Who is your "king"?

 

Reflection Palm Sunday 28^th March 2021

Make no mistake Jesus had everything planned for his entry into Jerusalem. It wasn’t by chance his disciples found a donkey tied up. And Jesus knew full well what his entry would mean.

He chooses to enter the city when there is a huge crowd making its way to Jerusalem for the Passover. And there is Jesus, riding on a donkey. People are singing His praises and throwing palms and cloaks before Him. The high priests and the Roman soldiers are watching. The modern church has taken the donkey as a symbol of the meekness and humility of Jesus, and so it was. Jesus said more than once that He came to serve, not to be served. But to the Jews of Jesus’ day, the donkey was also a symbol of kingship. The old Testament prophets had said that the Messiah would come riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9-10.) Jesus knew full well that by coming to Jerusalem in this way and at this time, He was using the symbolism of a king, even a Messiah. He knew full well what this symbol would mean in the super-charged atmosphere of Jerusalem.

How often is it said, "Don’t mix religion with politics," but here we see them mixed inextricably as Jesus enters Jerusalem. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said once “When people say religion and politics don’t mix, I wonder which Bible they are reading.” I agree with him entirely. And the story of Holy Week is political. 

Passover is the most political of Jewish holy days - the celebration of their liberation from Pharaoh. Here is Jesus, coming as the prophets had said He would, and here is the crowd cheering Him on.

On Monday, the day after His provocative and triumphal entry into the city, Jesus goes into the Temple and starts a riot in this most sacred of places. He picks up a whip and drives out the moneychangers: "My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of thieves!" (Mark 11:17). Then, because of the uproar He has caused, Jesus slips out to Bethany for the night, a few miles outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus comes back to the Temple on Tuesday and Wednesday and provokes the authorities even further. Listen to what He says: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees! You load the people with heavy burdens, but you yourself do not lift a finger!" (Matthew 23:20. "Woe to you, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear clean and beautiful, but inside are full of the bones of the dead" (Matthew 23:27).

In four short days, Jesus has antagonized both the Roman political leaders and the Jewish religious leaders. He has united them in opposition to Him. If they feared or disliked Him before, now they want Him dead.

Jesus is the master of the tactics of nonviolent confrontation. (Ironically, as I write this, the right to nonviolent protest is currently a topic of much debate in the United Kingdom.) But by provoking the authorities as He did, Jesus is making sure that the inevitable conflict takes place, but on His terms.  It isn’t Jesus’ tactics in the Temple or His tactics against the priests and lawyers that get Him killed. No, what sends Jesus to the cross is one question, and one question only. It is the question asked by Pilate later in the week, when Jesus is on trial for His life: "Are you the king of the Jews?"

To claim oneself king of Israel is to deny the authority of Caesar; a crime of subversion that Pilate will not overlook. We think of Pilate as weak and indecisive as He faces Jesus. In fact, Pilate was a ruthless, ambitious, and blood-thirsty tyrant who made liberal use of crucifixions to put down insurrection. What Pilate is doing during the trial is manipulating the priests into saying what must be said, so he can put Jesus to death as a subversive. Pilate starts by saying he finds no fault in Jesus and claims he wants to release Him. But as the trial progresses, it gets more political. The turning point comes when Jesus finally speaks.

Pilate has said to Him, "Why do you not speak? Don’t you know I have the power of life and death over you?" And Jesus finally answers, "You would have no authority over Me unless it had been given to you from above" (cf. John 19:1-11). That’s the turning point! Jesus is putting Pilate and Caesar in their place. Rome says Caesar is a god who rules by his own divine right. Jesus says, "No, all authority comes from the God of heaven and earth. My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

Jesus holds ultimate authority. Jesus does have a kingdom, but it exists beyond the reach and power of Rome. In effect, Jesus is telling Pilate: "You have no claim on Me. My kingdom is far beyond even you or your Caesar." This is a test of wills and Jesus beats Pilate hands down.

The priests pick up on that: "If you release this Man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar." In other words, the priests are saying to Pilate, "If you release Jesus, you are committing treason against Caesar. You are jeopardizing your office, risking your career, and failing in your duty to Caesar."

Now the priests are coming close to where Pilate wants them to be. Pilate says, "Behold your king!" Then the priests utter the most fateful words imaginable; the words which convict them, not only by Jesus, but by their own sacred Scripture. They cry out to Pilate: "We have no king but Caesar!" When Pilate hears this, he is satisfied. He turns Jesus over to be crucified.

"We have no king but Caesar."

That same cry echoes down the ages, as people claim other "kings" as their first loyalty, instead of Jesus Christ. We hear that cry today and maybe even say it to ourselves. We have no king but keeping up with the Joneses! We have no king but avoiding taxes! We have no king but hating immigrants! We have no king but cutting overseas aid! We have no king but patriotism - my country, right or wrong! All other claims of love, justice, mercy, or faith must take a back seat, because we have no other king but ... Fill in your own. There are so many to choose from.

Jesus was a Man with a tough mind and a tender heart. He shows how serious the struggle is between good and evil and what a formidable force God’s Spirit must be in this fallen world. Here we see Jesus standing face to face with human authority, with the salvation of the world at stake, and Jesus wins the day. This friend we have in Jesus - make no mistake about Him! In the cosmic contest between good and evil, this kingdom and the next, this Friend of ours is tough as nails and that is the side of Jesus I have tried to show you today.

Of course, this same Jesus rides into our town and into our lives on this Palm Sunday morning and He is forcing some questions on us, as He did in Israel so long ago. As we cheer Him riding by, with palm leaves in our hands, and hosannas on our lips, are the Caesars and Pilates of this world worried? Do they worry about a church whose "kingdom is not of this world," or is the church a comfortable partner with secular authority, fitting its worldly purposes like a hand fits a glove? Does Jesus have in His church a disciplined, "underground" organization - people who are alert to His purposes and ready to put themselves on the line for Him, like the keepers of that donkey did so long ago? When Jesus sends someone to us and we hear the password, "The Lord has need of you," do we respond no matter what the cost or risk?

Or do we stand with the priests shouting, “We have no king but Caesar”? This is the most important. Who or what is your king? This is the fundamental question Jesus forces on us this morning. Today we cheer Him, but soon our true loyalties will be put to the test. Soon we will have to choose between Christ and the many Caesars of this world.

"Hosanna to the Son of David!" Jesus is riding into your heart today, and He wants to know ... who is your king?

Palm Sunday 2020 - without the crowds

It’s Palm Sunday.

Reading the suggested Bible passage for this Sunday – Matthew 21: 1 – 11 – I was struck by two words - “the crowds”. Those two words, or variations on them, crop up several times in the passage.

In verse 8 Matthew tells us that “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road” as Jesus and his followers walked towards Jerusalem.

Then in verse 9 Matthew says

“9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
‘Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’[c]
‘Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!’

Matthew goes on to say, “the whole city was stirred” or as the New Revised Standard Version puts it “The whole city was in turmoil”. In other words, Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem didn’t just excite his followers. Everyone in the city became aware of this arrival. And those who weren’t followers of Jesus or didn’t know anything about him said “Who is this?”

And

11 The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’

Of course, Matthew doesn’t give us any idea of how big the crowd was. Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? We don’t know. But clearly it was more than just the 12 disciples.

Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week. And I’m struck that if we read the passages of scripture in all the Gospels, that give us details of the time period between Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and his crucifixion and death on Good Friday, we see several references to crowds. And we also see plenty of references to Jesus spending time with his followers – not just the 12 disciples but other people too.

Reading these passages has made me realise that this Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter will be like no other I’ve experienced. And I’m sure is the same for you too.

Usually we’ll have gathered for worship on Palm Sunday. Heard the Bible passage on Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and perhaps left service carrying a cross made from a palm leaf. And we’ll have left the service with thoughts on Holy Week. (As a preacher I don’t leave a congregation cheering with the crowds on Palm Sunday. I point us firmly into Holy Week and all that means.)

We may then gather for a communion service on Maundy Thursday. The day we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples and how he demonstrated to them the need for humility as he knelt and washed their feet.

Then on Good Friday, we will have gathered again to worship. In Chippenham, Christians from many of the churches gather for a united service at my own church, Central Methodist. Perhaps 400 or 500 people all crammed together.

Then we leave and walk through the crowds of shoppers before ending with an open-air service.

These experiences will be common to Christians everywhere. But not this year. This Palm Sunday, this Holy Week, this Good Friday, the only crowds we will encounter will be those we read of in the Bible. We are all in “social distancing” of “self-isolation”. (Or we should be!)

I know I will miss joining together with other people at this most special time in the Church calendar. But we all know the importance of remaining in our homes, to void the risk of infection and spreading the virus.

Last week I took a phone call from a member of one of my congregations. We had a chat and she told me that she’d recently come across a hymn that she liked the words of. It comes from the “new” Methodist hymn book Singing the Faith.

The hymn is StF 610 “Best of all is God is with us”. It is based upon John Wesley’s final words “The best thing of all, God is with us”.

After the phone call from my friend, I looked up the words of the hymn and they really speak to us. It is not a Palm Sunday or Holy Week or Good Friday hymn. But it is a reminder that as we journey with Jesus this week, we are not alone – even if we live alone. For “best of all God is with us.” I hope you take comfort from these words:

Best of all is God is with us,
God will hold and never fail.
Keep that truth when storms are raging,
God remains though faith is frail.

Best of all is God is with us,
life goes on and needs are met,
God is strongest in our weakness.
Love renews, will not forget.

Best of all is God is with us,
hearts are challenged, strangely warmed,
faith is deepened, courage strengthened,
grace received and hope reformed.

Best of all is God is with us,
in our joy and through our pain,
till that final acclamation:
'life is Christ, and death is gain'.

Best of all is God is with us
as we scale eternal heights,
love grows stronger, undiminished;
earth grows dim by heaven's lights.

Words by Andrew Pratt © 2008 Reproduced by permission of Stainer & Bell Ltd
(If you wish to sing the hymn, you can sing it to the tune for “All for Jesus, all for Jesus”)

The following is an abridged version of a sermon preached on Palm Sunday 2014. It draws on Borg & Crossan's book "The last week"

One spring day in the year 30 – or there abouts – two processions entered the city of Jerusalem. It was the beginning of the week of Passover, the most sacred week in the Jewish year.

One procession was made up of peasants and the other was a Roman imperial procession. From the east the procession was led by a Galilean called Jesus who rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives. He was cheered on by his followers who waved palm branches and laid their cloaks on the road way.

From the west, on the opposite side of the city, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the territory that included Idumea, Judea and Samaria, enetered at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers.

So begins the opening chapter of an excellent book of the American theologians Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan called “The Last Week” .

The book is a commentary on the Bible passages covering Holy Week but it is also gives a lot of the history and culture of the time to put the Bible passages into context.

Now you may think the bit about the Imperial processions entering Jerusalem is made up. Well it is made up in the sense that we have no way of knowing whether Jesus’ procession and Pilate’s procession arrived in the city at the same time. That is a bit of dramatic licence by the writers. However, historically they are accurate in saying that the Romans would have enetered Jerusalem in this way.

As I’ve already said, Passover week was hugely significant for Jewish people. And consequently Jerusalem – their Holy City – became packed. It is estimated that at the time of Jesus Jerusalem probably had a population of around 40,000. During Passover perhaps another 200,000 pilgrims would come to the city. With this many people the Romans would take no chances of rebellion springing up. Therefore, the Roman garrison in Jerusalem – Fort Antonia overlooking the temple complex - would be reinforced for the duration of Passover. Hence the procession.

The procession on the eastern side of the city was very different of course. Headed as it was by someone riding a donkey and without any troops.

The king riding the donkey will be a king of peace.

Pilate’s procession embodied the power, the glory and the violence of the Roman Empire. Jesus’ procession embodied and alternative vision – the kingdom of God. This contrast between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Caesar is central to the story of the Jesus and early Christianity. And, as we’ll see later, is central today as well.

It is worth remembering that Jerusalem wasn’t just any city. It symbolised so much.

At its heart was the temple. Originally founded by King David and his son Solomon. The temple was regarded as God’s dwelling place on earth. And whilst Jews believed God was everywhere, God was especially present in the temple. To be in the temple was to be in God’s presence.

But if the temple represented God and also his forgiveness – for people went there to be forgiven by God – it also had come to represent, by the time of Jesus, something else. The temple represented what could be called “the domination system”. For the political classes in Jewish society were associated with the temple and what it represented

Political oppression – a powerful and wealthy elite ruled the land and were closely linked to the temple

Economic exploitation – a high percentage of the society’s wealth coming mainly from taxes and tithes of peasant farmers – went to the temple and those associated with it

And this was all under pinned by the religious leaders and laws they had made. In other words it represented Religious Oppression.

In entering Jerusalem Jesus is on a collision course with the authorities – the Roman authorities, the Jewish authorities.

Matthew tells us

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ Matthew 21:10

Some translations render this as “the whole city was in turmoil” but Matthew used the Greek word “Seio” literally “to shake to and fro”. It’s the root of our word “Seismic”. And that’s how we need to think of this. Jesus’ procession was shaking things up. What Jesus was talking about was threatening to shake up the authorities. What Jesus was doing was seismic.

It is seismic because Jesus is proclaiming God’s kingdom. A kingdom of justice and joy and peace. God’s Kingdom now and hereafter.

Jesus knows of course that by the end of the week he will be arrested and will be crucified. His followers will see this as a failure. We, with 2,000 years of hindsight know that it was anything but for Jesus in dying conquered death for us and gave us salvation from our sins. Those are hallmarks of the Kingdom of God.

But we have still failed to grasp what the Kingdom of God can be like in the here and now - a place of justice. A place of peace and a place of joy.

Jesus’ challenge to his followers was then and is now is to bring in that Kingdom. But what do we see? We still see the domination systems that applied in Jerusalem applying today.

All around the world the domination systems that promote Political Oppression and Economic Exploitation and Religious Oppression hold sway. And sadly at times God’s people have colluded with that. For many hundreds of years parts of the body of Christ, the Church, have operated domination systems through church taxes, through inequality and so on. But this is not the way of Christ.
Lest we be too critical of the powers in Jerusalem, ask yourself this question: What city even today would not be shaken by Jesus' entry into it?

Imagine Jesus entering London or Moscow or Washington or Beijing. I'm sure we'd welcome him with our hosannas - at first, anyway. We'd line the streets and strike up the band and have a grand parade right down Main Street. But I'm equally sure that, by the end of the week, we'd have him nailed to a cross, too. Why? Because the Kingdom Jesus came to establish still threatens the kingdoms of this world - your kingdom and mine - the kingdoms where greed, power, and lust rule instead of grace, mercy, and peace.

And if truth be told who among us really wants to surrender our lives to that Kingdom and that King?