Conspicuous Meekness (Apr 2, 2023) Matthew 21.1-11
Notes
Transcript
We have come to the last Sunday of Lent. This is usually a joyous time with a triumphant hymn of All Glory, Laud and Honor being sung while the congregation waves palm branches and sometimes the children process waving their palms (or more likely, smacking one another with them.) It is to celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
According to Matthew, Jesus was coming into Jerusalem for the very first time on what we call Palm Sunday. I’m sure you know the story: he was riding a donkey (though Matthew has him riding twoanimals, a feat I would like to have seen) and the disciples were leading him into the city. There was a considerable commotion among the people at this time. It was the time of the Passover and the city swelled from a normal population of about 40,000 to around 200,000 with the pilgrims that had come to celebrate in the City of David. And when those who knew Jesus saw him coming, they cheered and waved branches and laid their cloaks in the road before him.
This pretty much the basics. But there are some underlying currents here that need to be addressed. Why was this such a big deal? Why were the people so excited? Was there meaning in the waving of branches and the laying cloaks? What was Rome thinking of all this?
This was a big deal because the people were looking for a savior. The word hosanna was, by the first century, a praise, but it was not always so. In Hebrew the word means “Save us, we pray.” They wanted one who would save them. Not the savior that Jesus would be, coming to take the sins of the world and begin the reconciliation of all to God, but a military savior. There were many who had come and gone in the past few years. Uprisings were not uncommon and all the rebels claimed to be the Messiah of God. So when the people heard that this man, the one who healed the blind and did these great deeds of power was coming into the city, they were excited. Perhaps because it the Passover he had been waiting to raise the call to arms and to overthrow the oppressors. Whatever it was those who were there were excited.
They may have caught the attention of Rome. We are not told just how big the crowd was, but it may not have been that big. Rome would squash a large gathering like this. They had increased the garrison in the city and the governor, Pilate, had come down from his capital in Caesarea to ensure that there was good order in the city during the festival. The crowd certainly caught the attention of the religious authorities who seem to not have known who Jesus was. And the crowd’s action would certainly have aroused the interest of all the authorities. The last time that there had been a procession with branches waving and cloaks being thrown down and a man on a donkey being praised was when the Maccabees had taken Jerusalem from the Seleucid dynasty in the 160s BCE. In fact, the Maccabees even minted coins with palms on them after their victory. Also, Solomon, son of David and the last king of the united Israel, rode to his coronation on a donkey. The officials all knew their history and they knew what would happen if Rome got wind of it. So, they began to watch Jesus.
But in all this noise and celebration there is something that is usually missed. We even today sometimes miss it. It is the fact that Jesus himself is not coming in triumph, but in meekness. The text says that he comes “…humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”[1] And also note that this is not his donkey or colt. They are borrowed from someone else. Someone who might have taken offense to the “borrowing” of these animals until they were told that “the Lord needed them.”
This entry into Jerusalem is in direct contrast to that of a Roman entry. There the governor would come in riding a war horse and be accompanied by the garrison of soldiers. They would have come in to make sure that the city that swelled in population from around 40,000 to some 200,000 was subdued and compliant. This entry would have shown the people that there was power in the place and that they had better mind their p’s and q’s.
The entry of Jesus is the opposite. He comes in, initially, quietly. But his disciples begin to make noise and the people who recognize him join in. As stated before, they begin to lay down branches and clothes, a sign of them welcoming royalty. And Jesus allows this because he is coming into his own reign as a king, though a king that is different from the one that is expected.
The king that was expected was one who would come and take care of things, whip the people into a frenzy and overthrow the hated Romans. This king would be the one to lead the nation into another Golden Age that had not been seen since the time of David and Solomon. This king would heed the word Hosanna and save the people.
There is one thing that is left out of the quotation from Zechariah: That the one coming would be coming in triumphant and victorious. This would be to emphasize the humility of Jesus. But there is also something to be noted here. In the NRSV it says that the king will be coming in humble. Other translations say that he comes in gentleness, unassuming, meek. That last word, meek, is interesting. It is one of the meanings of the word prous (prous). But what does it mean in English? For many people it and the dictionary it means someone who is weak and not a threat. But in the Greek it can mean someone who is gentle and humble.
I believe that meek is the better term here. Jesus is coming to the city gentle and humble. He is not coming making the noise that would come with a triumphant general. That comes from the people who are around him. He comes knowing what awaits and that the people can be very fickle. One day they are praising him and cheering. The next they are calling for his crucifixion. And yet he is gentle with them and willing to be humble.
Because of his entry the whole city is in “turmoil.” Again, the English word does not grasp the fulness of the Greek word. It is the word that is the basis for the word seismic. In other words, the city is “shaken” much like it was when Jesus was born. But the one who shook the city at his birth and who shakes it now comes in meek and humble both times. Yet there are those who are troubled by both entries.
Where do we stand on this Palm Sunday? Do we stand with those who were proclaiming a king or do we stand with the one who came in gentleness and meekness? The church often operates as the world does: fight force with greater force. But as we know this scene is the beginning of a week of expectations turned upside down.
The meekness that is conspicuous will turn a crowd of cheering people into one calling for execution. It will turn a group of cheering disciples into one of cowering men. It will convince a governor known for his cruelty to try to set a man accused free.
Diane G. Chen says this: “…there is dissonance between worldly standard and divine standard when it comes to humility and meekness, the modus operandi of Jesus the king and his followers.”[2] How do we follow? Are we making sure that we are the ones in power who are sticking it to those who disagree with us or are we the ones who come in meekness, gentleness? Know this: When we claim the one who came in gentleness, we make a statement to the world about who rules our lives. O. Wesley Allen says this: “Christ is king in the sense of one who leads the church to march victoriously, nonviolently, and even foolishly (riding two donkeys!) into the center of politics, offering a different vision of God’s will for the world from what any Caesar, ancient or contemporary, has ever offered. Seen this way, waving those palms in worship is not just something the children do as amused adults watch; it is a political act claiming the church’s allegiance to God’s vision for the world.”[3]
As we come into what is known as Holy Week, let us slow down. Let us realize that the one who comes in meekness is the one whom we follow. But let us realize what is happening in this week. Let us not rush to get to the empty tomb, but reflect on what Jesus did and said during this week and what his death meant to the world and us. Yet, make no mistake, he will not be in the tomb forever. He will rise and we will celebrate that day on Easter. Amen.
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
[2]Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby, Carolyn J. Sharp. Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 114). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[3]Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby, Carolyn J. Sharp. Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 113). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.