As Others Have Done Before

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 21:1-11

Our gospel lesson for today, coming from Matthew 21, strongly suggests that Jesus had something very historically significant in mind when he told his disciples to get the donkey and its colt at Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, where, from there, he would ride the donkey through the Kidron Valley into the city of Jerusalem, while the inhabitants of the city waved palm branches and greeted him as the Messiah.

Indeed, Jesus was thinking of something that had happened in Israel almost a thousand years earlier, when another man was made king over Israel in the midst of derision and opposition. It was the moment in Israel's history when King David was about to die, and one of his sons, Adonijah, had campaigned to be the next king over Israel. He had made friends with the powerful men of David's court. He threw fancy parties. He even hired men who would run ahead of his chariot shouting, "Here comes Adonijah!" just so people would know who he was.

And, so, most people just figured that Adonijah would be the next king. After all, he acted like a king. And he was one of David's sons. And some of the most important people in Israel, including Joab, David's general, supported him. It looked like Adonijah had everything he needed to be the king.

Except for one thing: Adonijah didn't have God's support to be king. And that was more than reason enough for God's servants, a priest, and a prophet, and some very devout families of Jerusalem to be concerned enough to go to the bed of the dying King David and remind him of a promise he had made, several years before, to one of his wives, Bathsheba, that her second born son would be the king. And from his death bed, David remembered the promise he had made. And so he ordered the priest and the prophet and the devout people of Jerusalem to take Bathsheba's son to the spring of Gihon at the very head of the Kidron Valley, at the foot of Mt. Moriah, anoint him to be the king, place him on a donkey and then process with him up to the palace and seat him on the throne. David knew that if everyone saw such a public spectacle then no one would be able to deny who the new king was. And, so, this is how Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, became the king over Israel. This is how God's will became known to the people of Jerusalem.

It was this story that Jesus wanted to re-enact when he told his disciples to get the donkey and its colt. He wanted to remind the city of Jerusalem that those who have been made their leaders aren't necessarily the ones who God has chosen. Jesus wanted to remind the people that the order which prevails isn't necessarily God's order. And, so, Jesus mounted the donkey and rode down and across the Kidron valley, and a large group of people met him and waved palm branches and hailed him as their anointed king, just as had been done by others so long ago.

Today, we wave palm branches, shout "Hosanna!", and welcome Jesus into our lives as King, as well. We do this knowing, full well, that the order of this world isn't necessarily God's order. We welcome Jesus as King with the understanding that there are terrible dictators in power, that injustice abounds, that persons are still being discriminated against because of their race, gender, national origin, and religion. We welcome Jesus as King knowing that there are millions who do not do so. But, then, perhaps this is the reason we shout "Hosanna!" For "hosanna" literally means "save us!". And we know in today's world that Jesus is the only one who can save us.

In Jesus' day, many of the people knew that the Temple was dominated by corruption. Many of them were beginning to suspect that going to the Temple and offering sacrifices wasn't going to save them. Many of them were afraid that following all of the laws of Moses and being good Jews wasn't enough for salvation, because they knew that there was no way they could do any of those things perfectly. And they knew that God demanded perfection in exchange for salvation.

And, so, the people, dissatisfied with the way things were, looked to Jesus for their salvation and cried, "Hosanna!" "Save us!"

And shouldn't we cry "Hosanna!" with the same realization? For are we perfect? Are we good enough, on our own, to be accepted as God's children? Is our church good enough for those of us who come here every week to be saved by it's merit, alone? Is our nation righteous enough so that it's inhabitants may be saved by virtue of that righteousness? Or, can we be saved because our parents were good Christians? Or can we be saved because we are nice people who never do anything worse than maybe hedge a little in our report to the IRS, drive over the speed limit, and swear now and then?

Like the people who cried "Hosannah!" to Jesus, we know that there is nothing perfect or completely righteous in us. And, so, we cry "Hosannah!" to Jesus, as well, that we may be clothed in his righteousness, and washed in his blood.

Today, as we look at the way Jesus entered into Jerusalem, we may be struck at the humility of his entry into that city. A couple of years ago, when I visited Israel, I landed at the airport near Tel Aviv and then took a bus, with our tour group, to Jerusalem. And I remember how the city of Jerusalem looked as we came closer and closer to it. And I remember how, just before we got to the city limits, our tour guide had the driver stop the bus and led us out into the road. Pointing to the sign which marked the city limits, perhaps thirty yards up the road, he suggested that perhaps we would like to walk to Jerusalem together, as millions of pilgrims have done before. And as I walked to Jerusalem, I remembered how many others had made that humble journey, as well. And I remembered Jesus, the king of the Universe, who had only ridden a donkey.

The apostle Paul was impressed by this, as well. In our lesson for today from the book of Philippians he describes how Jesus, in order to save humanity, became human, and humbled himself, even to death upon a cross.

In many ways, then, Palm Sunday and humility are related to each other. Jesus humbled himself to become our king. And we must humble ourselves to accept him. In order to cry "Hosannah!" "Save Us!" we have to be willing to accept the fact that we cannot save ourselves. We have to be willing to accept the humble fact that someone who doesn't look like a king and, in fact, was crucified is the King of the Universe.

Today's worship service will end on a hymn that points this out very clearly:

Ah, holy Jesus,

how hast thou offended,

that we to judge thee

have in hate pretended?

By foes derided,

by thine own rejected,

O most afflicted!

Lo, the Good Shepherd

for the sheep is offered;

the slave hath sinned;

and the Son hath suffered.

For our atonement,

while we nothing heeded,

God interceded.

Therefore, kind Jesus,

since I cannot pay thee,

I do adore thee,

and will ever pray thee,

think on thy pity

and thy love unswerving,

Not my deserving.

Amen.