Palm Sunday – Part Two

Palm Sunday – Part Two

February 3, 2022

Matthew 21:6-11, NIV - The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

 

Imagine being an average Jerusalem resident that day – one of the people who asked, “who is this?”  You’re not a supporter of Jesus.  You never heard of Him.  You are of course aware that the city is overrun with people because it is Passover.  This is the week where even going to the market for a loaf of bread is a tedious and jostling chore because the pilgrims from all over Israel and some even outside of Israel pack the streets.  The regional governor, Pilate, is also scheduled to arrive today because he always shows up to keep a close eye on the tens of thousands of visitors and keep the peace.  The last thing he wants is to lose control of the city and attract the attention of the emperor far away in Rome.  He always arrives with a stunning display of force – war horses, chariots, and centurions with spears marching in formation.  Though they are unwelcome guests, the procession is always an impressive spectacle..

                So what’s all this ruckus coming from the east, through the Golden Gate, no less?  There’s a lot of shouting and people are waving branches.  What’s that they’re shouting?

                “Hosana! (Save us!)  Son of David!  He who comes in the name of the Lord”

What if Pilate finds out about this?  There’s going to be a showdown.  But this guy’s on a donkey and has no weapons.  Who does He think He is? Why does anyone think HE’S going to save us?  The Romans will put Him down in a second.  This is crazy. So you ask one of the hysterical shouters, “Who is this?”  Their answer is not all that impressive. 

                “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

A prophet? From Nazareth?  Am I supposed to be impressed?  How is a prophet from Nazareth going to do anything to save us? 

                Nearly two-thousand years later, unknowing people are still asking these questions.  What makes this Jesus guy so special?  How can He save anyone from the capricious powers of this world? In the final chapters of Matthew, these are the questions that the gospel writer seeks to answer.  It’s the real purpose behind Matthew writing the whole thing.  But on Palm Sunday, at least one thing’s clear.  Whoever Jesus is, He isn’t going to save us from the evil empires by force.  He’s going to have to do it differently.  The invitation in the coming reflections is see Jesus again as if for the first time. 

 

Question: How does Jesus “save us?”

 

Prayer:  Jesus, cut through our rehearsed answers to the questions people ask about who you are.  Help us discover anew the revolution that was brewing on that first Palm Sunday.  Show us once again why we should be laying down our coats and waving branches wildly for you. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus: Pray for God to give you a new perspective on your faith that opens up new possibilities.

 

Dave Matthews – Cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”

https://www.facebook.com/davematthewsband/posts/10157835409495910

Palm Sunday – Part 1

Palm Sunday – Part 1

February 2, 2022

Matthew 21:1-5, NIV - As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion,

    ‘See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

 

Today, we consider one of the more familiar events from the Jesus story, the procession of Jesus into Jerusalem less than a week before He will be crucified outside the city walls.  This story is often remembered in various ways on Palm Sunday, the last Sunday before Easter.  It is one of the rare stories that is found in some form in all four Gospels in the New Testament.  Traditions often combine details from all four accounts into one merged story, but if we consider the differences between the accounts, we will discover what was important to, in this case, Matthew as he tells the story.

As you may remember from the last devotional entry, Jesus and His entourage have just walked from Jericho and arrive in Bethphage. Bethphage is on the side of the Mount of Olives.  If you were to visit today, you would notice that most of the side of this mountain facing Jerusalem is a vast Jewish cemetery.  It has been a cemetery for thousands of years and was such when Jesus rode through it into the city that day. 

Upon arriving in Bethphage, Jesus sends two of His disciples to fetch a donkey with the donkey’s colt.  Matthew is the only Gospel to stipulate that there were two animals.  This emphasizes that this detail is especially important to Matthew because he wants his readers to recall Zechariah 9:9:

“See, your king comes to you,

    righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Matthew uses the exact same words to refer to Jesus’s entry because he wants to it clear that Jesus’s donkey ride is one of the many prophecies Jesus fulfilled, showing that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.  What Matthew wants us to see is that Jesus Himself claims this title with His choice of a donkey to arrive in Jerusalem for the last time.  God’s chosen way for this to happen is paved by the disciples being able to secure the chosen animals without resistance. 

                Since the time of Jesus, one of the accusations leveled at the Christian movement is that the early church made Jesus something He Himself never claimed to be – the Messiah foretold by Jewish prophets for hundreds of years prior to the first century.  With subtle details like this instance of the donkey, Matthew is responding to those skeptics.  Jesus knew He was the Messiah, but He would radically depart from many traditional expectations of Messiahship.  By entering into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus recalls the another famous entry of an ancient Jewish king, Solomon, into the city.  The donkey also signifies that Jesus is a King of Peace, not war.  This is in contrast to the arrival of Pontius Pilate who came into the city on the same day, most likely mounted on an armor-cladded war horse.  That first Palm Sunday is about the clash of two very different kingdoms, a clash that continues to be evident to this day.  The Kingdom of God, which is described by Matthew, seems to turn the values of our culture upside down. 

 

Question:  How does the “contrast of kingdoms” continue to be evident in our world today?

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us to see the signs of the your kingdom in the midst of all that bombards us everyday in our culture.  Lead us by your Spirit. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who you consider to be your enemies today.  (Note:  Instead of praying for God to “fix them” or “set them right,” pray for God to bless them.  Yes. Really.)

 

Song:  The Blessing (2022 Compilation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48-qbcovVY