Unexpected
Notes
Transcript
Well as I continue to bring you worship through the internet and record it in an empty sanctuary I have to tell you that this was completely unexpected. Being a techie and a nerd as my wife likes to call me I have always thought the idea of broadcasting worship services online was a ‘fun’ idea that would be cool to do at any point as my time as a pastor, but this was the most unexpected that that I could have thought that it would happen. And even though I thought it was a good idea I would never do it at the cost of doing it in an empty room. So I truly want to thank you all for the words of care and support you have shown me during this unexpected time.
two different kings
two different purposes
Hosanna “save us”
Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. First of which I have to tell you we are maybe for the first time in this gospel going backward in time because the whole season of Lent we skipped this text and moved past it. But now we come back to it and take a look at what all this triumphal entry is all about. To get into maybe why this entrance is so triumphal or at least so significant beyond being his last week on earth we need to take a look at some historical context.
You may have heard me use the word unexpected a couple of times already because there truly are so many unexpected things happening in today’s text and they do have a lot to do with what is happening at the same time as this text, but isn’t actually anywhere in this text. You see there are actually two triumphal entries happening today at two different gates with two different kings and each one has a different purpose.
The other king that entered Jerusalem that day was Pontius Pilate. Who would have come through the main gate into the city from Caesarea along with a legion of soldiers. He would have been riding on a horse along with his cavalry in a very impressive array and people would have been expected to show up to greet him and shout for joy as he came into the city. Pilate didn’t come into the city to celebrate the Passover, but to display his and Rome’s authority during this pilgrimage time. Pilate was the the king the people had not the king the people wanted which is why he had to be here at the holiest of festivals for the people he was charged to make sure he kept the peace for.
Now I don’t know for sure but I think that maybe this crowd would have been a ‘little’ smaller than normal because there was an impromptu and unexpected entry happening by the side gate. At this gate Jesus enters riding not on a victorious and awe-inspiring war horse, but on a colt that had never been ridden before. This entry is met with crowds of people who are excited to see Jesus and want him to enter the city and they throw down cloaks and leafy branches to mark his entry. It’s no red carpet like we see with celebrities, but it is much more than that.
This king entering has a confusing kingship. As the crowds cheer for him I wonder how many are there to see him come and be the messiah as Jesus has shown himself to be and I wonder how many people are there to see him come into Jerusalem as the messiah, the conquering king to overthrow Rome in Israel. I know I’m getting ahead of myself but I wonder how many of those people who were disappointed with the king they got were the reason there were so many in the crowd that then shouted ‘crucify him’ at his trial.
But you know as the crowds were shouting and cheering for him we see from our gospel that they are shouting ‘hosanna’ as he rides in. We have been refraining from saying and singing the word alleluia for the season of Lent which is a shout of praise and worship. I personally would have thought they would have been shouting ‘alleluia’ or ‘hallelujah’ in praise and joy for Jesus coming into the city for Passover. A joyful and triumphal entry for the king they want.
The word ‘hosanna’ means ‘save us’, so I understand also why they might use this word because many of them might want to be saved from the other king riding in with a legion of Roman soldiers through that main gate on the other side of the city. They want to be saved from oppression and Roman rule. They want to be the free kingdom that God gave them centuries earlier. This is their promised land, not meant to be owned by foreigners. I get it when they shout ‘hosanna’ because they are tired of being ‘owned’ by the Roman government and being forced to live counter to the way that God wants them to live. I get it and my heart aches for any people that living under a government of oppression and tyranny. And I can’t say for sure, but Jesus’ life and death may have been part of the unraveling of the Roman rule, but even if it was that wasn’t the point. It was the reason he came in from that side gate. It isn’t the reason why people called him king. It isn’t the reason or the way that he came to save them.
Jesus had a different purpose for coming into Jerusalem that last time. For Jesus the shouts of ‘hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ they had a completely different meaning.
Hosanna still had the exact same literal words as the crowd was shouting, but God had a different way of doing it. God had a different plan, an unexpected plan to save the people. While people were concerned about the politics and the rule of the land, Jesus was preparing people for God’s reign and God’s rule. God’s plan was coming to a head very soon and the people would be saved from their sins. People would be reminded that they are God’s children and no matter what happens in the political scope of things, no matter what happens in this world, that they have a life beyond this life. That God will save them in the most unusual and unexpected way, on a cross, with the death of the Messiah. But with that death there is forgiveness and there is life, just as Jesus experienced life after death.
I don’t know what is going to happen next in this moment we are in. I don’t know how long we will have to be apart from one another. I don’t know how long I’ll have to preach and lead worship to an empty room, this was all unexpected. But I can tell you that God is at work in it all. I can tell you that as we shout our Hosannas today we can know with full confidence that God is here. In our fears and in our hopes. In our waiting and in our impatience God is here. God always has been and always is. God does unexpected and amazing things and I pray that through all of this you know that though we are physically apart from one another, our bonds as brothers and sisters in Christ will never change and will never be broken.
I want to leave you with one final word from Romans which I think speaks perfectly to what I am trying to say today.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
That is the unexpected way in which we have with each of us God’s love and grace. May the unexpected love fill you with peace each and every day. Amen.