A Different Triumphal Entry

Just under 80 years ago, a crowd gathered on a humid August day to commence what was to be an unparalleled event for its time. Hundreds of thousands of spectators, police officers, and soldiers gathered for an event so spectacular, so colossal, it almost seemed to come out of a fairy tale rather than real life. Some six continents and 49 countries were represented, with most guests, especially the athletes wearing clothing with their own home flag represented, either on their person, or as they waved their flag for the crowd to see.

But the most obvious flag, the most conspicuous flag that day, was by far, the Swastika. It was draped anywhere and everywhere there was room. For this was the 1936 Olympics, hosted in Berlin. And while most of the athletes were present, the main attraction that day was not the athletes who would compete for medals, but the one who would preside over them, Adolf Hitler.

At 3:18 p.m., according to the author Daniel James Brown, “Adolf Hitler left the chancellery in central Berlin, standing upright in his Mercedes limousine, his right arm lifted in the Nazi salute. Tens of thousands of Hitler Youth, storm troopers, and helmeted military guards lined his route from the Brandenburg Gate through the Tiergarten and out to the Reichssportfeld. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary German citizens had massed along the way, leaning from windows and waving flags or standing twelve or more deep along the street, again using periscopes to get a glimpse of Hitler.

Now, as his limousine passed, they extended their right arms in the Nazi salute, their faces upturned, ecstatic, screaming in pulsing waves as he rode by, “Heil! Heil! Heil!” At the Maifeld, where the U.S. Olympic team members stood, the athletes began to hear the distant sound of crowds cheering, the noise slowly swelling and growing nearer, then loudspeakers blaring, “He is coming! He is coming”. “He is coming! He is Coming!” Chilling words aren’t they?

And I would argue not just because we know what leadership under Hitler would bring to the modern world, but also, the messianic overtones that we hear in the shouts of Hail! And He is coming. I could not help but compare this scene to the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday…the day Jesus entered into the Holy City, not standing on a Mercedes, or even the ancient world’s equivalent, the chariot, but rather he came on a donkey.

Stuart Strachan Jr. Sermon: “Witnessing to the Light”, June 2015. Source Material from Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Penguin Books, 2014.

Sermon Illustrations on Palm Sunday – The Pastor's Workshop (thepastorsworkshop.com)

It’s Palm Sunday - a day that the Christian church celebrates our Savior riding a donkey into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! It’s a joyous occasion. Triumphal entries were nothing new to the people gathered in Jerusalem for Passover. They may have even seen military heroes entering the city that week with much fanfare, to serve as extra security during the festival. They would have been familiar with conquering kings and military generals riding in on horses and adorned with the praise of crowds.

But Jesus’s triumphal entry is different. As Gabriel Benjiman points out in Water for the Way, “These celebrities from the war fronts are celebrated for their strategy and power to end lives, and they wear their war stripes with pride. Then there is that moment when one comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus is at the gate. This triumphant King does not take lives. Instead, he lays down his life in order to give life. In him is the true triumph over death. He reversed the curse of death, accomplishing what no one else could do” (p. 135). Jesus once again is illustrating that the kingdom of God doesn’t look like the kingdoms of the earth. The kingdom of God is not won through violence and death but through sacrifice and resurrection. It is not a kingdom of exclusion and ostracism but one of welcome and grace. It is this beautiful and expansive kingdom of God that people are crying out for, even if unknowingly, as they declare, “Hosanna! Save us!”

Matthew 21:1–11 NIV

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “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.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Triumphal Entries

The Roman triumph was the highest honor granted to emperors and generals in the Roman Empire. It was a processional into the city, led by government officials, followed by the sacrificial animals for the temples of the Roman gods, followed by the champion in a chariot, usually in purple regalia, followed by the spoils of war and the captives of war.

This processional was given to those who were victorious in war. The celebrations included festivals, dancing, singing, and flower petals strewn upon the ground. The path for the processional was often cleaned in advance, prepared by the government to usher in the triumphant victor of war.

Jesus’s processional wasn’t into Rome, the capital of the empire, but into Jerusalem, the location of the temple and the religious heart of the Jewish faith.

Jesus did not make his entry as the victor of war but as one who marched toward death, illustrating that true victory does not come through violence but through humility

Jesus’s triumphal entry does mirror Roman triumphs in some ways.

It takes place at the beginning of a festival, Passover—but Passover is not about war. It is about remembering the way God spared the lives of his people and freed them from oppressive Egyptian rule.

The Roman triumphal festivals would include bringing offerings for the Roman gods. Jesus is also bringing an offering toward the temple, but the offering is himself.

Instead of a horse and chariot, Jesus rides in on a donkey, which is an illustration of humility because donkeys are common and not a sign of prestige. Donkeys are pack animals, not war animals. They are a symbol of peace.

Jesus in the Temple

Although Jesus entering the temple isn’t part of the text we read today, it is an important component of the triumphal entry.

We often view Jesus overturning tables as an angry Jesus scolding people who are doing wrong, but the text in Matthew seems to indicate something else.

The sale of sacrificial animals on the temple grounds was both common and acceptable.

Many out-of-town visitors would need an animal to sacrifice.

So Jesus entering the temple and freeing sacrificial animals is a statement about how Jesus has come to be the ultimate sacrifice, not the animals.

Jesus came to upend systems of death and injustice. The kingdom of God that Jesus is ushering in is not one of preferential treatment but one that welcomes everyone, where mercy and justice matter more than sacrifice.

A Different Kind of Messiah

The Jewish people were busy looking for the Messiah to come in the ways they wanted.

They expected a political ruler who would rise up and overthrow the Roman government, in likely violent ways.

They expected temporary freedom.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, many of them thought this was the moment he was going to take over.

Instead, Jesus’s arrival disrupted the way they were doing things.

He called out their acts of injustice: the ways they were abusing and using the poor and denying worship to vulnerable people.

He healed people who were considered outsiders and unclean: the lame, the blind, the poor.iii. Children recognized who he was and what he was doing, and he welcomed them. His rebuke was for the religious leaders who continued to miss the point.

We too sometimes look for Christ to come in a particular way or to support a particular agenda.

Are our politics aligned with Jesus, or are we trying to align Jesus with our politics?

Do we practice exclusion, putting obstacles in the way of people’s worship—in particular vulnerable people?

Do we silence voices of those we look down on or disagree with?

Jesus wants to disrupt our lives too. He wants to overturn the places of injustice and clean out the lies and idolatry in order to make space for healing; for being formed into the image of Christ rather than forming Christ into the image we want; and for seeing the kingdom of God already at work in the world and figuring out where and how we can join that work.

Jesus wanted to do so much more than just free the people from an oppressive regime. He wanted to usher in a kingdom of everlasting justice, not temporary justice until the next power took the throne. He wanted to elevate the lowly, and humble the elevated to create a kingdom of equality. He wanted to bring about true and everlasting peace. He wanted to usher in a kingdom of love, grace, truth, and beauty.

Jesus ushered the kingdom of God into the world, it’s still at work, and it’s still coming. We can cry out “Hosanna!” today, while also repenting of the ways we have fallen short. We can cry out “Hosanna!” and still look for the ways that the kingdom of God is breaking in, and join that work.

Judged in the light of any ordinary standards of regal splendor, military display, political campaigning, or effective advertising, it was a rather pathetic and anti-climactic affair. Jesus rode from Bethany upon a young ass, followed by his disciples, who were somewhat puzzled and anxious, and welcomed by a motley crowd of folk from the country districts who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover and were hoping to find in him the expected Messiah.

The procession started according to scheduled specifications, for there was a well-recognized prophecy that the Messianic King would come in such guise;

Tell ye the daughter of Zion,

Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,

Meek, and riding upon an ass,

And upon a colt the foal of an ass.

But it failed to end in Messianic style, for Jesus did not leap to the pinnacle of the temple, rend the clouds of heaven, summon a vast army of angels and archangels, expel the Romans from power, and compel them to bow their faces to the earth before his throne and acknowledge him to be sovereign.

That was the orthodox program. That was what the Messiah was expected to do. Jesus did none of these things. He wept as he came in sight of the city, and prophesied its coming destruction. When he reached the temple, he “looked round about upon all things,” the record says, and then returned to Bethany. The crowd melted away. It was a tame ending to their extravagant hopes.

Luther A. Weigle, We Are Able.

Sermon Illustrations on Palm Sunday – The Pastor's Workshop (thepastorsworkshop.com)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he wasn’t seeking to free the oppressed through violence but through humble sacrifice. Jesus challenged the exclusionary practices of the temple, declaring a new temple that wasn’t contingent upon location but centered upon him as the Messiah. Jesus brought about the beautifully inclusive, just, merciful, and grace-filled kingdom of God that we get to participate in now.

As we enter Holy Week, may we look for Jesus in places that disrupt injustice, in the ways we see others extend mercy and grace. May we repent of the times and places when we have excluded others and embrace the fullness of the kingdom that Christ brings. May we look for ways to participate in the kingdom of God now, even as we await its fulfillment when Christ returns, by being people of love, grace, mercy, and peace.

TIME OF REFLECTION - Prayer Stations (while music plays in background)

COMMUNION RITUAL

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

EXPLAIN ELEMENTS

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

CONCLUDING PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND COMMITMENT

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.