Two Kings

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. First of which I have to tell you we are maybe for the first time in this gospel going backward in time because the whole season of Lent we skipped this text and moved past it. But now we come back to it and take a look at what all this triumphal entry is about. To get into maybe why this entrance is so triumphal or at least so significant beyond being his last week on earth we need to take a look at some historical context.

There are many unexpected things happening in today’s text and they do have a lot to do with what is happening as Jesus enters Jerusalem, but isn’t actually recorded in any of the gospels. You see there are actually two triumphal entries happening today at two different gates with two different kings and each one has a different purpose. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, who are two very prominent biblical scholars, believe that while Jesus entered the city from the East Gate, which is the most direct route to the Temple, Pontius Pilate would have come from the West entering through the Jaffa gate, which would have led Pilate to the fortress of Herod’s palace.

As Pontius Pilate would have come through the main gate into the city from Caesarea, he would have been accompanied with a legion of soldiers. He would have been riding on a war horse along with his cavalry in a very impressive array, and people would have been expected to show up to greet him and shout for joy as he came into the city. They were either forced to attend this procession or attended to placate Rome. Pilate didn’t come into the city to celebrate the Passover, but to display his and Rome’s authority during this pilgrimage time. Since so many people were coming for this high holy festival the city would have grown in exponentially in size. This large influx needed an extra show of force from Rome to show they meant business. Pilate was the king the people had not the king the people wanted.

Now I don’t know for sure but I think that maybe this crowd that showed up for Pilate would have been a ‘little’ smaller than normal this year because there was an impromptu and unexpected entry happening by the side gate. At this gate Jesus enters riding not on a victorious and awe-inspiring war horse, but on a colt that had never been ridden before. This entry is met with crowds of people who are excited to see Jesus and want him to enter the city and they throw down cloaks and leafy branches to mark his entry. It’s no red carpet like we see with celebrities, but it is much more than that.

This king entering has a confusing kingship. As the crowds cheer for him I wonder how many are there to see him come and be the messiah as Jesus has shown himself to be, and I wonder how many people are there to see him come into Jerusalem as the messiah, the conquering king, to overthrow Rome in Israel. We know that the popular idea of messiah was a line of David to take over the royal lineage and free Israel from Roman occupation. So there is a mix of people gathered that day, those for Jesus the the one who’s bringing in the kingdom of God, those who want a kingdom of Israel and even those just caught up in the moment of excitement.

But you know as the crowds were shouting and cheering for him we see from our gospel that they are shouting ‘hosanna’ as he rides in. We have been refraining from saying and singing the word alleluia for the season of Lent which is a shout of praise and worship. I personally would have thought they would have been shouting ‘alleluia’ or ‘hallelujah’ in praise and joy for Jesus coming into the city for Passover. A joyful and triumphal entry for the king they want. Shouts of joy would seem an appropriate chant for the king entering the city. After all it is the word we will be saying almost exclusively on Easter Sunday.

Instead we get the word hosanna. The word ‘hosanna’ means ‘save us, we pray’ so I understand also why they might use this word because many of them might want to be saved from the other king riding in with a legion of Roman soldiers through that main gate on the other side of the city. They want to be saved from oppression and Roman rule. They want to be the free kingdom that God gave them centuries earlier. This is their promised land, not meant to be owned by foreigners. I get it when they shout ‘hosanna’ because they are tired of being ‘owned’ by the Roman government and being forced to live counter to the way that God wants them to live. I get it and my heart aches for any people that living under a government of oppression and tyranny. I get why they wanted a king to come and save them.

Jesus had a different purpose for coming into Jerusalem that last time. For Jesus the shouts of “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the king of Israel!” had a completely different meaning. Hosanna still had the exact same literal words as the crowd was shouting, but God had a different way of doing it. God had a different plan, an unexpected plan to save the people. While people were concerned about the politics and the rule of the land, Jesus was preparing people for God’s reign and God’s rule. God’s plan was coming to a head very soon and the people would be saved from their sins. People would be reminded that they are God’s children and no matter what happens in the political scope of things, no matter what happens in this world, that they have a life beyond this life. That God will save them in the most unusual and unexpected way, on a cross, with the death of the Messiah. But with that death there is forgiveness and there is life, just as Jesus experienced life after death.

What kind of king do you want Jesus to be? Which gate will you be focused on? Will the world be focused on? While the world may have different ideas of who is king both then and now, I can tell you that God is at work in it all. I can tell you that as we shout our Hosannas today we can know with full confidence that God is here. In our fears and in our hopes. In our waiting and in our impatience, God is here. God always has been and always is. God does unexpected and amazing things and I pray that through all of this you know that though kings may come and fall, there is one who’s triumphal entry will never fade from the world. There are not two kings, but one, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ who comes humble riding on a colt.

I want to leave you with one final word from Romans which I think speaks perfectly to what I am trying to say today.

Romans 8:38–39 NRSV

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is the unexpected way in which we experience God’s love and grace. May the unexpected love fill you with peace each and every day. Amen.