Entrance processions were a familiar
ceremony in the first century. Thus
Jesus’ entrance procession into Jerusalem drew some attention from the
leaders. Biblical commentator R. Alan
Culpepper notes that entrance processions usually had a four part pattern. 1. The conqueror or ruler is escorted into
the city by the citizens. 2. The
procession is accompanied by hymns and acclamations. 3. Some aspect of the procession shows the
authority of the ruler. 4. The entrance
is followed by a “ritual of appropriation,” such as making a sacrifice that
takes place in the temple.
Indeed Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem
on that day that we have named Palm Sunday contains all of these elements:
Jesus
is escorted into the city by people who spread their cloaks on the road.
The
crowds praised God with loud voices for the miracles they had seen.
Jesus
shows divine knowledge and authority when he tells his disciples to get a
certain colt, then predicts ahead of time exactly how it will happen, and then
rides on it even though it has never been trained.
And
fourth, if we read further in Luke’s gospel, the first thing Jesus does is go
into the temple, look around, and then upset the tables of the money changers
and merchants – a symbolic act of claiming authority over the temple. (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pg. 366)
Culpepper’s ideas are thought
provoking, especially when you dig deeper into them. Was the crowd that welcomes Jesus into
Jerusalem the high and mighty of the city?
Were they the wise and the wealthy?
Culpepper notes:
“Jesus
was a king… of fishermen, tax collectors, Samaritans, harlots, blind men,
demoniacs, and cripples. Those who
followed Jesus were a ragtag bunch, pathetically unfit for the grand hopes that
danced in their imaginations. There were
women who now leaped with joy, a Samaritan leper with a heart full of
gratitude, a crippled woman who had been unable to stand straight with dignity
for eighteen years, and a blind man who had followed Jesus all the way from
Jericho.
“The
cloaks thrown on the road that day were not expensive garments but tattered
shawls and dusty, sweat-stained rags.
Jesus was the king of the oppressed and suffering. He shared their hardships, relieved their
suffering, accepted them when others deemed them unacceptable, gave them hope,
and embodied God’s love for them. Now
they came to march with him into the holy city.” (New Interpreter’s Bible,
Volume 9, Pg. 370)
This event certainly attracted the
attention of the city’s leaders. Who was
this guy and the dusty uneducated crowd around him? There’s no wonder they were anxious. Jerusalem was crowded with pilgrims arriving
for Passover. The Romans already have
extra troops stationed around to keep the peace and they’d like nothing better
than an excuse to start beating on people.
What would this bunch, with their home-grown “king”, do? There’s no wonder that some of the Pharisees
who witnessed this procession told Jesus to keep his followers silent and in
line.
I want to make one tweak to this
four part pattern of an entrance procession.
While the fourth part of the pattern is indeed followed by Jesus going
into the temple and overturning the money changers’ tables, that was only a
symbolic act. The temple was the place
for making sacrifices; sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. While Jesus spends the next few days going to
the temple and preaching and teaching, does Jesus ever offer a sacrifice
there? No. If he did it was sure to have been recorded
in the gospels.
But he does make a sacrifice,
doesn’t he? He makes a sacrifice to save
us all. In a mystery we cannot
understand his sacrifice is the ultimate one for all our failings and
wrongdoings.
Does Jesus sacrifice take place in
the temple? No. Does it even take place within the city of
Jerusalem? No.
Perhaps the fourth part of the
pattern, the part of the pattern about making a sacrifice in the temple, is
actually delayed until Friday. In a way
the holy city of Jerusalem vomits out its king even as he wants to sacrifice to
claim it and save it.
And what has happened to the ragtag crowd that welcomed him into
the city? Where were the fishermen, the
sinners, the outcasts, the tax collectors, harlots and demoniacs who welcomed
him? Where were those bottom dwellers of
society whom no one noticed or cared about until Jesus came along? Were they there sticking by their king? Were they there for the one who accepted them
when no one else did?
Some repayment of loyalty from them! It’s pretty sad when the losers in life won’t
even acknowledge you. Even they reject
Jesus when he makes his ultimate sacrifice for the world.
As we look at the story of Holy Week
we remember just how complete the rejection of Jesus was. On Good Friday I’m going to read a sermon
from theologian Karl Barth who notes that the only people who were truly with
Jesus in the crucifixion were the ones who had no choice and couldn’t get away – the two
criminals crucified beside him, nailed into place along with him.
As our great Holy Week stretches out
before us may we not reject our Savior.
May we not be like Jerusalem and even refuse to let him make his
sacrifice within us to save us. And yet,
there is a tough fact to face.
The only way we would have been there when Jesus actually
completes the work of his triumphal entry is if we too were nailed to the spot
against our will.
When we can accept our desperate, hopeless inability to be good
enough for Jesus and to actually truly follow him we are finally in a place to
accept his grace.
A few years ago Saturday Night Live ran a sketch where when
Jesus is raised from the dead he goes on a Rambo-like killing spree and blows
away all the bad guys in Jerusalem. But
does Jesus do that? Does Jesus
ultimately reject the holy city because it and everyone in it: the good, the
bad and the ugly all rejected him? Does
Jesus reject us all because unless we were forced against our will we wouldn’t
be there either? No. The true grace of God comes when we realize
that those who reject Jesus are still acceptable to him.
Journey with Jesus this week as we go through Holy Week, the
most important week of the year for us Christians. Be with Jesus each and every day. And then feel yourself also withdraw from him
when it all goes wrong. Do not look at
the people in the gospels and think that you would have done better if it were
you because you wouldn’t have. Only
those nailed to the spot against they’re will were actually with Jesus.
And then may Easter open you with deeper joy in God’s accepting
favor, favor which you can never deserve but always have.
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