The Journey's End (April 10, 2022) Luke 19.28-40

What is it about a parade that makes people excited? Is it the bands that play? Is it the floats that go by? Is it the candy that is thrown from some of the floats (you know, the good kind of candy)? Or is it something else? Could it the children that are watching this parade, their excitement shining in their eyes? Or maybe it could be the excitement that builds within us all as we wait for the last float which has on it the ultimate thing that we have been waiting for (think Santa in a Christmas parade). Whatever it is there is a certain amount of excitement that comes with a parade. I know that when the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade is on there is an excitement among the boys that there is something new coming on. And all too often we live our excitement secondhand, through the eyes of others and their excitement. What about our own excitement?

There is excitement in the air today. It is Palm Sunday, a day in which we sing loud, triumphant hymns and wave palms. A day in which we proclaim that Jesus is king and that his entry into Jerusalem is taking place. For the disciples it must have been an exciting time as well. They were finishing a journey with Jesus that lasted from Galilee to Jerusalem. This journey in Luke begins in chapter nine and ends here in chapter 19, so there is a pretty large chuck of Luke that is taken by this journey. Along the way Jesus has healed, he has taught with some of his most well-known parables (i.e., The Good Samaritan, the Loving Father), and he restored to the fellowship of the people certain folks such as Zacchaeus. He angered the ruling elites to the point that the perennial opponents of the him, the Pharisees, even warned him that it might be wise to go to other places. And through the entire journey, the disciples, at least the 12 we know the best are with him.

Now comes the time for the end of the journey. The Passover celebration is coming and that means it is time for a trip to Jerusalem. The ministry of Jesus has been building to this one time. In the Synoptic Gospels, this is the only time that Jesus goes to Jerusalem. So, there is a building of expectation and excitement for those who are traveling with him.

And traveling with him seems to be a lot of hard work. As they travel Jesus meets with the aforementioned Zacchaeus in Jericho and eats in his house. In doing so there is a conversion, a turning around, of this man and his restoration to the people of Israel. Jesus also tells a parable that might not be so much about the coming kingdom as a thinly veiled account of the current political situation with Herod Antipas and the Romans allowing him to rule in the area of Galilee. But finally, Jesus begins to move up to Jerusalem. And move up they go. See, Jerusalem is in the mountains, about 3500 feet up. Jericho is located in one of the lowest points on the face of the earth. Therefore, the hike up to Jerusalem would be difficult. It would be long and tiring, especially when on foot. And because there is not much rain in the area, it would be dusty. Imagine for a moment traveling in the dry, dusty air of the desert and you get an idea of what it was like. But up to Jerusalem they go.

When they reach the summit, they are greeted with greenery and lush hillsides. And there among the villages of Bethany and Bethphage, Jesus begins to flesh our what is to happen next.

He tells two disciples: “Go into the village opposite; as you enter it you will find tethered there a colt which no one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”[1]This is to fulfill the scripture of Zechariah 9.9 where it is said that the king will come in riding in on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This will be a triumphant time and the disciples, knowing their scripture that spoke of the Messiah are thrilled to hear this. Now is the time of the coming of the King.

But what about the owner of the colt? What if someone asks “Hey! Just what do you think you are doing? That is my colt you’re untying.”? Jesus tells them to say that the Lord needs it and that is all that needs to be said. This could be the equivalent of them saying that God needed the colt. When this is said, then the owner will allow them to take the colt and bring it to Jesus. And that is just what happens.

So, the disciples bring back the colt, put their cloaks on it, and then Jesus mounts the colt. The ride to Jerusalem is from the top of the Mount of Olives down into the city. As he rides there are those who begin to lay cloaks down as a carpet for him to ride on. These are not the elite laying down the good cloaks that they would be wearing. No, these are the common folk, the oppressed, the downtrodden. They would be laying down tattered shawls and sweat stained cloaks for Jesus to ride upon. Notice that there are no palms or even leafy branches that are laid down for Jesus to ride upon. It would appear that to Luke this is not significant.

In this riding to Jerusalem there is a multitude of disciples. This shows us that there would have been more than the twelve disciples that are with Jesus at this time. After all, 12 does not make a multitude.

So, in this multitude there are those who begin to sing. And they are singing Psalm 118 with a significant difference. They are saying: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”[2]In the Psalm there is no mention of a king. But here it is. The disciples are excited. They are in a parade with the main attraction coming and they think that they know what is happening. But as is often the case, they are mistaken. For all the things that Jesus taught, one would think that they would recognize that he was not a king in the way that they were thinking. They even repeat what the angels said at the birth of Jesus, a call for peace in heaven and on earth. It must have been an exhilarating time.

But then along comes the wet blankets. Some (and notice it is some) of the Pharisees come and tell Jesus to make his disciples stop making all this noise. Especially the talk of a coming king. We do not know their motive for this. Were they afraid that Rome would come down heavy upon them and take away the rest of the few rights and freedoms that they still enjoyed? Or were they concerned for Jesus, that Rome would take and “interest” in him and make an example of the one whom they might have debated with but had no interest in seeing him killed? We do not know. All that we know is some of them are telling Jesus to keep his disciples quiet.

Jesus will have none of it. He says this: “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”[3] What Jesus is telling them is that the message cannot be silenced. Fred Craddock says this about what Jesus is saying: “God will provide a witness though every mouth be stopped; opposition to Christian witness cannot succeed; and the truth will come out, it cannot long be silenced.”[4]Though the Pharisees believe that they can silence the praise, there will be praise.

Now one thing to remember about this entry is that those in the city had seen or heard about triumphal entries. Compare these two entries told by Justo Gonzalez: “In Rome generals returning from exceptional victories were celebrated with a triumphus, a solemn procession where the victor exhibited the spoils of war, surrounded by the leaders of his armies, as well as by conquered kings and rulers and by numerous captives destined to slavery. The victor, wearing a crown of laurel, would ride on a chariot pulled by white horses (white being the color of victory) and would finally go to the temple of Jupiter to offer sacrifice. All along the way, soldiers and the citizenry in general would shout acclamation and sing hymns in honor of the conqueror.”[5] While in Jerusalem on that day Jesus comes in riding a lowly donkey, a beast of burden that would have made no impression on anyone. Though the crowd cheered him as they had Caesar, Pompey and Alexander, conquering heroes all, the one being cheered now is different. Gonzalez then says this about Jesus: “He does not wear a crown of laurel, but soon will wear one of thorns. Alexander rejoiced over his conquests; Jesus will weep over Jerusalem. Alexander—a Gentile—entered the temple and, with the acquiescence of its authorities, sacrificed in it; Jesus will enter the temple and denounce what is being done in it”.[6] The two entries could not be more different.

It is important to realize that this is the beginning of what we call Holy Week. We seem to forget that between the two Sundays of triumph there lies a tragedy. A tragedy that is so overwhelming, we remember it as part of our faith. In this week is the impending passion or death of Jesus. And in that death, we find the coming of our salvation. And we must remember that it is not anything that we have done but what was done for us. God came down in Jesus and died for us so that we might live with God and each other, redeemed and changed.

On Palm Sunday, we like to celebrate. We like to wave our palms and laugh at the little kids who fight each other with them. We like to sing our hymns and raise hallelujahs. But there is a dark side to all of this.

The disciples were looking for certain type of king. One who would conquer and overthrow those in power who were oppressing the people. One who would flex his muscles and show the world just what kind of might that he had. They were looking for a limited king.

We today look for a limited king. A king who looks an awful lot like us, who behaves like us and who is for the same beliefs and programs as us. We look for an idol of our own making. We look for the one who can help us and bless us for what we do for him, not to bless him for what he has done for us. We want a king who will do our bidding and crush those who are against us, not die for them as well so that they may be set free.

This Palm Sunday, I ask you to consider the journey’s end. In that end there was a cross not a throne. Yet in that end there was also a triumph; not over the ruling powers and their collaborators but a triumph over death and evil. Remember that we serve the one who claimed us and died for us not the other way around. The journey’s end is in sight; for what sort of king do we await? Amen.

[1] The Revised English Bible. Cambridge; New York; Melbourne; Madrid; Cape Town; Singapore; São Paulo; Delhi; Dubai; Tokyo: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [4]Craddock, Fred B. Luke. Louisville. John Knox Press. 1990. Pg. 228 [5]González, Justo L. Luke. Ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Print. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. [6]González, Justo L. Luke. Ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Print. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible.