Celebration and Pageantry

Yesterday was the Daffodil parade in Puyallup, and the weather was unpredictable to say the least. Sun, rain, wind, hail, snow(?), sleet made for an interesting afternoon. If you missed it, it doesn’t take much to imagine it given the unstable weather that moved through our region yesterday.

Think of all the work that goes into such a parade. The various bands and performers practice their music and routines, floats are prepared, decorated and staged for the start of the parade; it takes months of preparation to execute a community parade and much more for a larger parade.

Parades often are markers of the beginning of a great celebration. You might think of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York signaling the beginning of the Christmas holiday season, and of course we know that the grand finale of that parade is Santa in his sleigh being pulled by his team of reindeer.

The parade that we’re reflecting on today is Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Now before we go into the scene, let’s talk about what some of the expectations were. Many had heard of Jesus prior to this time, he’d been in Jerusalem before in his pilgrimages to the Temple. The difference is now his reputation has spread. Many had heard of his miracles: water to wine, healings, feeding thousands with seemingly nothing, raising the dead as we discussed last week. They’d heard of his teaching in the synagogues. His inner group of 12 had become known. This Rabbi wasn’t like the religious leaders of the time separating themselves from masses and living in their holy huddles, this teacher was a friend of sinners and tax collectors. He was known for teaching with authority and not like one of their teachers. Many had been thinking he might be the Messiah.

MESSIAH!

The title Messiah was one that carried with it a lot of inferences. You might recall John’s disciples coming to Jesus as asking: Luke 7:20

Luke 7:20 ESV

And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”

As the people gathered on this day, they are celebrating that Jesus is the one who is to come. And still, there are so many things they get wrong.

They knew their Messiah would be a conqueror - you would imagine a conqueror coming in a huge white charger, coming in triumphantly leading his troops. Jesus comes in on a colt, tradition tells us a donkey.

They thought the Messiah was going to come in and overthrow their oppressors - the Romans controlled everything. But Jesus doesn’t come in with military strength, in fact he doesn’t come in with any weapons.

And as he enters notice what they are saying: Lk 19:38

Luke 19:38 ESV

saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Blessed is the KING - he’s going to overthrow the government! A Jewish King, this is the one who will restore the prominence of the Jews, perhaps return them to their promised land, and on and on the ideas go.

In today’s world we are 2000+ years removed from this Triumphal entry, and yet still there is so much we get wrong about Jesus. We want to make Jesus palpable to the masses - some would say we need to make Jesus approachable. Youth groups sing songs about Jesus being the friend, “He’s the friend next to you.” We sings songs like, “What a friend we have in Jesus.”

That is the Jesus we like to focus on. Our friend, our buddy. Someone we can talk with over coffee, enjoy a walk with on the beach or a mountain trail, talk with casually as we drive. We’ve domesticated Jesus to be what we want Him to be.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: God created man in His own image and man was quick to return the favor.

Many people today and unfortunately even many in our churches have chosen to create Jesus in their own image, or at least the image of what they might want to be. Domesticated. Friendly. A good coffee buddy. Someone that is…nice. This Jesus is palatable, easy going, our pal and friend. Someone we can slap on the back and call our buddy. That is not the biblical Jesus!

Yes, it’s true we have Jesus coming in riding on a colt - not what the people of the time are expecting. In fact the Pharisees seeing the crowd glorifying Jesus say to him,

Luke 19:39 ESV

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

“Teacher rebuke your disciples.” Why? Because they don’t recognize who Jesus is either. But he gives them a major hint:

Luke 19:40 ESV

He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Why would they cry out? Because they give praise to their creator. The people may not recognize who Jesus is, but the creation does. This is not the domesticated friend, coffee pal, the Jesus we’ve created to be what we would want in a Savior. This is the one who was there at the creation of the world when God said, “Let there me light...” and “Let US create man in OUR image...”

He’s the One of whom the voice in heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:22 ESV

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Let’s think of some of who Jesus described himself to be:

The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Resurrection, The Bread of Life, The Living Water, and so much more. John in his vision that we call the book of Revelation, describes his reaction when he saw Jesus:

Revelation 1:17 ESV

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,

In John’s vision he sees the one on the throne. Rev 4:6-8

Revelation 4:6–8 (ESV)

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures...and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!”

He goes on to say:

Revelation 4:9–10 (ESV)

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne,..,

Note that the creatures never cease calling out “Holy, holy holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.” And then in the following verses we see “Whenever” in other words they are constantly bowed down in worship. And they are constantly saying,

Revelation 4:11 ESV

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

When John saw Jesus, in his vision, he fell down as if dead. The elders in heaven fall down constantly in worship. This is NOT the Jesus we have created into what we want Him to be.

He is Holy. He is Sovereign. He is LORD

You and I cannot domesticate this Jesus we follow. We cannot simply think of Jesus as our pal and friend. We cannot diminish the holiness of Jesus.

He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the One who was promised, the One who is to Come, the great teacher, the true Messiah, and he enters Jerusalem coming in knowing exactly what is going to happen to Him. Knowing His exact purpose. Knowing the reason for which He came.

This is One who was deserving of all the pageantry and celebration that is being lauded upon Him as he enters Jerusalem and more. They didn’t know who He was in Total, we have the benefit of hindsight, they did not. We cannot be as blind as they were.

As we enter Holy Week this week, each one of us has another opportunity to re-examine who it is that Jesus is. We have another opportunity to re-examine who we believe Him to be.

It was C.S. Lewis who put forth the concept of

LORD, Liar, or Lunatic

He said that either Jesus was a liar in which case one would think that his claims would have been disproved long ago. Lies are uncovered and the truth does rise to the surface.

Or, Jesus was a lunatic who had delusions of grandeur far greater than any one of us can imagine. Which would cause us to wonder why anyone would follow him.

Or, Jesus is LORD. In which case He is who he claimed to be and we too are called to fall down before Him in worship.

As the church we MUST recommit to our understanding of the holiness of Jesus and to following Him. And we are constantly given new opportunities to do so, and this Holy Week is just the latest of them. I encourage you to take some time to read through one of the Gospels’ account of that final week of Jesus’ life. Don’t let this time go by without considering the claims of Jesus and their impact on your life.

Jesus is LORD. To the Glory of God. AMEN!