God in our midst
Notes
Transcript
The echo of "Hosanna" still hung in the air. Coats and palm branches still covered the ground. The entrance into Jerusalem that morning looked so similar to any other victorious entrance by a grand military leader. It followed the same steps they had seen before. This was not their first triumphal entry, though Jerusalem may have been a strange place for it. The military leader would enter the city victorious, amid shouts of praise, and go right through the center of the city to the temple.
But there were significant differences too-things that seemed odd for a triumphant military leader, especially if this was the Messiah on his way to overthrow the oppressive regime they had been living under for years. He rode a young donkey and didn't enter with military chariots. The people with him weren't soldiers but a group of misfit disciples.
Then the oddest thing happened. After entering the city he did what every other victorious leader did-he went toward the temple. Normally the purpose of going to the temple was to make an offering to whichever god the victor worshiped, claiming even the place of worship for himself, but Jesus did something completely different. He went to the temple, but instead of placing an offering upon the altar, he began clearing it out.
While we don't always center the Palm Sunday message around this clearing of the temple, it is very much a part of Jesus's triumphal entry-illustrating once again that the people expected the Messiah to look a very particular way. The way they expected him to look was like the military leaders of the world-but Jesus looked very different. He came to usher in a kingdom different than the one they thought they wanted, and clearing the temple was just one way Jesus illustrated, in profoundly strong ways, that something else was happening here.
The kingdom of God had come, and was coming, and it didn't look like they thought it would.
This triumphal entry was both the same as and different from those that had happened before.
This triumphal entry was both the same as and different from those that had happened before.
The Roman triumph was the highest honor granted to emperors and generals in the Roman Empire.
It was a processional into the city of Rome, 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 embroidered purple regalia, followed by the spoils of war and the captives.
This processional was given to those who were victorious in war, some saying to only those who had killed at least five thousand of their enemies.
The processional included festivals, dancing, singing, and flower petals strewn upon the ground.
The path for the processional was often cleaned and prepared by the government to usher in the triumphant victor of war.
8 Now a large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others cut palm branches off the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds in front of him and behind him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. “Who is this?” they asked.
The Passion translation put it this way
The Passion Translation: New Testament Chapter 21
Bring the victory, Lord,a Son of David! He comes with the blessings of being sent from the Lord Yahweh!b We celebrate with praises to God in the highest!
Jesus's processional wasn't into Rome, the capital of the empire. Instead, Jesus came to Jerusalem - the location of the Jewish temple and the religious heart of their faith.
The entire city of Jerusalem was impacted by Jesus entry.
10 As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people went wild with excitement—the entire city was thrown into an uproar!
Jesus's entry wasn't as a victor of war who had killed thousands. Rather, it was a march toward death. But Christ's death and resurrection were an act of victory in a different way. With his version of the triumphal entry, Jesus seems to be illustrating in yet another example of the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God that victory does not come through violence but through humility.
This triumphal entry took place at the beginning of a festival-Passover-seeming to mirror some of the components of a Roman triumphal entry. But the festival of Passover is not about war but about remembering the way God spared the lives of the Jews and the miraculous ways God cared for them, freeing them from the oppressive Egyptian rule.
The passover was the festival that required all male Jews to come to Jerusalem and offer a sacrifice. The population of the city of Jerusalem would swelled by hundreds of thousands of people.
This festival would be in stark contrast to those of the Romans bringing offerings for gods like Jupiter. Jesus instead seems to be highlighting the remembrance of the exodus and pointing to a new exodus of freedom, bringing an offering toward the temple-only this offering was himself.
There also seems to be a parallel with Passover in that, while the Jews celebrate the salvation of their firstborn sons, ultimately their salvation is arriving through the sacrifice of God's only Son.
Instead of a horse and chariot, Jesus rode in on a donkey as an illustration of humility. Donkeys were common in the area, not a display of wealth. Donkeys were pack animals, not war animals, making them a symbol of peace instead of a symbol of war.
Jesus is the offering for the temple.
Jesus is the offering for the temple.
Jesus's journey to the temple was expected because it was a normal part of the typical triumphal entry. They would have expected him to make an offering to God in the temple as a statement of victory. They would have expected him to offer a prayer of thanksgiving and perhaps prayers for success in the coming days.
Instead of making an offering upon the altar, however, Jesus overturns the tables and benches of those selling doves. It's important that Matthew mentions doves as the item being sold.
7 If you can’t afford an animal from the flock, you can bring to the Lord as compensation for your sin two doves or two pigeons, one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering.
Doves were the offerings of the poor.
The temple was not just for the Jews. The Jews were God’s special chosen people to draw people to God.
Listen to what God said to Abram when he was called to leave his family and travel to a place that God was promising him.
1 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, those who curse you I will curse; all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you.”
The temple in Jerusalem was for everyone. Here is a picture of what the Temple at the time of Jesus would have looked like.
It was there in the out area that was identified as the Court of the Gentiles or the court of the rest of us. It was in this Court of the Gentiles that the money changers were setup
The word "moneychanger" means money-banker or money-broker. They would make large profits at the expense of the pilgrims. Every Israelite, rich or poor, who had reached the age of twenty was obligated to pay a half shekel as an offering to Jehovah into the sacred treasury. This tribute was in every case to be paid in the exact Hebrew half shekel.
At Passover everyone in the world who was an adult male and wished to worship at the Temple would bring his "offering" or purchase a sacrificial animal at the Temple. Since there was no acceptance of foreign money with any foreign image the money changers would sell "Temple coinage" at a very high rate of exchange and assess a fixed charge for their services.
The judges, who sat to inspect the offerings that were brought by the pilgrims, were quick to detect any blemish in them. This was expensive for the wealthy pilgrims, not to say how ruinous this was for the poor who could only offer their turtle-doves and pigeons. There was no defense for them or court of appeal, seeing that the priestly authorities took a large percentage on every transaction.
https://www.bible-history.com/jewishtemple/JEWISH_TEMPLEJesus_and_the_Temple.htm
Stating that the temple had been turned into a den of robbers, with the context of them selling doves, implies that this was an act of injustice. "Den of robbers" is from Jeremiah 7:11, in which the surrounding context discusses idolatry, adultery, and perjury.
11 A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’ ” God’s Decree!
People were committing these sins and then coming to offer sacrifices, declaring that their offering made it so their sins didn't matter.
The problem was not that these services were offered. The problem was the greed of some robbing their fellow Jews. Particularly the poor.
God had made a way for all who desired to offer a sacrifice within their means. Yet, the Jews eliminated this by charging inflated amounts to exchange currency and for the sacrifices.
This was a great injustice. The greedy were robbing their own people who came to offer sacrifices to the Lord in honor and obedience of the Passover. The Lord hates injustice and greed. Jesus was rightly angry over it.
Yahweh declares that their acts of injustice and sin have been seen. Yahweh declares that God did not just command the people to burn offerings but also to act in obedience to God.
This is also a passage where God declares clearly that he is angry because of the people's disobedience and injustice.
The poor were being taken advantage of. People were finding ways to make money off the worshipful acts of the most vulnerable. The reference to Jeremiah shows that Jesus is angry at the ways others are being taken advantage of.
Jesus's anger is shown clearly in his overturning of the tables. The temple, and making sacrifices there, was no longer about prayer and obedience but about profit, gain, and perpetuating injustice.
Jesus doesn't make a sacrifice after overturning the tables either. Instead, he welcomes the vulnerable.
The blind and lame find healing from Jesus. He welcomes them into the temple, unlike the money changers, who blocked their entrance. Jesus is doing work in the temple. His offering is not found in a burnt sacrifice but in the love and healing he extends toward those in need.
The ones still singing "Hosanna" are the children, another vulnerable group that is welcomed into the presence of Jesus.
Mark 10 tells of Jesus rebuking the disciples for keeping the children from him. Jesus declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children.
13 People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would bless them. But the disciples scolded them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he grew angry and said to them, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. 15 I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he hugged the children and blessed them.
The children are the ones in the temple courts who recognize who Jesus is.
The religious rulers and teachers don't like what the children are declaring, yet they (the rulers and teachers) are the ones who allowed the money changers to operate in the temple. They were focused on the wrong things, and missed the miracle of the coming of the kingdom of God in their midst.
The children were the ones who recognized the kingdom of God being ushered in by Jesus.
When we are busy looking for God to fit our agenda, we often miss out on God in our midst.
When we are busy looking for God to fit our agenda, we often miss out on God in our midst.
The Jews 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. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, many of them thought this was the moment when he would declare his authority and lead a rebellion, taking over in the ways they wanted and imagined.
Instead of doing what they expected, however, he came and disrupted the way they were doing things.
He called out their acts of injustice, the ways they were abusing and using the poor and the ways they denied worship to vulnerable people. He revealed God's anger at the sins of injustice, idolatry, and hypocrisy.
He healed people who were considered unclean, and outsiders, welcoming the lame, the blind,and the poor-people who would normally be viewed as unclean-into the temple.
The children recognized who he was and what he was doing, and instead of dismissing them, he welcomed them. He rebuked not the children but the religious leaders who continued to miss the point.
We too often look for Christ to come in a particular way, to support a particular agenda.
This can look like politics: Are our politics aligned with Jesus, or are we trying to align Jesus with our politics?
This can look like exclusion: Do we put obstacles to worship in the way of people-particularly vulnerable people-and expect Christ to be on our side?
This can look like silencing the voices of those we look down on, much like the religious rulers wanted to silence the voices of the children.
Jesus wants to disrupt our lives too. To overturn the places of injustice, to clean out the lies and idolatry. Letting him would make space for healing for ourselves and for others. It would help us to be formed into the image of Christ instead of forming Christ in the image we want. It would help align our vision so we can see the kingdom of God already at work in the world, and join that work.
Paul wrote
14 Our reconciling “Peace” is Jesus! He has made Jew and non-Jew one in Christ. By dying as our sacrifice, he has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us and has now made us equal through our union with Christ. 15 Ethnic hatred has been dissolved by the crucifixion of his precious body on the cross. The legal code that stood condemning every one of us has now been repealed by his command. His triune essence has made peace between us by starting over—forming one new race of humanity, Jews and non-Jews fused together! 16 Two have now become one, and we live restored to God and reconciled in the body of Christ. Through his crucifixion, hatred died.
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. 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.
The temple was not to be about money changers and selling animals. Those things were necessary, however they were used to exploit the weakest and poorest among them. What was the temple supposed to be about?
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain, and bring them joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their entirely burned offerings and sacrifices on my altar. My house will be known as a house of prayer for all peoples,
It was to be a house of prayer for all people, however it had become a place of exclusion. How could a gentile go to the temple and worship with all the noise and commotion of the selling and money exchanging going on.
6 I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason. I will grasp your hand and guard you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, 7 to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison, and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
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 look for the ways that the kingdom of God is breaking in, and join that work.
CONCLUSION
The coming of the Messiah looked different than what they were expecting, and aren't we glad? Because Christ came for so much more than what the people thought they wanted. And he's come to do so much more than what we expect too. He has come to free us from our bondage to sin, cycles of exclusion, and injustice.
He has come to give us eyes to see the ways that the kingdom of God is already at work in the world. He has come to partner with the Holy Spirit to see justice, peace, love, grace, truth, and beauty in the world around us even now, as we wait and long for its fullness to come.
We aren't getting a military leader. We are getting so much more. We are getting Christ the King. The Messiah. The One who has come to save us.