SERMON · 2023 · Matt 21:1-16 / Luke 19:37-44
Palm Sunday
The entry into Jerusalem through the eyes of the pilgrims: the drama of the road, the disciples' fanfares — and a king who came to deal not with Rome, but with sin.
A Sunday that's no ordinary Sunday
- Year after year we commemorate certain events so that we don't lose sight of them — and today we remember a glorious event: how Jesus once rode into Jerusalem, and the crowds welcomed him as a king arriving to take up his reign and laid palm branches before him.
- What's more, in our congregation a new board of elders is taking over the reins today of all days — but we needn't lay down palm branches: they're coming to serve, not to sit on a throne.
- And that's also the paradox of today's story: in the eyes of the world, Christ's victory is a total defeat. He wasn't coming to sit on a comfortable throne — he rode in to a coronation that cost him his life. So many things in God's kingdom are counter-intuitive… That doesn't change the fact that it was a glorious event — just completely different from what anyone would expect.
Please grant that we may grasp the greatness of those ancient events — that they not feel distant to us. After all, they concern us. After all, it's thanks to them that we stand here today. Please touch our hearts, so that they don't remain unmoved. Amen.
Prayer
The power of a story
- In his book Hasidic Jews, Pavel Hošek talks about the power of a story — because a story isn't just information. It pulls you inside the action, you become part of it, and in the end it spits you out — but by then you're someone else. A story changes you.
- So let's tell the story — after all, that's what the Gospels are about too. If I say nothing more but draw you into the story, if I smuggle you into the crowd that's coming to Jerusalem with Jesus, I've done my job for today.
- So I hope you've got good shoes on — we're setting off on the road together with Jesus.
The climb
- Scene one. First let's adjust the mood a touch — if there are fanfares playing in your head right now, you're getting way ahead of yourself. Right now, it's a drama.
- Jesus sets out from Jericho together with the disciples and a larger caravan of pilgrims. Some had simply set off for the festival — but whoever joined immediately learned that Jesus was walking up front. And just about everyone in the country had heard of him: of all his miracles and wonders.
- That day, a 27 km climb awaits them — much of the way uphill, through barren country, with an elevation gain of almost one kilometre.
The mood before the glorious arrival
And what's the mood up front, in the “Jesus and co.” gang? Mark gives us a glimpse of it in chapter ten:
“Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.”
Mark 10:32
- Isn't the triumphal entry into Jerusalem just ahead of them? What are they afraid of?
- Because it's right at this moment that Jesus reminds them, for the third time, that suffering and death await him. And this third time he goes into even more detail — specific words come up, like spitting and flogging.
- By the way: if that's the fate awaiting their leader, things don't look too rosy for them, his disciples, either.
Jerusalem is seething
- Into a city of 40,000 inhabitants pour 200,000 pilgrims — five times as many people, packed shoulder to shoulder.
- And do you know why those crowds are going there? To celebrate Passover — the feast of deliverance from foreign rule, of liberation from slavery in Egypt. That fact alone is enough to make quite a few people in the city seriously nervous.
- The Romans? For the feasts they always multiplied the number of soldiers to keep the peace.
- The chief priests and scribes? The Romans let them rule as long as they kept order and peace. If anything went wrong, they could lose that position — so they were the first to push back against anything suspicious. And they already have some history with Jesus.
- So this is what's waiting for Jesus down there: nervous Romans — what would they say if some Galilean turned up at their gates acting like the king-in-waiting… And on top of that, nervous chief priests.
- Who wouldn't be nervous…
Surprising preparations
- Back to our caravan — it's reaching Bethany. It's Friday, the Sabbath is approaching, so the caravan stops and rests for a day. Jesus has plenty of friends there: Lazarus, Mary, Martha.
- On Sunday they move on and reach Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus starts giving orders — he sends two disciples to fetch a donkey and her colt. He knows exactly what will happen: which village to send them to, where they'll find the donkey and the colt, and what to say if anyone asks.
- Why a donkey and a colt? The donkey has spent her whole life so far under the yoke — like the Jewish nation under the yoke of the law. The colt has never known a yoke — it represents the other nations. And Jesus calls them both to himself: “untie them and bring them to me!”
- And that's exactly what happens. The owner asks, and the disciples answer: “The Lord needs them” — the authorities in the land could temporarily requisition the service of an animal or a person. He isn't asking a favour. It's his right.
- At this point he's no longer the Jesus who tells his disciples to keep the Messiah thing quiet for now. Now he's taking concrete steps towards a public, triumphal entry into the city: he issues orders, he exercises his right as king — and he fulfils the prophecy about the donkey and the colt.
“Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”
Matthew 21:4–5 (Zechariah 9:9)
He mounts a colt that no one has ever ridden — not a horse, like a conqueror, but a colt, like a gracious king, just as the prophet Zechariah presents him.
The disciples' fanfare
As the procession drew near the slope of the Mount of Olives, the celebrations began. The disciples were completely swept up in joy and started praising God loudly for all the wonders they had seen — and there had been plenty! They let the fanfare rip at full volume, and it carried the others along too:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The Pharisees want Jesus to silence them. He replies: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Luke 19:37–40
Weeping over the city
And when Jerusalem comes into view before Jesus from the Mount of Olives, he prophesies about the city's future and weeps over its fate — over the fact that it did not recognise the time when God came down to it. (Luke 19:41–44)
From the Jews' point of view
- By now the crowd is approaching the city and the celebration keeps growing like a snowball rolling downhill. Let's look at it through the eyes of the celebrating Jews.
- They came to the city to celebrate the ancient liberation from slavery in Egypt; they were coming to a temple rebuilt after the Babylonian exile. True, the Antonia Fortress towers above the temple wall, full of Romans who keep them from living in complete freedom…
- …but that will soon be a thing of the past — because right now the king is riding into the city! On a colt, just as the prophet Zechariah promised. Everyone is cheering and welcoming him. They've waited for him a long time.
- It's been a long time since the Jews had a king of their own — they tell the stories and remember the glory of the kingdom under David. And here it is: the kingdom will be restored, no foreign power will dictate any more what the Jewish nation may do. They're “jingling their keys” like Prague in 1989 — this is their Velvet Revolution moment.
- And it's even bigger than that — there are so many fantastic prophecies and promises floating around! Every uprising so far has been bloodily crushed, but this time it's different: this Jesus is the Messiah the prophets speak of. He works miracles, everyone's talking about it. Now he'll enter and take up his reign.
- People praise God for everything he has done for them and cry out: Hosanna to the Son of David! — “please, save us, Son of David”.
Antonia vs. the Temple
- Yes, he has entered Jerusalem. But where is he heading next?
- Two great buildings stand here side by side: the temple — and towering above the walls of its courtyard, the Antonia Fortress, full of Roman soldiers. Barracks.
- Where will he storm in, and whom will he drive out as the oppressors? That will make clear what agenda this king has come with. Either he takes the people, storms the Antonia and throws out the Romans — or he storms the temple and throws out the traders.
- So what do you think?
- Yes — he stormed into the temple and repeated the act he had once performed there before: he drove out the traders, because this is meant to be a place of prayer. Then he began caring for the sick. And the children started shouting out praise.
- That's exactly the shape of his kingdom: he isn't concerned with political oppression but with spiritual oppression. What he cares about most is the heart. It's about people having free access to God — that's what it has been about all along.
Do we see it?
We often feel terribly pious and see everything from above — how naive those Jews were back then… But let's be honest with ourselves.
Jesus was concerned with spiritual oppression rather than political — he came to deal with the problem of sin, not with Rome. The question is: aren't we a little disappointed by that? What about a king on a horse, a conqueror who'd take care of our earthly peace, comfort and success? Don't we sometimes mix up our kings? Which king are we praying to?
Rabbi Hirsh once said to his Hasidim: When someone comes to me and asks me to pray for his needs in this world — one for the sake of his field, another for the sake of his little shop — at that very moment that person's soul comes to me too, and asks for salvation in the higher world. But I have to answer them both — with one single answer.
Tales of the Hasidim
Conclusion
Jesus cared about free access to God — that's why he drove the merchants out of the place of prayer. And what does it look like in our hearts? Is there enough room in there for focused prayer? Or is it just a place of business and everyday worries?
In the words of Isaiah
Let me close this whole section with words from Isaiah chapter 52. In them you can see all those glorious rescues: from slavery in Egypt, from Assyrian captivity, from Babylonian captivity — and from the captivity of sin. The good news that the Lord is coming as a saviour, as a king:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good tidings and proclaims salvation, who says to Zion: “Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voice, together they sing for joy, for with their own eyes they see the Lord returning to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 52:7–10
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.
The Aaronic blessing
Palm Sunday · 2023 · sermon for the Church of the Brethren (Církev bratrská)
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