A Weeping Savior

Palm Sunday is typically a day of great rejoicing. It feels like a respite of joy in an otherwise somber season. This year it has taken on an entirely different mode. We are currently socially isolated from each other. We cannot gather inside the church building out of love and concern for each other.

We are living with the anxiety of not being able to see the invisible enemy that has virtually shut down the world. We are looking for answers, we are looking for guidance, we are looking for hope.

Many churches have parades through the sanctuary with people waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna!”

We sing upbeat songs and celebrate what we refer to as the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem.

So it might feel strange that the text today is not the triumphal entry text at all but is, rather, the text that directly follows it. But today is not just a day of great rejoicing; it is also a day of great mourning because, while we look at the triumph of a King entering a city amid shouts of praise, we also know what that journey into the city ultimately means. Jesus knew what that parade into the city ultimately meant.

We sit today within the tension of the shouts of joy of a people who thought they understood what Jesus was coming to do but in so many ways were missing the mark. We sit today in the tension of knowing that a march into Jerusalem was not a march toward a political revolution but a dark day of surrender out of deep love for people who didn’t understand.

We sit in the tension among palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna!” to see the King of kings weep over the city as he moves closer and closer to the cross. We sit in the tension of knowing that the kingdom the people thought they wanted—that they thought they were getting—wasn’t the kingdom Jesus came to usher in.

It is interesting to read back in verses 39-40 these words

Luke 19:39–40 CEB

39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, scold your disciples! Tell them to stop!” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”

This had to happen. Those Pharisees were worried about the Romans. Just down the road in full view of Jesus was the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. The Romans were on the look out for anything that even looked like any rebellion towards Rome. The Pharisees were looking out for the people against the hated Romans. They did not want anyone to rock the boat as they waited for the Messiah to come and reestablish his throne.

Even if the people were not there shouting Hosanna, Jesus said that even if the people were quietly watching what was happening the rocks would begin to shout. Habakkuk prophesied

Habakkuk 2:11 CEB

11 A stone will cry out from a village wall, and a tree branch will respond.

God is the creator of all. Everything created was for God’s pleasure.

We sit between “hosanna” and the cross, and we come upon a weeping Jesus.

The triumphal entry follows the pattern of triumphal entries of the time.

Greco-Roman military conquerors would have similar triumphal entries.

The conqueror would be escorted into the city by an army or citizens.

The entry would be met with shouts of praise.

There would often be elements that symbolically showed what kind of ruler they were.

After the entry into the city, the conqueror would usually then march into the temple and make a sacrifice illustrating their victory.

Jesus’s entry follows this model very closely.

He entered the city among citizens and his disciples, who were laying their cloaks upon the ground.

He entered the city to the shouts of “Hosanna!”

He entered on a donkey, which symbolized his humble and peaceful rule. The cloaks on the road and the palm branches also point to this idea. A ruler entering a city on a donkey symbolized peace. A ruler riding in on a white stallion symbolized authority and military greatness.

After the entry, he went into the temple.

The people who were longing for a military and political leader in the Messiah would have most likely taken the similarities as a sign that Jesus was finally going to rise up as the leader they expected.

They thought he was coming to overthrow the Roman government and claim the throne.

They thought he was coming in as a military force.

However, there are distinct and important differences in Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The first significant departure is Jesus weeping over the city and preaching an oracle, a prophecy over it.

While this doesn’t follow the Greco-Roman conqueror model, it follows a model set forth by the prophets.

Jesus’s oracle is a lament. It means that he mourns over the city. He grieves over the city and the ways they see what is happening but don’t understand. This was not just a silent weeping over Jerusalem. The word used means that he wept aloud.

Jesus continually was trying to get the people to follow him, but they continued to not understand.

Their misunderstanding even extends to his triumphal entry. They are still looking for the kingdom of God to be a political construct of military strength instead of a humble, peaceful kingdom.

This lament connects with Jesus’s earlier lament in 13:34–35, where he longs to gather the people as a hen gathers chicks. Jesus said

Luke 13:34–35 CEB

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather your people just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you didn’t want that. 35 Look, your house is abandoned. I tell you, you won’t see me until the time comes when you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord’s name.”

The overall model of lament falls in line with the laments of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet.

Jeremiah lamented throughout the book of Jeremiah about the impending destruction of Jerusalem if they did not change their ways.

Jeremiah continued to cry out to the people to repent, and told them repeatedly that exile and destruction would come if they didn’t.

Lamentations, also by Jeremiah, was written after Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple desecrated.

The people didn’t listen to the many warnings.

Do people heed the warnings today? Generally no. People think that they do not need God. They believe they are living a good life. They believe that there is no heaven or hell. They believe that when they die that is the end.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke Chapter Thirty-Nine: When the Parade Passes By

Jerusalem is symbolic of all of our hometowns and cities. We could weep for all our neighbors who know not the things that make for peace, for the unredeemed loneliness which results in destructive patterns. If we were really aware of the heartbreak in any average town, we would weep more than we do.

Earlier in the sermon series, we talked about Daniel also weeping and repenting on behalf of the people in exile because what Jeremiah warned had come to pass.

The reference to people being dashed against rocks is another prophetic allusion.

The same imagery is used in these verses

Psalm 137:9 CEB

9 A blessing on the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock!

Nahum 3:10 CEB

10 Yet even she was destined for exile; she went into captivity. Indeed, her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her officials; all of her powerful citizens were bound in chains.

Hosea 13:16 CEB

16 Samaria will be desolate, because she has rebelled against her God; by the sword they will fall— their babies will be dashed, and their pregnant women ripped open.

These references, though, are toward other empires: Babylon, Nineveh, and Samaria.

Now Jesus is declaring that these things will happen to Jerusalem.

Other prophets also warned Jerusalem about what would happen without repentance. This is a common theme among the Old Testament prophets.

We know that in 70 A.D., Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.

Jesus is weeping over the ways the people do not understand, and are failing to follow him as the Messiah, despite what they have seen.

The second significant departure is that, when Jesus enters the temple, he does not offer a sacrifice. Instead he drives people out.

Matthew and Mark also reference Jesus saying “my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.”

Jesus is again referencing Jeremiah.

While there are differences between the Gospels, there is a theme of Jesus cleansing the temple throughout.

The people selling were taking advantage of the poor—something the prophets and Jesus were directly critical of.

This illustrates the depth to which they see but don’t understand.

They are making it difficult for people to sacrifice to the Lord.

As Jesus cleanses the temple, there also seems to be a statement that all people are welcome.

He is reemphasizing his concern for the poor and outcast and their inclusion in the kingdom of God.

Jesus then stays in the temple to teach.

Jesus seems to again be trying to get people to understand the ways they have strayed from understanding, and he is still giving them an opportunity to repent.

While this seems like an odd text for Palm Sunday, it is a reminder for us—as we enter into Holy Week—to be reminded of what Jesus ultimately came to do.

How often do we also want Jesus to enter into our world as a military or political leader?

Wouldn’t we want Jesus to come into our world today as a great scientist or doctor? Wouldn’t we want him to come with a vaccine that will protect us from the COVID-19 virus and anything else that is out there?

We can at times view God as being on our side in a conflict, instead of seeking what God actually wants for us.

This was one of the downfalls of the people in Jerusalem. They were so busy looking for a God who looked like their agenda that they missed the humble servant—Christ—in their midst.

We, like the people in Jerusalem, can become disillusioned when God shows up in a way we don’t expect.

We know that, soon, the shouts of “Hosanna!” will turn to shouts of “Crucify him!”

From the time he was born, the Messiah showed up in ways the people didn’t expect.

God continues to enter the world in unexpected ways.

How often are we seeing but not understanding?

One author put it this way

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke The Opposition

Life is a game of power politics. There’s no way to avoid it. In almost every relationship, a power struggle is going on, however unconsciously. Sometimes it’s thinly disguised in humor. There is the wife who confronted her husband one evening as he was reading the paper. “Honey, put your paper down. What do you think of this hat?” He said, “That’s the most ridiculous hat I ever saw. It doesn’t do a thing for you. Take it back.” “I can’t do that,” she parried. “This is my old hat. But since it offends you so much I’ll go right down and buy a new one that will please you.” This woman is a clever power politician.

Karl Marx once said “If you want to understand the nature of a structure, try to change it.” In that attempt to change you will unleash all the forces that might loose power and they will attack. Look at what happens when a new president is elected and brings his or her agenda. How the forces begin to attack.

In preparation I read something pretty prophetic for out time. Bruce Larson wrote:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke The Opposition

Jesus comes into the temple, the ultimate place of religious significance in all Jerusalem, and tries to bring radical change and renewal. In his book, Self-Renewal, John Gardner said that no organization in the church, business, or government can survive unless from time to time it reexamines its purpose for being and returns to that original agenda; otherwise it gets deflected into all sorts of side issues.

We are in a time where we have to reexamine our purpose. We sure are not doing church like we did on March 15’th. It is time to reexamine our purpose as a church. It is time to reexamine our lives. Are we living as Christ would have us to live? Would Christ be weeping over our town, our township, our county, our state, or our country? I believe the answer is yes.

What is the solution? Repent, repent and return to God.

Jesus weeps over the city because they continue to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors: oppressing the poor, being exclusive in the ways they worship, seeking violence instead of peace, and failing to repent of their sin.

This cycle is continued often in us, with the same resistance to repent.

Lent forces us to confront the places we have become complacent and complicit in sin.

Ultimately Jesus came to bring peace—in our lives in our homes, and in the world.

Jesus was met with resistance.

Are we also resisting the peace of Jesus?

How do we repent of the places we see but don’t understand?

How do we move to a place where we fully accept that Jesus didn’t enter as a military/political king, but as the great Prince of peace?

CONCLUSION

In the midst of our “hosannas” and songs of praise, we don’t want to forget the humble King Jesus, who came with humility instead of military power. Who came with a message of peace, grace, and love for us and for the world.

He came to turn over the tables of those who excluded, and he wept over those who continued to not understand him. He had difficult, prophetic words for those who continued to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors and refused to repent.

We do want to learn, and not repeat these same mistakes. We must allow Christ to clean out the temples of our lives and our hearts as well, as we seek to follow after this new way, this new kingdom—a kingdom so different from the kingdoms of the world; a kingdom of peace and love.

So, as we sit in this tension between praise and sacrifice, between palm branches and a cross, may we learn to seek after the kingdom of God and follow after the Prince of peace.