Sermon Tone Analysis

*Mark 11,1-11 Triumphal Entry - Really (03)*

*Document:*     Mark 11,1-11 Triumphal Entry - Really (03)

*Triumphal Entry!

Really?*

* *

*The Pittsburgh Morning Sun *

Thursday, April 10, 2003

* *

*The Headline reads *

*“Liberating Baghdad*:

/Iraqis topple statue, /

/regime /

/as U.S. troops take over capital./

/ /

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Their hour of freedom at hand, jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime on Wednesday, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad and embracing American troops as liberators.

A young Iraqi spat on a portrait of Saddam.

Men hugged Americans in full combat gear, and women held up babies so soldiers /riding on tanks/ could kiss them.

"Bush, Bush, thank you," chanted small bands of youth in Saddam City, a predominantly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad.

Wait a minute!

We’ve read that somewhere before…

in the Bible… in Mark 11:1-10

 

The Headline reads:

/The Triumphal Entry \\ 1As they approached Jerusalem /

/and came to Bethphage and Bethany/

/ at the Mount of Olives, /

/Jesus sent two of his disciples,/

/ 2saying to them, /

/"Go to the village ahead of you, /

/and just as you enter it,/

/ you will find a colt tied there, /

/which no one has ever ridden.

/

/Untie it and bring it here.

/

/3If anyone asks you,/

/’Why are you doing this?’/

/ tell him, ’The Lord needs it/

/ and will send it back here shortly.’

"/

/4They went and found a colt/

/ outside in the street, tied at a doorway./

/ As they untied it,/

/ 5some people standing there asked, /

/"What are you doing, untying that colt?"/

/6They answered as Jesus had told them to, /

/and the people let them go./

/ 7When they brought the colt to Jesus /

/and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it./

/ 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road,/

/ while others spread branches/

/ they had cut in the fields.

/

/9Those who went ahead /

/and those who followed shouted, \\    "Hosanna!

" \\    "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" 10"Blessed is the coming kingdom /

/of our father David!" /

/   "Hosanna in the highest!" /

 

We’re one week from Easter!

Today is “Palm Sunday.”

This is the day of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem

only days before things turn ugly…

                   and he’s put on trial and crucified.

What a coincidence…

This is the day when the Coalition Troops

          entered into Baghdad

                   and declared victory over Saddam’s regime.

Now, only days later there is widespread looting

          and disorder.

The Gospel of Mark often draws our attention

to the repeated blindness of the disciples,

their persistent deafness…

their out-and-out inability

to recognize who Jesus really is…

and what he has come to the world to do!

The people wanted to make him a king.

Two of them actually wanted

the seat of power and authority

right next to Jesus

          in his new regime.

They didn’t understand…

Incidentally, we are also wondering,

          “who will be in charge in Iraq

                   when the dust settles.”

When Jesus fed the five thousand,

they didn’t understand.

They thought Jesus was jocking

for the Prime Minister’s job.

When he calmed the storm,

they didn’t recognize him.

When he asked them straight out

“Who do you say that I am?”

they had all the right answers

and said all the right words…

but they had a totally /different understanding/

of what Jesus would be!

They wanted war and weapons.

They expected power and prestige.

Here is Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

revealing himself and God’s plan for the world …and over and over again

the disciples and the crowds

fail to understand.

Jesus proceeds to tell his disciples that “yes,”

he is the Messiah…

but what that means is that

he’s headed to Jerusalem

to suffer and die

and “give his life as a ransom for many.”