Philippians 2: 5-11 (New Revised Standard Version, Update Edition)
Luke 19: 28-40 (Common English Bible)
As we move into Holy Week, everyone will answer that question that is the heart of Luke’s Gospel, “Are you the Messiah who is to come? What kind of king is coming in the name of the Lord? The challenge for us is can we be as excited like Jesus’ followers were when he entered Jerusalem riding on a colt of a donkey?
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.” Those words are shouted by a multitude of followers as Jesus rides on a colt into Jerusalem. The people are excited because they have seen the miracles that Jesus has done and the love and power of God within their midst. They are full of hope and joy because God is with them in person through Jesus the Christ.
When we remember the meaning of this gospel it helps us to focus on the importance of the Palm Sunday events. God is directing what is happening. From the Incarnation of the Christ into a human being and to his death on the Cross, God is not open for the unexpected because God can turn bad into something good. Just remember the story of Joseph and the Easter we are approaching.
This brings out a moment from the past during the birth of Jesus. This is what God promised through the praises of the angels at Bethlehem. Now, 30 years later the crowds of people are praising Jesus for all he has done during his time on earth. Think how many of them have found physical, mental and spiritual health by his healings and teachings. But what will come after Jesus enters Jerusalem will shock people and later surprise them later. But at the present they see hope and victory through the majesty of the Christ.
But we also see a debbie-downer reaction from the Pharisees. They tell Jesus to quieten his crowds because the Romans might view it as a part of a rebellion. The Pharisees believed the Romans could react with violence, close the Temple and put the Pharisees out of business. The Pharisees were comfortable with the peace they had now, but it was a “false peace” based on fear. Same with the people who paid money to the Mafia bosses to keep safe. But Jesus tells the Pharisees, “I tell you, if the crowds were silenced, the stones would shout.”
Fear keeps us from being able to wonder, it can make us rigid in what is acceptable and will eventually keep us from being able to see the goodness of God. In the end this negative thinking develops into the inability to join the way of God.
It is difficult for humans to see God’s way to peace. It is easier for people to accept a false peace under a dictator and pretend they’re free. The Pharisees are one example. Fear has ruled religion since any faith was around. People might hear stories of people coming to faith in ways that might not seem appropriate, and they’re criticized. Could it be that in some of these situations people are acting like the Pharisees as Jesus rode into Jerusalem? They were afraid their power and influence would be
In the parable of the two lost sons we read a few weeks ago from Luke chapter 15, one can see a parallel between God and the Pharisees. The older son was like the Pharisees who had a false peace. But it came crashing down when the younger brother returned home and it was their father who showed the ability to be motivated by love instead of fear.
In last week’s reading, Judas tried to get Jesus to rebuke Mary for using expensive nard oil while anointing Jesus. This week, the Pharisees try to get Jesus to rebuke the multitudes of his disciples for loudly praising him. Again a false peace is here, first with the older son and now, the Pharisees.
Remember the statement of Jesus about rocks would cry out if the crowds were silenced. Well rocks can make sounds we just don’t hear it. According to NASA. the planets, stars and other celestial objects in our solar system, literally produce a noise. We might describe it as a reverberation and a constant crying out in praise of its Creator. You might be able to hear the recordings from the Voyager mission, which has a number of data from images captured by the Hubble Telescope.
One thing I want to mention, did you notice there are no palms to wave in Luke’s gospel. This was because that detail would’ve been confusing to his Gentile audience. They had no clue about the Hebrew Bible and its history and traditions. The palms were part of the Jewish people celebrating the Festival of Sukkot, or Booths. This was the time God protected the ancestors of the Jews, the Hebrews, when they were wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt.
As we turn to the Apostle Paul, there are 13 epistles credited to Paul, but only seven of them were actually written by Paul (1st Thessolians. Galatians, 1st & 2nd Corinthians, Romans, Philemon and Philippians), three of the epistles are in question (2nd Thessolians, Colossians and Ephesians) and three who were definitely not written by Paul, 1st & Second Timothy and Titus. They are called the Pastoral epistles which forbid any woman to speak in the church. It set womens’ rights forbidden within the church for centuries.
Now Philippians is one of Paul’s authentic epistles. It begins with this “divine kenosis” (empty), the reminder that Jesus gave up his divinity for us. This is a powerful way of thinking about Christmas and what it really means. The Christ became human to dwell with us. And since the Christ was a part of God, it shows that God was always like Jesus, even though some Jewish scribes made God just like them with their own violence and cruel image.
There was a song written by a singer, can’t recall her name, with the lyrics I believe said, “If God became part of us.” And God did exactly that, God incarnated itself and became Jesus of Nazareth. God knows what it is like to live on earth. And that is all the struggles, joys and heartaches. As it says in the book of Hebrews 4: 15 - 16, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who in every respect who has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”
Not only did the Christ become human, but he allowed other humans to ridicule him, torture him and kill him in the most shameful way possible, and this was for all of us. No greater love has been shown to humankind, what Jesus did for all. From divinity to humanity from being served to serving and from death on the Cross, Jesus says it is finished, mission accomplished.
But God was not entirely finished. After doing this for all of us, God does something for Jesus, exalting him and giving him the name that is above every name where every knee will bow, King of Kings in heaven and earth.
We will remember that when we gather next Sunday. The resurrection of Jesus in his heavenly glory. The lamb who died for the sins of the world, now hailed as our Lord and our God.
While some may mourn the passing of “Christendom” and its diminished influence on society, the Apostle Paul calls us to relinquish our desire for worldly power and instead embrace the role of a servant. Power struggles and our own wish for glory doesn’t honor the name of Jesus. Rather, by following Jesus is to identify with the poor and give ourselves away in humble service to a suffering world and to honor the name that is above every name.
AMEN.
