This week I was struck by a
deeply troubling and challenging question as I contemplated Jesus entry into Jerusalem.
“Did Jesus ride into Jerusalem for the sake of Caiaphas and for Pilate as well?
This question is an important
question, a really vital question, because when I consider my place of position,
power and prosperity as an Australian and then try to cast myself back into
that moment in history I do not naturally find myself standing by the roadside.
On a global scale I would
think that I remain among the more privileged people on this planet. So, in Jesus
time, on that fateful day, it is more likely I would have found myself among
the temple authorities or maybe part of the Roman court officials in Jerusalem.
Growing up as Christians we
have been taught to imagine ourselves standing by that roadside as Jesus
entered Jerusalem. As children we may have waved our branches and as adults we
may have contemplated ourselves as part of the scene. Yet, what if we were not there, what if we as
the prosperous and privileged, as we are now in Australia, did not find ourselves
by the roadside.
Does Jesus come for us as
well? Did Jesus enter Jerusalem for Caiaphas and Pilate?
When we stop and consider Jesus
words to the Greeks who came seeking him, words which we read in church last
week that “all people will be drawn into my death”, the answer is ‘yes’!
I have this conviction that
it does not matter where you were standing on that day Jesus entry into
Jerusalem was for you.
I have this conviction that
it does not matter where you are standing on this day that Jesus entry into Jerusalem
is for you.
When we stop and consider
Paul’s words to the Philippians that there will come a time when “at the name
of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” Jesus entry into Jerusalem and into Holy Week is for everyone, from
every time, and from every place.
Yet, we have been trained and
indoctrinated to think differently about the events of that day so long ago. Our vision is partly distorted by the
reformation and the enlightenment and how that has changed our view of
ourselves and of the place of faith.
At the time of the
Reformation, 500 years ago, Martin Luther is often cited for encouraging us to
separate religion and politics. It is an
interpretation of his teaching and his life which I would seriously question. But there can be no doubt that many of us in
this contemporary world think that religion and politics don’t mix.
In addition, the enlightenment
has taught us the concept of liberal democracy and the rights of the individual
– the rights summed up in the American Constitution of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. The pinnacle of
our culture is our individual right to believe and think and achieve for
ourselves and we have made this a critical part of our faith. For many of us faith is about God, Jesus and
me.
Both of these ideas distort
our understanding of Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
You see, I have this
conviction that it does not matter where you were standing on that day Jesus
entry into Jerusalem was for you.
I have this conviction that
it does not matter where you are standing on this day that Jesus entry into Jerusalem
is for you.
Again and again I read commentaries
on this story which remind me that what Jesus was doing in this prophetic
action was politically subversive – Jesus was leading a protest. His actions were deliberate and planned as he
enacted the prophecy of Zachariah.
One of the ways we might understand
this is through the understanding that Jesus procession was not the only
procession that entered Jerusalem just before the Passover. The scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus
Borg remind us that the Roman prefect Pilate probably entered Jerusalem around
the same time – maybe not the exact same day but very close to the same day.
Pilate did not live in Jerusalem
but came to the city for the Passover bringing extra troops as the city swelled
with pilgrims coming from all over the region.
As Pilate entered the city he was reasserting the Roman dominion over
the Israelites. It was a show of Roman
authority and power in this occupied territory.
He was reminding them that Emperor Tiberius was the son of god; he was
reminding them they were a conquered people.
Jesus entry into Jerusalem,
most likely from the opposite side of the city, was a parody of the Roman
parade. He was making a clear and
obvious statement and stance against Rome and its theology, and also against those
among the Jewish authorities who had colluded with the Romans.
Jesus is standing against the systems of division, of
oppression, of violence, of manipulation, of dehumanising, of corruption, of
idolatry. He is making a mockery of what
we think it means to exercise dominion within the creation and over one another. Many of these ideas of power, privilege and
authority have been handed to us today and are present in politics, religion
and business!
The parody that is Jesus
entry into Jerusalem is paradoxical. The crowd that surround him later desert
and even betray him. They miss the joke that Jesus is making because for most in
the crowd they want Jesus to be like Pilate.
Yet standing against something
is hollow unless Jesus is also standing for something. And Jesus is standing for something: he is
standing for the coming kingdom of God, the hope of God’s rule in our lives and
our hearts. Jesus is standing for
salvation which leads people towards reconciliation, mercy, love, forgiveness,
peace, inclusion; he is standing for fullness in life!
As Jesus challenges the
politic and religious systems of his time he continues to question the
political and religious systems of our time.
He rides into Jerusalem to challenge the way we are all complicit in these
systems. Jesus was challenging
everything and Jesus was coming for everyone!
Jesus act was a universal declaration.
It was political and it was very personal!
As church members by
constantly coming and placing ourselves in the picture, each Palm Sunday,
alongside the palm strewn, cloak-filled way we make Jesus entry about a select
few: the ones who gather. Ironically, the select few that accompanied Jesus on
that we know also turned away from Jesus later in the week.
But, if John’s version of
Jesus is right and Jesus is acting as the High Priest for all peoples then his
act of reconciliation is not limited to those who are present but he is acting for
all humanity as he draws them into himself and as he is raised up. According to the book Hebrews continues Jesus
role as the High Priest recognised by John continues eternally.
Think about the scene and who
wasn’t there.
The woman who kept her
children at home that day because raising her children safely in this war torn world
was tricky and being involved in protests was dangerous. Jesus came for her!
Or, The Roman soldier who had
been sent out to Jerusalem away from his family to serve his Emperor, not understanding
anything about the Jewish people and their strange religion, and certainly not
knowing about Jesus. Jesus came for him!
And think about people half
way around the world the Turrbal people who were living in this region of the
world, Asians, Native Americans, Africans, the Vandals and Visigoths of Europe,
the Celts and Scots. Jesus came for them as well!
God’s love for all that God
has made! God chooses not the
destruction of the creation but its salvation.
It does not matter where you
were standing on that day Jesus entry into Jerusalem was for you.
I have this conviction that
it does not matter where you are standing on this day that Jesus entry into Jerusalem
is for you.
God’s desire is to save us.
To save us from ourselves from our wayward, petulant and even violent political
systems. To save us from our personal
insecurities, from our pride, from our anxiety, from our greed, from our sense
of hopelessness, from our arrogance.
This is the good news – for
the parent who simple wants to give the best opportunities in life, for the
student worried about mid semester exams, for those confronting the drudgery of
work as we worship, for the teenager struggling with western culture dreaming
of fighting for ISIS, for the elderly still full of life and not wanting death
to come, for each one of us here – Jesus comes.
Jesus came to be the
salvation of the world – not just of some.
The High Priest stands in the place of all people to reconcile them to
God.
We need to be careful with
our individualistic notions of faith and our conditioning to think we might
have waved the Palm branches and thrown our cloaks onto the ground. Something
much bigger than you or I, and our personal decisions for Jesus, is going on
here. God is saving the world!
I have this conviction it
does not matter where you were standing on that day Jesus entry into Jerusalem
was for you.
I have this conviction that
it does not matter where you are standing on this day that Jesus entry into Jerusalem
is for you.
On this day as we gather as
followers of Jesus in this time and place in history Palm Sunday invites us into
the spectacular idea of the good news: that every person will be drawn into
that moment when Jesus is raised up.
And our deepest hope: that
there will come a time that every knee shall bend and confess Jesus is Lord, not
as an act of submission but love.
We are drawn into the good
news that political and religious systems which seem to oppress are more or
less an accident of history and that there is a coming kingdom grounded not in
violence and hate but in love and resurrection.
We are invited to live sharing the news that God is breaking down the
barriers, that we are being built into one humanity filled with love and grace
and the Jesus rides for us.
See him coming now he rides
for you.
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