Palm Sunday
Readings:
- Isaiah 50:4-9a
- Philippians 2:5-11
- Matthew 27:11-27:54
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. It celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. This was the beginning of a series of events which,
over the following few days, were to lead to Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday
and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
In our service last week, we read St John’s account of
the raising of Lazarus in Bethany near Jerusalem. St John tells us that 6 days before the
Passover, Jesus came back to Bethany where he stayed with his friends Lazarus,
Martha, and Mary. This was to be his
home until his death.
While he is there the three friends give a dinner party
for him. Martha, as usual, serves. Mary, however, does something that is to
prove highly controversial and is the trigger for the chain of events leading
to Jesus’ crucifixion.
St John tells us:
‘Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure
nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled
with the fragrance of the perfume.’ (John 12:3)
The cost of this perfume would have been very great. And not everyone is happy with it being used
in this way. Judas, in particular,
questions why it could not have been sold and the money given to the poor. St John tells us that Judas said this not
because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and wanted a share of
what the perfume was worth for himself (John 12:6).
We need to remember, though, that Judas had been chosen by Jesus himself
to be one of the 12, that is, one of his closest associates. Judas clearly had been committed to Jesus at
one time. Whatever else is going on with
Judas, we see in his reaction a growing disillusionment with Jesus.
When, however, Jesus defends Mary and says she has done a good thing
that will always be remembered and spoken of, the die is cast and the events
leading to the Cross are set in motion.
Judas goes to the Chief Priests and offers to betray him.
We simply do not know what was going through Judas’ mind or what lead
him to decide to betray Jesus, but we get in this story of the Dinner Party at
Bethany a sense of his disappointment in Jesus.
He is not the only one that Jesus is to disappoint in the next few days.
After Judas has made his fateful decision to betray Jesus, the next day
Jesus rides into Jerusalem. The crowds,
who had heard that he was coming, greet him, waving palm branches and
proclaiming him King.
And the King, the Messiah, was what many had been waiting for. The One who would liberate them from the
Roman oppressor and establish God’s Kingdom on earth. Throughout his ministry, there has been
speculation that Jesus was the One who would do this. He, however, has refused either to confirm or
deny it.
Now, though, it seems clear. The
prophet Zechariah had spoken how when the Messiah came, he would enter Jerusalem
riding a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). By
entering Jerusalem in this way at Passover when the Jews were celebrating their
deliverance from oppression as slaves in Egypt, Jesus couldn’t be clearer as to
the meaning of his action. And the
crowds totally get it.
But having raised their expectations to fever-pitch, what does Jesus
do? He absolutely refuses to follow
through. Instead, Jesus goes quietly and
passively to his death, like a lamb to the slaughter. He puts up no resistance. He doesn’t die fighting for what he believes
in. He allows the Romans not only to
humiliate him, but also to humiliate the people who had cheered him as their
King. Pilate mocks them and their
so-called King by writing the ‘King of the Jews’ in three languages above his
head on the Cross as Jesus is crucified in front of them. Could ever a Messiah have been more of a
disappointment?
You get some of the sense of the disappointment felt, especially by
those who have believed in him, in the words said by the two disciples walking
to Emmaus on Easter Sunday:
‘But we had hoped that he was the one to set
Israel free.’ (Luke 24:21)
But no, he wasn’t, he let us down.
The Messiah wouldn’t have allowed himself to be crucified.
Jesus was a disappointment.
Jesus was not just a disappointment to the crowds and those who followed
him believing him to be the Messiah, but also to his closest friends and
associates too. Peter, after Jesus is
arrested, will deny him three times.
We are often quite hard on Peter for this denial. We shouldn’t be. Peter, when he denies Jesus, has just come
from the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus had badly let him down.
Peter had been one of the first to leave everything he had to follow
Jesus. And when others abandoned Jesus
because his demands were too great, Peter stuck with him. Then, when Jesus had asked his disciples who
they thought he was, Peter had been the one to get it right; to see that Jesus
was indeed the Messiah. Jesus had
praised him in the highest of terms, telling Peter that it was God himself who
had revealed this to him.
And then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when they came to arrest Jesus,
he, Peter, was willing to die there. To
protect Jesus, he drew his sword to fight, despite being heavily outnumbered. What did Jesus do? He told Peter to put his sword away. Jesus just gave up. He surrendered. Jesus denied Peter the chance to save him.
Jesus was a disappointment.
Mary Magdalene was disappointed too.
But her disappointment was different.
Mary was there at the Cross when most of Jesus’ other followers had
deserted him and fled. She did not
abandon him. She was the first to the
tomb after he had died.
But there at the tomb, she’s confused and devastated, not because she had
wanted something out of him, not because she had expected something of him, but
because she loved him. Her terrible sense
of loss can be heard even today in the words she speaks in the Garden thinking
she is speaking to the gardener. Weeping,
she says:
‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where
you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ (John 20:15)
Even though Jesus is dead, she goes on loving him, but why has he
gone? Why has he been taken from her?
Mary’s disappointment lies losing Jesus.
So how has Jesus disappointed you?
In what way is Jesus a disappointment to you?
For Jesus continues to disappoint people today. He refuses to be what we want him to be or to
give us what we want him to give.
Many are like the crowds. They
see in Jesus a political figure who they can look to as a role model for their
cause. He has been looked to by both
those on the right and those on the left of the political spectrum. On Palm Sunday, the crowds saw him as one who
could bring them freedom. And so, in our
own day, he has been seen as a defender of free market capitalism and as a Marxist
revolutionary fighting for freedom from just that.
In the present day, the crowds, both in and out of the Church, wonder
whether he can inspire those who are seeking freedom from social injustice.
Perhaps Jesus is the role model we need today in our struggle for a more
inclusive, equal, and diverse society.
After all, didn’t he welcome everyone regardless of who they were or
what they had done? Didn’t he reach out
to the poor and oppressed? Didn’t he
challenge the rich and powerful? Didn’t
he speak out against injustice and exploitation? If these are his values, then we will follow
him for these are our values too.
But then when we look more closely, he disappoints us too. For he doesn’t just welcome the poor and
oppressed, but also the rich and powerful like the tax-collectors who made
their wealth out of exploiting the poor.
His burial and the grave he was buried in were provided by rich,
powerful leaders who belonged to the very group of people who had crucified
him.
Unlike many of his day, Jesus values and respects women, but then he goes
and chooses 12 men to be the leaders and the foundation of his movement after
he has gone. He lets Martha wait on him
and Mary wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair.
Jesus refuses to fight for any political or social cause. He won’t submit to any who try to enlist him
to their ideology or cause whether of the left, right or centre. He shocks us by pronouncing judgement on all
the cities of this world.
Jesus is a disappointment to us.
Most who are watching or listening to this broadcast, however, aren’t
too worried about Jesus’ politics. Many
of us have given up trusting in politicians altogether. We do not believe that any politician can
help us. No, we became Jesus’ followers
for completely different reasons. Like
the first disciples, we became his followers because he seemed to promise so
much not for society in general, but for us personally.
Like James and John, who sought to sit at his right hand and left, we
thought there was going to be something in it for us. We liked the idea that Jesus was on our side
that he healed the sick, forgave sinners, promised abundant life, and told us
that we would never go thirsty and that we would never die if we believed in
him.
And then what happened? He didn’t
prevent our income from falling or save us from losing our job. We didn’t get the exam results we were hoping
for. Our children didn’t get into the
school or college we had wanted them to.
We did still get sick, have accidents, get hurt and injured, and lose
loved ones. Problems, difficulties,
tragedy, sickness, and bereavement have come to us his followers just as they come
to everyone else. And more than this, we
even get hassle and trouble simply because we are his followers. Not only are we no better off by being his
followers, we are even worse off.
Jesus promised us much but has delivered little.
Jesus is a disappointment to us.
A few, however, and it’s just a few, like Mary Magdalene are not
disappointed. They didn’t become his
follower because they saw in a Jesus a political leader with an ideology they
could believe in. They didn’t become his
follower for what they could get out of him for themselves. Like Mary, they became his follower because
they fell in love with him.
This was what Peter had to come to understand before he could be the
leader Jesus wanted him to be. And so,
Jesus before returning to his Father asks him, ‘Peter, do you love me’. And Jesus asks him not once, not twice, but
three times. Peter is hurt when Jesus
asks him if he loves him, but, finally, he understands Jesus at last:
‘Yes, Lord you know that I love you.’ (John 21:15-17)
This won’t mean it will be easy as Jesus goes on to explain to him.
But, like Mary, Peter knows now it’s about a relationship, a commitment
to Jesus; about following Jesus, his way.
It will feel at times that Jesus has left us. That someone has taken him away and we do not
where they have laid him. He will feel
absent. And we too will feel
disappointment, like Mary a different type of disappointment to those who don’t
love him, but a disappointment, nevertheless.
This week Jesus will be crucified.
And this is God’s answer to our disappointment whoever we are.
To the disappointed crowds who seek a political leader they can believe
in, the Crucified Christ says it was never about power, success or political
causes: did I not say, ‘My Kingdom is not of this world’ (John 18:36)?
To the disappointed disciples who followed Jesus thinking he would make
their life better in the present, the Crucified Christ says I never promised
you it would be easy. I warned you it
would be hard; that you would be persecuted; that you would suffer: did I not
say, ‘In the world you will have trouble’ (John 16:33)?
To Mary, however, whose disappointment is not in Jesus but in losing him
and finding him absent, the Risen Lord speaks simply a word of love. It needs no further explanation, ‘Mary’. Did he not say, ‘My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.’ (John
10:27)?
Jesus speaks her name and Mary hears his voice. Jesus is alive! That’s all that matters. Now she must go and tell his followers he is
alive. Then they too must go. And so must we. We must tell the truth that he is alive!
But it is Crucified Christ who is alive.
Not the powerful leader, not the political ideologue, not the spiritual magician
who grants our every wish, but the One who was nailed to the Cross and who died
for us and because of us.
And the Crucified One still does not promise us seats in the Kingdom; he
doesn’t offer us power and position; he doesn’t guarantee safety and
security. Instead, he speaks of
hardship, suffering, struggle, misunderstanding, and rejection.
Who will follow him now?
Not many. Just as Jesus said, if
we but listened to him:
‘For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that
leads to life, and there are few who find it.’ (Matthew 7:14)
It is, however, a way today, Palm Sunday, that we can find if we are
prepared to follow him, not just as he rides into Jerusalem with the crowds
cheering, but follow him, like Mary, all the way to the Cross, and then with
her beyond it to the empty tomb.
And, at the empty tomb, we will find him not just as the Crucified One,
but as the Risen Lord who tells us not to hold on to him, but to go out for him;
to be those who believe in him and who proclaim his death until he comes. He warns us that as people were disappointed
in him so too they will be disappointed in us; for indeed, as he said, ‘the
servant is not above his or her master’ (John 15:20).
But as we go, we go with his promise:
‘And remember, I am with you always, to the end
of the age.’ (Matthew 28:20)
So, Lord:
Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow thy meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, thy power, and reign.
Amen.
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