March 22, 2020 Sermon Lent 4 Matthew 21:1-17

I’ve decided to continue with our read-through of Matthew’s gospel and not break the pattern because of the coronavirus.  It seems like a break from all that’s going on is in order.

I know that Palm Sunday is still a couple weeks away.  It seems premature to be reading about Jesus’ “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem.  But a lot happens between the Sunday Jesus enters Jerusalem and Good Friday.  We can easily spend a few weeks looking at all those teachings and events.

This approach also fits with Matthew’s storyline.  And to get at that let’s make a contrast with Mark’s gospel, remembering that Mark’s gospel is the main source Matthew draws upon for his writing.

Fully half of Mark’s gospel is given over to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the week he spends there before the crucifixion.  The story builds and builds from the Transfiguration like a musical crescendo up to an explosive chord at his death.  In Mark Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a jump in the crescendo and the whole text is anxious with what is growing.

Now consider how Matthew changes the tone of Mark.  In Matthew Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem covers only 17 verses.  It’s a blip in the story line.  Matthew is more interesting in stressing the teachings and public ministry of Jesus.  From Matthew you get the sense that for months and years Jesus is preaching and teaching in the countryside well north of Jerusalem.  Then as the Passover approaches he decides to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to participate in the festivities.  He knows what’s coming.  We the readers do too.  But it’s not the same growth in tension.

In Matthew the religious leaders in Jerusalem have heard about Jesus.  They know who he is.  They’ve sent people out to check on what this untrained itinerant - but charismatic - rabbi is doing.  But they haven’t been too fussed about him.  If he wants to whip up the northern peasants what do they care?

But then Jesus and his rag tag bunch of followers suddenly show up a few days before Passover.  The city is jammed for the Passover holidays.  Jews from all over the Roman empire pour in every year. 

The Romans know that the Jews can be a rebellious bunch so they send in extra troops to keep watch.  The regional governor, Pontus Pilate comes in to oversee the crowds first hand.  Remember, a sizeable part of the Jewish population fit into the category of Zealots.  They probably employed guerrilla tactics when opportunities presented themselves.  Therefore the Romans are alert to every possible act of sedition or rioting.  Their practice is to clamp down hard.  They strike first and ask questions later – if they bother asking questions at all!

The Romans have tried and true techniques that help them keep order.  Prominent among them is the public execution of leaders of rebellions.  And that public execution is by crucifixion.  The outskirts of the Roman empire had many crucifixion sites; places along major roads where insurrectionists were hung up to die.

Often we think of Jesus having his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday and then on Monday he goes into the temple and overturns the tables of the money changers.  That’s how Mark depicts it – again, the tension building ever higher.

But Matthew appears to tweak the timeline.  Notice how our gospel reading went.  Jesus enters Jerusalem with the fanfare of some of the crowds.  Then he immediately goes into the temple and causes a ruckus.

All things considered, this is not a wise move.  Oh, it certainly serves is theological purposes for Jesus’ ministry.  But it is not smart at all: A country preacher with a reputation for stirring up the country folks with a message that, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” comes into Jerusalem with a bunch of those same country folks who proclaim, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

These crowds certainly saw Jesus coming in to give the Romans a divine thrashing.  While that is not his intent, that is how it is perceived.  And again, to make matters worse, Jesus goes on to cause a ruckus in the temple in the busiest time of the year.

The Jewish leadership is already wary of him.  The Romans are now very aware of him!  He’s dangerous.  He is a problem.  He must be done away with.

But how?  How do you ‘take care of’ a populist preacher without causing widespread riots?  Remember, that was a real threat.  Four decades later such riots turned into a war which lead to the Romans destroying Jerusalem!

Indeed Jesus has been preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand.  It sounds like, and was, a political message.  The Roman empire was a massive system of economic and military exploitation.  Hundreds of thousands of people were enslaved and oppressed for the benefit of a very few. 

Jesus’ teachings of opportunity and value and fairness were a threat to Rome.

Our gospel writer Matthew wants us to see the contrast between how Jesus’ kingdom operates and how the powers of the nations operate.

I think Matthew has structured his story so that we get the idea that as far as the Romans were concerned, Jesus was just an annoying mosquito that they swatted – just one more, among hundreds, of Jews and insurrections they executed as they stayed in power.

In other words, though Jesus is central to our faith and global history, Matthew wants us to see that Jesus was a nobody to anybody who was somebody.

I know many people have been working like crazy these last several days because of the coronavirus.  When you’re busy you feel important.  And many people have been doing absolutely nothing, because there is nothing to do!  When you have nothing to do it is easy to feel unimportant; worthless even.

I think Matthew’s gospel gives us a good perspective.  At the time and from the world’s perspective Jesus was a nobody.  He was of no consequence.  He had a small bunch of uneducated followers from the countryside.  He came to Jerusalem for a holiday celebration and got squashed like a bug – just like many who came before him and who came after him.

Yet through him God changed the world.

Don’t go looking for sensation, for big projects, for great accomplishments to feel worthwhile.  What looks big in the world’s perspective may mean nothing in God’s eyes.  And what looks like nothing in the world’s eyes may be God’s greatest act of all time.

Much of what the world considers to be all-important has been shut down.  It will probably all be shut down for weeks to come.  Indeed it will mean hardship and frustration for many people.  I don’t take that lightly.  But it is also a strong reminder that what seems important may not be at all.

May you remember that your self worth lies completely in God’s hands.  Whether you are busy to the point of burnout, or feel sidelined to the point of irrelevance, you are God’s.  God is doing big and important things through you.