Here He Comes!

Common English Bible Chapter 19

Procession into Jerusalem

29 As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. 30 He said, “Go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say, ‘Its master needs it.’ ” 32 Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said.

33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “Its master needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the colt, and lifted Jesus onto it. 36 As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road.

37 As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing. They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen. 38 They said,

“Blessings on the king who comes in the

name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the

highest heavens.”

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.”

Introduction- Peace Be With You

An Anglican Priest steps up to the pulpit to begin the day’s worship.

But as he gets up there he realizes that the microphone doesn’t seem to be working.

So he shouts as loudly as he can “I think there’s something wrong with the microphone!”

And his congregation religiously replies “And also with you!”

We Presbyterians don’t often celebrate this liturgical response, but I think there’s value in it!

I grew up Catholic for a little while anyway, so I remember starting each worship service where the Priest would say

Peace be with you!

And also with you!

That was such a lovely call and response, because it brings everybody in to the conversation.

I want peace to be with you, and you all want peace to be with me.

How lovely!

Bible Breakdown

We have to go back a little bit.

We are marching in to the Easter story, in to the difficulty of Holy Week.

And we’ve been doing it for the most part through the lens of Luke’s Gospel.

So naturally this week, I want to go back to the Christmas story a little bit.

Christmas Time- Peace on Earth

Common English Bible Chapter 2

8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

Obviously this is where the Jesus story begins.

This is where God shows up in the flesh.

This is where God says that God really wants to be WITH us.

This is where God has shown up, even in a manger as a little baby boy, and wants to change things.

And so of course, the Angels are singing about peace on earth.

And Lord, the more I watch the news these days, the more I think we all wish we could see peace on earth, don’t we?

When I watch what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine, Lord let their be peace on earth.

When I watch families divided because of their political affiliations and beliefs, Lord let their be peace on earth.

As our brothers and sisters from across the street in NA continue to have reports of loved ones suffering overdoses and death, Lord let their be peace on earth.

And as folks in this congregation come to me day after day with the troubles of every day life that are absolutely no less worry-some than any example I’ve given so far, Lord, let there be peace on earth.

I don’t know about you, but more than patience or healing or for a new car or something like that, more than anything lately my prayer has been for God to grant his peace on earth.

Jesus Lives Life

And so Jesus the baby grows up and becomes Jesus the man, and he does a few things along the way.

He brings peace by teaching us that God is in the forgiveness business, and doesn’t hold our sin against us.

He brings peace by healing those who have been tormented by different physical and spiritual ailments their whole lives.

He brings peace by welcoming in those who society has been doing a masterful job of keeping on the outside of the community.

He brings peace by pushing back in a loving way against those who claim to represent God, but have wandered from the path.

And all of that comes to a masterful conclusion this week in the ultimate act of bringing peace.

The Response: Peace In Heaven

As Jesus is marching down the road on his donkey, he is physically acting out the words of the prophet.

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion. Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem. Look, your king will come to you. He is righteous and victorious. He is humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.”

First of all, as a former youth pastor, if you giggled at me reading ass in Church, it’s ok.

This is not the kind of king that rides in on war horses and chariots.

This is the king of king that comes yes, righteous and victorious, but also in the name of peace.

And the crowd around him seems to have gotten the message!

The show up and they start chanting, cheering on who they clearly recognize to be their king.

Luke 19:38 “They said, “Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.””

Oh…wait a second.

In the Christmas Story, as God comes to us in flesh at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, the call is for peace on earth.

And now that earth has had a taste of what that peace can look like with Jesus, they have their own response.

Peace in heaven!

It is a Biblical call and response:

Peace be with you.

And also with you.

But perhaps by now in this story you’ve come to the same question that so many followers of Jesus have wrestled with through the ages:

What exactly do we mean by peace?

Everyone Has a Different Idea of How to Get Peace

Crowds- Peace by revolution

It is vital in this Holy week story to remember the political situation that’s going on in Jerusalem at this point in the story:

The people of Isreal have not had control of their own destiny for generations.

First the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, and now the Romans.

No matter what, Isreal always seems to be this tiny little country that other folks can beat the crap out of.

But! The prophets of the Old Testament have been promising a Messiah.

Messiah comes from the word “anointed” or “Smeared one”

It’s the same thing that happened to David to make him King.

And the people of Isreal assumed that this coming messiah was going to be a new king, one who would kick the Romans to the curb and restore Isreal to it’s former independent glory.

And so this crowd, while they’re cheering, they’re really thinking about gaining peace by way of revolution.

This is why the Pharisees are so scared of this crowd.

This is why they’re shouting.

They think that Jesus and his band of disciples are a radical group of revolutionaries who are going to lead an uprising.

This thing may get violent before it gets to be peaceful.

Disciples- Peace by obedience

This is one of the few stories that feature the disciples that doesn’t feature them making a mess of things.

Jesus gives them very specific instructions to follow and they…follow the instructions.

They do what they’re supposed to do.

They say what they’re supposed to say.

They’re along for the ride.

In this story at least, the disciples are trying to find their way to peace by obeying what Jesus has asked them to do.

And again, we have to be careful here to paint them with this brush.

It won’t be super long before the disciples are back to messing things up and taking things in the wrong direction.

And if you don’t believe me, come to Maundy Thursday services this week. We worked up a whole drama about it.

But still, these disciples are all in on what Jesus has to offer them as a way to peace.

It’s just that this obedience doesn’t last long.

Pharisees- Peace by compliance

The Pharisees are often painted as the bad guys, and that’s a bit over blown.

What they want is the same thing the crowd wants, to have their country set free.

What sets the Pharisees apart is that they believe that if everyone just got with the program, they would find their way to peace.

If everyone just perfectly followed the commandments of the scriptures.

If everyone just obeyed the law.

If everyone just quietly went about doing their own personal faith thing.

Then the world would be as it should be.

So you can see a little bit why this crowd is a problem to the Pharisees.

Screaming and shouting might attract attention.

Screaming and shouting might bring the Romans down on us.

Starting a revolution might cost us our lives.

Keep your head down, stay out of the way. That’s the path toward peace.

The absence of conflict

All three of these responses are about the absence of conflict.

The Pharisees want to avoid conflict with the Romans

The disciples want to avoid conflict with Jesus.

Even the crowd that wants to incite violence wants to do so to avoid future conflict with the Romans.

But is that peace?

What is Peace?

In Hebrew the word is shalom, and in Greek it’s the word Erene.

In both instances, this is way more than just being about the absence of conflict.

These words are better described as a sense of wholeness, completeness, lacking in nothing, pure health.

That’s peace.

Jesus Just Keeps Marching

Jesus though just keeps right on marching, because he knows what he needs to do to establish that kind of Shalom for us.

Peace comes by sacrifice

As we looked at last week, Jesus already knows where this story is going.

Jesus knows that peace is not something that someone else can do for him.

Jesus knows that peace is not going to come cheap.

Jesus knows that peace is going to require something of him.

Peace comes by way of sacrifice for Jesus.

Be weary of anyone who would tell you that peace is someone else’s responsibility.

Be weary of anyone who would tell you we’d have peace if someone else got their act together.

Be weary of any plan for peace that requires nothing of you.

Peace comes by sacrifice.

And specifically in Jesus’ case...

Peace comes by the cross

For as joyous as this Palm Sunday is, we have to remind ourselves of where this story is going.

This story is headed toward overturned tables.

This story is headed toward the betrayal of Judas.

This story is headed toward the abandonment of the disciples.

This story is headed toward a kangaroo court.

This story is headed toward a death sentence in the dead of night.

This story is headed toward the cross.

And through it all, Jesus is willing to go because he wants peace between heaven and earth.

Peace is Jesus doing what we cannot do for ourselves.

That’s a super valuable peace, because it’s one that we cannot secure for ourselves.

You cannot pray your way to peace with God.

You cannot work your way to peace with God.

You cannot serve your way to peace with God.

You cannot vote your way to peace with God.

You cannot do anything to achieve peace with God.

Which sounds super depressing, until you realize how liberating it is!

You do not need to pray your way to peace with God, you already have it.

You do not need to work your way to peace with God, you already have it.

You do not need to serve, or vote, or do anything else to earn your peace with God. You already have it.

Thanks be to God that Jesus does for us what we never could do on our own.

He brings us peace.

Apprentices

Be Mindful of the sacrifice this week.

I have often loathed pastors who make a big deal about the sacrifice of Jesus.

Sometimes I’m at events and speakers will go in to gory and gruesome detail about what Jesus suffered and sacrificed on the cross.

And I think they do this out of some twisted guilt trip, like if we understand what Jesus did for us we’ll suddenly feel such a wave of guilt that we’ll shape up?

I’m not buying that.

But…that said...

This is a good week to pause and reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus went to on our behalf.

This is a good week to pause and reflect on the peace Jesus brought by being God with us at Christmas time.

This is a good week to pause and reflect on the ways that Jesus brought peace by teaching us how to live.

This is a good week to pause and reflect and think about the cross, and the unimaginable price that Jesus paid on our behalf.

We are offering so many ways to do that reflection this week.

Join us for Maundy Thursday, where we’ll see a drama about the last supper and then partake in that feast of love together.

Join us for Good Friday, for a quiet time to sit in the Sanctuary and reflect on what Christ did for us.

Join us at 8:30 on Easter Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection around a camp fire.

And of course join us at 10:30 on Easter Sunday for our traditional service.

I hope you’ll join us for any one or all of those!

But also, take some time on your own to reflect this week.

Set aside some quiet time to pause, to reflect, and the admire the work of Christ in your life.

Enjoy Peace with Each Other

If it is true that Christ came that there could be peace on earth and peace in heaven, then we ought to work very hard to enjoy peace with each other.

How many of us have had a disagreement over something small with a friend, and it lead to a lack of peace?

How many of us have had a hard time being the bigger person and apologizing, and it lead to a lack of peace?

How often have we had a lack of peace for something so easy to fix, and yet our own angers and frustrations and arrogance have gotten in the way?

If anyone came to mind for you in those last few moments, I encourage you this week to make peace.

Take the time to make that quick phone call or text.

Take the time to have the difficult conversation.

Take the time to repair burned bridges.

We were made for peace. We do our best when we live in to it.

Enjoy Peace with our God

If there’s one message this week, it’s one of resounding Good News.

Jesus has done what we absolutely can’t.

Jesus has loved us beyond what love we’ve ever known.

Jesus bares our burdens and carries that cross for all of us.

Because of the work of Jesus, we have peace with God.

You are loved right now, right as you are, by our God.

God is not at all against anyone, but in fact is on your side.

God is welcoming you to the heavenly banquet, and desperately wants you to join.

It’s not something you have to work for or earn, brothers and sisters.

It’s something you already have.

The Peace of Christ be with you...

And also with you. Amen.