in 66, the city
would foolishly rebel against the Romans.
General Titus would lay siege to the city to starve the population into
submission. When the final surrender
came, in 70, the city was destroyed along with the temple. Because the leaders had rejected the chance
for peace--real peace--the inevitable outcome of their striving for temporal
power would be destruction.
In allowing the Messianic
prophecies to be applied to him and in saying that Jerusalem's future was tied
to the city's response to him, Jesus was making a bold claim about
himself. He was claiming to be that
Redeemer-Deliverer the nation had been waiting for. But most had their own picture of what that
Messiah would be like and it sure wasn't Jesus.
So, in view of their
resistance we can hear a further message in Jesus' words. His critics are deceiving themselves. He
seems to say to them: If you were who
you think you are, you would know the Messiah you want is not the Messiah you
need. And, if you were to become the people you think you are, the Messiah you
need would be the Messiah you want.
Even today, men and women
respond to the work of God in various ways.
In times of awakening, some see God transforming society in ways no
social scientist could imagine. In times
of awakening, some are disappointed God seems more interested in saving and
remaking their souls than in making them happy.
Some see the missionary enterprise as a reflection of God's love and
grace for the entire world; others see the missionary enterprise as a
reflection of arrogance and religious bigotry.
We need to pray that we will be neither blind to God's work nor too
proud to welcome his blessings whatever the means he uses to bestow them.
When
God is about to do something wondrous and new...We can expect that work to be
as broad as our need.
The work of Jesus is about our salvation. We are right to think of this salvation
involving forgiveness and reconciliation to God. That was certainly accomplished on the
cross. When Jesus speaks of himself here
as the One who could give peace he was speaking of more than an absence of
military conflict. He was speaking of
peace of heart born out of peace with God, a peace that would create peace with
others. Tragically, Jerusalem--the "city of peace" rejected "the
Prince of Peace."
But Jesus still offers that
peace and many have found it. As Paul
says in Romans 5, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The cross waiting at the end of this week
would bridge the gap between God and humanity.
Because of that the "dividing wall" that tended to separate
people from one another had also been torn down. The One whose birth inspired the declaration
of "peace on earth" would bring to earth the very peace known in
heaven.
Consider this, the Bible
pictures humanity as being in rebellion against God. We have shaken our puny fists toward heaven
and challenged God's power. The psalmist
pictures humanity plotting against God, planning to be independent of his power
and will. How does this psalmist picture
God responding? 'The One enthroned in
heaven," the psalmist says, "laughs; the Lord scoffs at them."
On earth, when one military
force finds itself outmatched and outnumbered, it will often send emissaries to
the more powerful leader to try to establish peace, to try to avoid the
inevitable destruction. In the Biblical
story of our warfare with God, God sends the peace Envoy. He comes to offer peace, a peace that does
not mean subjection and humiliation but a peace that brings blessings no
earthly rebels could ever expect to receive from the ruler whose authority they
have flouted.
Jesus gives that kind of
peace. The peace Jesus gives means
peace in every dimension of life.
Luke implies that Jesus
intended to make a difference in more ways than one.
Jesus ends this ride into the
city with a visit to the temple. He
hasn't come to pray. He has come to make
it possible for others to pray. Though
he had expelled them near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus finds the
abusive money changers once again at work in the temple.
Taking advantage of the strict
rules about what animals could be sacrificed or the kinds of coins that could
be used in offerings, these hucksters gouged the poor people who only wanted to
come before God in worship. Historians
believe the high priests ignored this travesty because they received a cut of
the profits. As a consequence, these
thieves were safer in the temple than the pious.
Once again, Jesus drove them
out. And we are reminded that the
salvation Jesus brings involves not only the promise of life in heaven but the
hope of new life here as well. When the
church forgets the gospel has a social dimension, it forgets the example of
Jesus' own ministry.
Then, too, what Jesus said and
did on that ride into Jerusalem ought to warn the church against forgetting the
dangers faced by any organization, religious or otherwise. Structures can become rigid and unchangeable. Rituals can become mere traditions with their
true meaning and significance lost in the past.
Rules and laws replace grace.
Leaders can become power-hungry, jealous of anyone perceived to be
threatening their position. In the eyes
of such leaders, people lose their identity as fellow-pilgrims and become
objects of scorn because they don't possess the special status accorded the
enlightened few.
In predicting the destruction
of the temple, Jesus was warning the church against allowing itself to follow
the course that forgets its reason for being.
When
God is about to do something wondrous and new...We should remember he may do so
in a way that is unexpected.
Late on Good Friday afternoon,
Jesus' followers would think it was all over.
They would imagine their hopes and dreams were in vain. They would think they had been wrong. Then, ....
But that's a story for another day.
Conclusion
God still wants to do new and
wondrous things for and through his people.
God still enjoys surprising
us. Fifty years ago, who would have
imagined the Chinese church would be one of the fastest growing churches in the
world. A hundred years ago, who would
have imagined the global south would be the center of Christian growth.
Of course, God may have a few
surprises closer to home.
George Barna recently examined
the "unchurched" in America.
He defines the unchurched as those who haven't been in a church, except
for a funeral or wedding, in six months or so.
He reported that 62% of the 76 million Americans who almost never attend
church consider themselves to be Christians.
Now, admittedly, some of these
folks may believe that being born in America makes a person a Christian. But, consider this, 13% of these men and
women who almost never attend church--a church like ours--do attend small
groups or house churches at least once a month.
An additional 15% attend such house churches less frequently, but they
attend. So, nearly 30% of those who
never attend a "regular" church, do get together with others
interested in studying the Bible and sharing times of fellowship. But church as we know it rarely appeals to
them.
Now I by no means believe this
is the only venue in which God is at work today. Still, these findings raise an interesting
question. Wouldn't it be curious if the
spiritual awakening we've been praying for came through those who are doing
something so very different: people who were
not going to church?
Of course, should such an
awakening occur we would eventually realize those people not going to church
were doing something more important--they were being the church.
If we hope for God to involve
us when he does something new and wondrous, we who still go to church
should also resolve to be the church.
