[Sorry, so audio this week. I do not know why it did not record. We do have video of the entire service on Facebook and YouTube.]
Exodus 12:1-7, 13-14; Mark 11:1-11
March 28, 2021
- Jesus triumphal entry reconsidered
I have a little bit of answering to do for myself after last week and my confession that I really do not like Palm Sunday. It is my least favorite Sunday of the year as we typically think of it. Of course, my history was to rejoice in Palm Sunday, to sing the more upbeat hymns, to wave those palm branches, and to march around. Palm Sunday was that day to come up for a little bit of bright and glorious air, to have a little fun, before reentering the gloom of Lent, especially that last week of Holy Week. It can be rather depressing to dwell on Jesus’ death so much. Why not enjoy a good Palm Sunday just like the Jews seemed to do so many years ago on this same day? Except that, if that is the extent of our appreciation of Palm Sunday, or as I prefer – Passion Sunday, we really miss enough of the point to miss the whole point.
Imagine for a moment that someone is throwing a birthday party for you, and everyone comes for the good time, the celebration, but the gifts they bring are what you would bring for someone who has literally just been born: baby diapers, bibs, formula, pacifiers, rattles, and onesies, maybe even throw in a teething ring. Your friends are there to help you celebrate your birthday, as in the day of your birth, so technically, it is not completely wrong. Your birthday is tied directly to the day of your birth, but to continue through life to think of your birthday as your first day and to celebrate it as such does not make any sense at all. Reflections of this situation are what I see going on here in the biblical narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
First, we must understand what Passover is for the Jewish people, and we really cannot completely because we are not Jewish, but imagine a time that is huge, the most important holy time of their calendar in Jesus’ day. This is the time that Jews are all supposed to remember and cherish that God freed them from slavery in Egypt and led them to a land of their own. The Exodus event is the really the beginning of their life as a people of God, and the Passover is when they honor the night of the final plague that moved Pharoah to free the Hebrew people. If you will remember, the last plague was death itself to all the firstborn boys in Egypt. The only safety, the only protection so-to-speak so that the angel bringing death would PASS OVER, was the homes marked with lamb’s blood painted on the sides and the top of the door. That lamb’s blood was the key, the marker, the sign of their salvation. That lamb was the single reason for their deliverance from the plague of death. And God said to remember this event, this salvation, this deliverance for all time. Remember the Passover forever.
Passover was bigger than Independence Day for us and definitely a time of Independence remembrance. Crowds of people flooded Jerusalem to celebrate God’s deliverance, the freedom God had given and maybe the freedom God was going to give, again. Yes, “again”, it is also the time when God’s Messiah just might show up, someone who could lead Israel and deliver them. Brutal Rome had controlled Israel for some time. It was getting more and more dire. The Romans cared nothing for Jewish law or custom or religion. The people were starving for the glory days under King David. They wanted a new King David so badly that they could taste it. And rumors were that Jesus just might be their man. That was a hope.
So people were pouring into Jerusalem on this day. And among the people were Jesus and his followers, coming from the east, to the east gate. There was something very special about this time and that gate. This was when and where the Messiah might come – from the east. Jesus showed up on an animal like he was royalty, and people responded by laying out their clothes on the street, again, like he is royalty. Jesus was getting the royal treatment because they were thinking he might be the new king, the new David. They were crying out for God’s help with Hosannas, since that is what Hosanna means (save us, God save us). If they were waving palm branches (Mark is less clear), then that was like waving a flag. This was a hugely political event. Jesus seemed to be checking all the boxes to be the Messiah, the new David, who will lead them to victory and freedom against the Romans, except they got it all wrong.
Of course, Jesus was the Messiah. He was coming to establish the throne of David. He was coming as God’s anointed Savior, but not at all in the way anyone expected. And when Jesus failed to step up, he was rejected, and by the end of the week, he was dead. In hopes that the Messiah might show up at this time of the year, the priests were even known to leave the door to the Temple open for the Messiah. You heard what Jesus did: he walked into the Temple, but he looked around and left. He could have done something massive and messianic and kingly, but he went back to where he was staying, instead.
There is so much more to this story, but the missing piece for today is the lamb. I hope you remember that lamb in the Exodus story. It is the key. What if I told you that something else was going on that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem? The big job for Jewish people getting ready for Passover at this time and their Passover meals later that week was lamb selection. Picking a suitable lamb was a big deal. It had to be a special lamb, the most special you could find, because that lamb was to be sacrificed for you later that week at the Temple. Lots of lambs were being brought into town for people to buy for Passover, but one was exceptional. You heard, the lambs had to be perfect, without blemish. The literal lambs would be sacrificed for Passover, their blood spilt in holy offering at the Temple, and they would be eaten. One lamb in particular, though, was sacrificed, his blood spilled, and he would be devoured by a tomb but not before he gave us a new Passover.
The writings of John make this connection of the lamb to Jesus much more directly than the other gospels, but I need you to know how I look at all of this. This is big picture here and crucial to understanding Jesus and what he is doing in this last week of his life. He is offering himself as the greatest lamb the world has ever seen, the Lamb of God, the lamb who will protect us from the destruction of death and even conquer death in the process. He is not just our sign on the door warding off death. He is our stronghold, our deliverer, our conqueror, and our love.
Yes, he rode into Jerusalem as the new king in a strong way, but people missed his kingdom in the process. What they also missed then, which is precious for us today, is that Jesus is also our perfect Passover. It is no accident that Jesus gave himself to his followers to eat and drink at the Passover meal. He offered himself in the food, with his body broken and his blood poured forth, spilled for us all – shed for the forgiveness of sins.
Even though the crowds did not realize it, they were picking their true Passover Lamb. They were trying to pick Jesus as their new David, the great King who would fight off the Romans and restore the nation to its glory, but that never happened. Our King Jesus gave his life as a holy sacrifice and spilled his blood that we might be free from the works of death, the wages of death, the penalty of death, the fruit of death, the curse of death, the dread of death, and the sting of death. This Passover Lamb actually turned death itself into life for us. Death will forever pass us over because death for us is no longer death at all.
It is time to choose. Do you need a Passover Lamb? I know one who has chosen you. It is our opportunity to return the choice. With the help of the Spirit, God gives us the grace to respond to Christ’s choice in us. The first evidence of this choice is living in the boldness of life, true life, embracing the life that God wants from us. Death does not own us. We are a people of the way, the truth, and the life. We are people of the Christ, the Lamb of God.
The second evidence of this choice to live with the Passover Lamb is a love for others, a deep, abiding sacrificial love for others. The lambs in that day had no knowledge of whom they saved. Our King calls us to do better and knows every heart, every life, every relationship in his grace. To choose the Lamb is to honor that love with our own, to reflect sacrificial love that lives for all of God’s children.
The third evidence is holding to hope as a people in faith. The first Jews to paint that blood had to wait in hope for the angel to pass them over. We no longer have to wait like that, but we do wait for our Messiah to return. Until that day, we us always cling to our hope that the King of all is for us. The Lamb has done his work, and we are all secure in his faith, a faith that is also given to us. As we wait, we work in faith.
To God be the glory. Amen.
Prayer of Choosing:
As a people chosen in Christ, let us also place our trust in the Lamb who was slain that we might live. In this prayer, I invite you to respond to each petition following “you have chosen us” with saying, “With my heart, I choose you.”
Let us pray…
O Christ, our Christ, you made your mission our salvation. By your wounds, we were healed. By your death, we were given life. Help us to never diminish your gift or to take lightly your suffering for us. You have chosen us….
O Christ, our Christ, you walked your way through the wilderness to the city, knowing full well what awaited you. You did not waver or flinch for our sake. You have chosen us….
O Christ, our Christ, you kept your people close, knowing the betrayal to come – sharing a meal together and facing your time of trial. You have chosen us….
O Christ, our Christ, you gave yourself to those who would do you harm, even healing those who would hurt you. You never raised a hand or resisted their injustice for our good. You have chosen us….
O Christ, our Christ, you accepted accusation after accusation, humiliation after humiliation, torture after torture, and death. This was your chosen path because you have chosen us….
Precious, Holy, and Chosen Lamb, help us to honor the choices we make this day. Restore our hearts in yours and give us your faith. In your precious name, we pray. Amen.