John
12:12-16
Isaiah
50:4-9a
Philippians
2:5-11
Have you ever
received a compliment from someone that you just couldn’t quite accept? Maybe it was the look in their eye that made
you suspicious. Maybe it was the tone of
their voice. Maybe you couldn’t quite
put your finger on it, but sure enough in the next sentence here it comes, the
word “but.” I really wanted to thank you
for doing such and such, but…” Oh here
it comes. Or may be the compliment is
followed then by an ask. You get all
buttered up and find out the person really just wants something from you.”
Today Jesus
experiences both. He’s heading into to
Jerusalem along with the crowd going up for the Passover, and he finds the
people cheering for him, waving their palm branches, and hailing their king. And in the same sentence they cry out,
“Hosanna!” or “Lord save us.” They are
already laying out their demands, their expectations, and their “but” doesn’t
come until the following week, when they turn on him and cry out for his
crucifixion.
It seemed that
Jesus was expecting this parade, because in the other 3 Gospels he sends his
disciples to get the donkey that he rides on.
I have to wonder how he experienced this event. He and disciples were simply walking to
Jerusalem and they were in this huge crowd also going up to celebrate the Passover. The population of Jerusalem would quadruple
for this festival week, so many people were on the road. Was the crowd simply swept along? Did some of them recognize him from his
miracles of healing or feeding? What got
this crowd so fired up?
We celebrate this
holiday and probably think that its nice that Jesus is finally getting
recognized, getting praised, getting thanked, but maybe this was just the same
mob mentality that comes into play at the crucifixion, a sad commentary on how
easily we humans are swayed by popularity contests and vicious attacks. Jesus, of course, was aware of people trying
to butter him up to get what they wanted, as well as those who lost interest as
soon as they had what they wanted from him.
And he was used to disappointing people when he didn’t meet their
expectations. He always kept his mission
in mind no matter what kind of pressure he received to do what people wanted
him to do.
Although the
people may have thought that Jesus was finally going to step forward and seize
power in the way they thought he should, Jesus was illustrating another kind of
power, power with and among, rather than power over. He was holding up a mirror to the power on
display on the other side of town.
On this day, we
actually have two parades coming toward each other.
The one from the
East was the Imperial Procession of Pontius Pilate, made every year so that the
Jewish people would know that Rome was more powerful and important than their
religious holidays. It was a military parade of the leader coming
into the city in case their was a riot among the Jews. It was
a parade with cavalry and foot soldiers, weapons and armor, wagons and banners,
finery and feathers, a band, marching feet, and lots emotion: Fear, pride,
curiosity, awe, and resentment.
And here was Jesus
coming from the West, on a donkey with her nursing colt beside her, in plain
worn clothing, with palms instead of swords, cloaks spread on the ground, a
fulfillment of scripture from long ago, a nothing group of people who were
nonviolent, unarmed, and unassuming.
“Hosanna,” they
cried. Lord save us!
The reason the
Jewish people may find this a good time to riot and rebel, is that they are
celebrating the Passover, remembering how God led them to freedom when they had
been oppressed in Egypt. And here they
are oppressed under Rome, remember how God wants them to be free, and likely to
rise up to overthrow their oppressors as they did once before. “Hosanna,” they cried. Lord save us!
Lord save us from slavery and oppression. Lord save us
from sin. Lord save us from fighting and killing. Save us from bullying and enforcing our
way! Lord save us from arrogance, from
needing to be important. Lord save us
from imposing our philosophy on others.
Lord save us from judging others based on their rank or possessions or
wealth. Lord save us from believing that
people get what they deserve. Lord save
us from putting up barriers between ourselves and others. Lord save us from using our power to scare
people who are different from us. Lord
save us from wasting our time and resources honoring those we’re afraid
of. Lord save us from
self-indulgence. Lord save us from
ourselves.
Lord save us for humility. Save us for relationship and
understanding. Lord save us for peacemaking. Lord save us for elevating the needs of those
who suffer the most. Lord save us for
deep listening. Lord save us for sharing
our gifts and resources. Lord save us
for sharing the truth of who we are and the experiences we’ve had. Lord save us for tearing down walls between
us. Lord save us for building power with
those around us to make a difference in our community. Lord save us for standing up to the powers that
crush and abuse. Lord save us for the
transformation of our unjust systems.
Lord save us for good stewardship of our time and money and gifts. Lord save us to glorify you. Lord save us for the good of the whole community
of creation.
Pilate’s parade was an expression of his values, of
war, of fear, of conquering one’s foes, of might. Jesus’ parade, his triumphal entry, was an
expression of his values, of peace, of hope, of relationship, of community, of
love. These two parades are coming at
each other and will find themselves face to face by the end of the week. And Pilate with slaughter Jesus, just as a
military power would, based on their methodology and belief about winning. And Jesus will suffer, and bleed, and die as
countless millions have under the powers of this world. But those powers run counter to God’s values
and since God created all this, God knows what the true powers are that last
and give life, the powers that will win the day.
So at the beginning of next week, Jesus will be
risen. Jesus will forgive those who
denied and betrayed and mocked and killed him.
His values will prevail and life will prevail, despite the fickle crowd,
despite possessing nothing, despite being completely vulnerable and open to
attack. This parade is a protest march
against the values of empire. It holds
up a mirror to the imperial procession, how completely ridiculous and contrary
to God it is, how it is actually an act of fear and weakness to have to put on
a display like this to keep people under control. Jesus’ parade makes a mockery of Pilate’s
parade, and don’t think Pilate doesn’t consider this when he hands him over to
be crucified. Today, we joined the
protest march. It was outside our
comfort zone. We weren’t sure we were
supposed to be there. We didn’t like
certain parts of it. It made us squirm
and for good reason. That parade is a
bunch of nobodies, singing pretty poorly, carrying on about who knows what,
following a story about a man who people say is God but who was completely
defenseless, who cared for people nobody cares about, and who died in complete
weakness and scorn. And we gather here
and vow to follow him, even though every day we walk in that other parade with
Pilate. Walking in Jesus’ parade comes
with a cost, a challenge to our own values, but it also comes with a reward,
which is eternal life and one we don’t have to die to claim. Jesus promises that we can live, not the way
we have been living, but in a simpler, more humble, more loving, cooperative
way.
Save us Lord, from ourselves. Save us Lord, for each other, for life, and
for you.
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