28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
"Remember merciful Jesu, that I am the cause of your journey." Mozart's Requiem
Is it just my recent experience, or does Jesus encounter conflict and opposition every time something goes well?
One might well wonder at how Jesus experienced the triumphal entry.
Was he joyful, fully a part of the celebration?
Or, was it quite something else for him?
It is interesting that this reading is followed in vs. 41 & 42 “As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
Peace and glory, conflict and tears.
It is an intriguing story, and one which is hard to ever comprehend. I suspect that each time we celebrate Palm Sunday, we have to wave the branches, rejoice a bit, and remind one another that the peace which Jesus brings, comes through the terrible conflict of the cross.
6 comments:
Years ago, in a sermon, I said that
“The irony of Palm Sunday is that just as Jesus receives his greatest acclaim and recognition, just then he is most misunderstood.”
I think that's not too bad. At the same time, it crosses my mind to suggest that he is MOST misunderstood on the cross, isn’t he?
Yes yes yes. . .
I, too, am, so often, a theologian of glory.
Oh, wretched preacher that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
In an okay sermon titled something like "Stewardship of Praise" PCUSA preacher The Rev. Dr. Ted Wardlaw had these lines
"Yes, says Jesus. [of the praise of the disciples] There's nothing more appropriate and timely - even here, even today. And here's why. The praise that wells up from the essential truth that is the bedrock of all creation, the praise that simply must be expressed - that our stones will shout if we don't - is praise that bestows upon us glimpses of the clear vision of God. This is the other central point of this text, I think. It's not pollyanna praise, it's not pie-in-the-sky praise, not whistling past the graveyard praise, not something sweet placed among us just to make the world more beautiful praise. It's praise instead that gives us vision, that enables us to see the world more clearly.
And it is no accident that in Luke's gospel the thing that happened next after that spontaneous act of praise is that Jesus saw the city - saw it as God sees every city - and wept over it. There is a relationship between praising God and seeing the world as God sees it, in its potential for good and its capacity for evil; in its grief and its loss and its power and its despair and its tenacious hope. And to be stewards of praise is also, I think, to be stewards of some measure of God's clear vision.
Such a stewardship, of course, is not an easy thing to come by; but neither is it impossible."
1. What does it mean that the Lord needs something?
2. Stones praising God are better than humans praising. I am befuddled every year at the fast turn of events as retold on Palm Sunday, and am left suspicious of all praising of God humans do.
The Underminer's a rolling stone. . .
It is interesting to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to leave the praise to the stones, to nature. I think of Psalm 19 "The Heavens are telling the glory of God"
Is the praise of the heavens, truer, less self interested?
The "need" of Jesus is something isn't it? Can we assume from Jesus' words on this count, that the cross is no accident?
I wonder if The Rt. Rev. DeBasement says more than he knows, and knows less than he says. Very Hobbit-like.
I'm preaching on v41-48- The Hidden Visitation of the Messiah"Jesus weeping over Jerusalem- God sends the Messiah- he is rejected- v42-what is hidden will finally be revealed on the cross- the good news of his coming brings the bad news of God's judgementupon the people and place that Jesus passionately cares about. How does God visit us today? We too do not recognize his coming- his visitation. ( we too need healing like blind man just a few verses earlier) The theme of the temple is also interesting- Luke begins and ends his gospel in the temple, the temple curtain is torn in two, after Jesus clears the temple It's interesting that he goes back and teaches everyday at the temple. He does not give up on God's beloved- he keeps wooing them to the end- his passionate love is not only seen in his crying but his dying.
Also, the Pharisees and leaders try to keep the peace by silencing Jesus, but the Messiah can't be silenced, nor can the praise be stopped.
The praise cannot be stopped, no matter how inept the bearers of the praise may be. . .
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