Gordon E. Ellis
April 9, 2006
MAYBE IT’S ABOUT US ?
It HAS to be one of the FASTEST turnarounds in history! These people go from "Hosanna!" to "Crucify him!" in just 5 short days, but INTENSE days. There’s a spot in JERUSALEM, where you can stand there and IMAGINE this Palm Sunday scene with GREAT vividness. It’s a PORTICO outside the Church of All Nations, which has been BUILT on the TRADITIONAL site of the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in AGONY on the night of His ARREST, Maundy Thursday. And IF we were standing there, outside the Church of All Nations, we would find ourselves in a valley: the KIDRON Valley. To the left of us is a HILL that slopes up steeply. We can see the TOP of it just over there! THAT’S called the Mount of Olives. And for GENERATIONS, tradition has said that, WHEN the Messiah COMES to Jerusalem, He will come from over THAT hill and DOWN the Mount of Olives, and pass RIGHT in front of US. Now, if we look to our RIGHT, there is ANOTHER steep slope. And at the top of THIS hill stands the WALL of the city of Jerusalem. It’s in roughly the SAME place TODAY as it was in the time of Jesus. In the CENTER of that WALL is the Golden Gate, CALLED that because of its gold COLOR. TODAY, that gate has been FILLED-IN with stone; but in Jesus’ day, it was wide OPEN and it was the most DIRECT route to the TEMPLE, which was the CENTER of Israel’s RELIGIOUS life.
Well, Jesus and His followers STARTED their parade over there to the left, at the TOP of the Mount of Olives. Let’s WATCH it! LOOK! Jesus is mounting a DONKEY -- NOT for transportation, because everything is so close together here. He and his followers have already traveled many miles from Galilee, far to the north. NO, the donkey’s NOT for transportation. It’s for COMMUNICATION. It’s a SYMBOL, calculated to bring to people’s minds a passage from the prophet, Zechariah: Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king COMES to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(Zechariah 9:9-11)
Well, AS they come down the Mount of Olives, you can SEE: there’s great EXCITEMENT! The CROWD is giving Jesus the ROYAL treatment, spreading their garments in his path, and cutting down palm branches to make a leafy green CARPET for their king. And can you hear the SHOUTS beginning. WHO is starting it? Is it one of His inner circle of followers, or is it someone ELSE? We don’t know! But whoever it IS, the OTHERS are starting to shout as well. They’re shouting, HOSANNA!, which means, Save us now! It comes from Psalm 118, which reads: Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us SUCCESS! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. (Psalm 118:25-26)
And WHAT is the MEANING of this demonstration? Well, it MEANS that SALVATION is at HAND! It MEANS that the promised KING of Israel is HERE! LOOK! They’re coming CLOSER now! Can you SEE them? And the NOISE is getting LOUDER! The people around US are beginning to shout as well! LISTEN to their CRIES! When they shout, Hosanna! Save us!, they’re REALLY crying for their long-awaited MESSIAH, a king in DAVID’S line, who will come and RESTORE the former GLORIES of Israel. BUT, it’s a very POLITICAL time! And there are SOME among us who have DIFFERENT meanings in their SHOUTS of Hosanna! There are ZEALOTS here with DAGGERS beneath their cloaks. THEY await ANY excuse to rise up and start a VIOLENT revolution against the Roman soldiers, who OCCUPY this land. And THEIR Hosanna! is a cry for VENGEANCE! The POOR are here ALSO! Hosanna! for THEM mostly means, SAVE me! Help me feed my family. You can ALSO see the TROUBLED, the FEEBLE and the SICK among us. They ALWAYS flock to Jesus, and HAVE since the FIRST days of his ministry. THEIR shouts of Hosanna! mean, Heal me, Master! AND there are SOME among us NOT shouting Hosanna! at all. SOME are the RELIGIOUS leaders, or at least their SPIES! And THEY just WATCH it all VERY carefully! After all, a demonstration means TROUBLE! A demonstration means UNREST! And THAT is not acceptable! And THAT’S because Roman soldiers are here as WELL! And anything that sounds to THEM like REBELLION, anything that sounds to THEM like TREASON, will be DEALT with MOST severely. And it WON’T be just the FOLLOWERS of Jesus who PAY with their lives. YES, there are so MANY faces in the crowd this day!
The procession sweeps along past US, and when it gets to the BOTTOM of the Kidron Valley, it begins the ascent UP toward the Golden Gate. The cries SWELL in our ears and THEN, slowly get softer: Hosanna! Hosanna! There are SO many VOICES, and SO many MEANINGS. Hosanna!
At the CENTER of it ALL is a solitary RIDER, the ONE whom they SAY has come to bring SALVATION. And it’s not JUST salvation from the evils AROUND us. FIRST and foremost, it’s salvation from the evil WITHIN us! Lose your life and follow ME, He says. Take up your cross and follow ME, He says. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, and follow ME, He says. But THIS is not an ACCEPTABLE message! The CROWD wants DELIVERANCE, NOT transformation! Hosanna! Save me NOW, Jesus, but don’t CHANGE me! Hosanna! Save me NOW, Jesus, or AWAY with you!
I wonder: can WE honestly SAY that it’s any different TODAY? Hosanna! Help me find some MEANING in my life, Jesus, but DON’T make me CHANGE my LIFESTYLE! Hosanna! Help me SAVE my children, or my marriage, or my job, but DON’T make me SACRIFICE too MUCH! Hosanna! Heal my ILLS, Jesus! Do it NOW, Jesus! Hosanna! Deliver me, Jesus! Save me from calendars, and from frenzy, and from boredom, and from loneliness, and from STRESS! Hosanna! Save me, Jesus, from middle age, from old age, from illness, from pain, from dying. Hosanna! Save me now, Jesus, but DON’T make me really CHANGE! Aren’t those OUR cries TODAY?
But WATCH out! That solitary RIDER is passing by YOU right NOW! And AS He does, HIS eyes will meet YOUR eyes, and YOU will FIND that your cry of Hosanna! will STICK in your throat! And THAT’S because you can TELL that He SEES right THROUGH you, that He SEES straight to your HEART, straight to the very ESSENCE of WHO you ARE…. And He SAYS to you very simply: Follow ME! If you REALLY want to LIVE and live life FULLY, then follow ME, but you WILL have to CHANGE! You WILL have to DIE to yourself! HOW did He say it: If ANY want to become MY followers, let them deny THEMSELVES, take up their cross and follow ME.
You see, my friends: Palm Sunday is REALLY about US! And IF Palm SUNDAY is really about US, then maybe the REST of this WEEK that we call HOLY is really about US as well. Maybe Maundy THURSDAY is about US also, with its scenes of denial and betrayal, Jesus washing His followers’ feet, and Jesus GIVING Himself in bread and cup for US. And maybe Good FRIDAY is about US as well: the One who LOVES us suffering and dying on a CROSS. He is the INNOCENT -- and yet fully aware -- VICTIM of ALL the FEARS and FRUSTRATIONS that CONTROL us. He suffers the leering RACISM of the Roman soldiers! He suffers the peace at any price (so long as somebody ELSE pays it) PRAGMATISM of Pontius Pilate! He suffers the self-serving power POLITICS of the RELIGIOUS leaders! He suffers the spineless TREACHARY of His own FRIENDS and followers! And MOST of all, He suffers the suffocating INDIFFERENCE of a world to which one more stinking CORPSE on a CROSS is just another IMAGE on the evening NEWS! Yes, maybe THAT part of the story is about US as well! Maybe ALL of Holy Week is about US! Come and see, my friends, because ONLY when we know WHAT He has SUFFERED can it MATTER that we CLAIM that He is RISEN. After all: it is just 5 short days until Good Friday, and an ETERNITY until EASTER! Amen.