The Briefest Glory

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Mark 11: 1-11

Palm Sunday is often treated as the feel good Sunday of Lent. Many churches have the children do plays and wave palm branches around, singing happy songs of hallelujah. However, Palm Sunday holds a lot more meaning when we think about what is coming next, Good Friday. In the passage of Mark, Jesus is the only one that knows the ending to the story.

Jesus is the one that orchestrates his triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the last time. He sends two of his disciples into town, telling them they will find a colt that has never been ridden. He tells them to untie it and bring it to him and if anyone tries to stop them, say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”

The two men go into town and find everything to be just as Jesus had told them. They untie the colt and bystanders ask them what they are doing and when they give Jesus’ response, they are allowed to take the donkey. The colt represents several things. A donkey was often ridden by warriors and kings to signal they came in peace. A donkey that had never been ridden is fit for ceremonial use.

Jesus is making a statement that only makes sense to those who know what is going to happen later in the week. The honored Jesus is also the humiliated Jesus. As he rides by these people, who are laying down palm branches and their own clothing, shouting Hallelujah and Praise be to God, we are left to wonder what is going on in Jesus’ mind. What would be going on in our own minds?

This happy entry into Jerusalem does not diminish the fact that Jesus knows he will soon die a violent death. Is he reveling in the moment, or is he cynically looking down upon those who lift him up today, but will spit upon him tomorrow? Is he rejoicing with the people as they shout Hosannas to God or is his heart filled with a combination of pity and compassion for he knows their hearts are not true to God?

How would we feel if we were Jesus? How would we react to this throng of people and the situation?

Jesus’ statement is one of dignity and power despite what some may think. Jesus has come to fulfill his Messianic destiny. He will change the world; he will triumph over Rome and the High Priests of the temple. He does so not in the way the people want or expect the Messiah to do it. They expected blood and death and war.

Jesus comes in peace. Jesus comes in love. Jesus sacrifices his own happiness and wellbeing and his own relationship to God the Father to save the world. The people wanted a Messiah that was more like a king, who would take over and tell them what to do. Jesus allows the people to feel and think what they want, to act on their own wishes rather than his.

God’s love for humanity is unlike human love. Human love is too often selfish and greedy, and the things we love about others are often the things we take pride in ourselves. But God sees our sinfulness, he knows the skeletons in our closet, and he does not turn away. God does not love only the good things about us, because of what Jesus did for us, God loves everything about us.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “The end justifies the means”? For Jesus, this couldn’t be less true. A human, can justify performing the same atrocities committed against them to win a war or to accomplish a goal. For many of us, we may see no other alternative, no other solution if we want to succeed.

I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with the Hunger Games, it is a book written by Suzanne Collins for teenagers and young adults. The movie was just recently released as well. In this book, Ms. Collins is making some very powerful statements about humanity’s character. In the book, after the United States fell because of all the things scientists have warned us about for years, a new government rises up called Panem. There were 13 districts to Panem, and some of the people decided to rebel against the strict laws and rules of the new government. The government won the war and completely destroyed the 13^th district and created the Hunger Games as a message to the people to never go against the government.

The hunger games forced each district to offer up one boy and one girl from the age of 12-18 to play in the games to the death. There is only one winner out of 24 children. It is to serve as a reminder of what the government can and will do to the people if they ever again think of rebelling. Well, after seventy-five years, a rebellion does begin. The leader of the rebellion chooses to make some awful choices to win the war, performing the same hideous acts that the people were rebelling against - all in the name of winning the war. The end justifies the means.

Jesus could have had the same mentality as many of us would have. God could force his will upon us at any time he chose. He created us, he can command us. But God’s love is not like human love. God’s love is selfless rather than selfish. God’s love is pure rather than tainted with greed and desire. God’s mission was not tainted by an obsessive need to win at all costs. God sent his Son to DIE so that we could be saved.

Jesus knew from the day he was born, that someday he would die an awful death for all the people he encountered in his life. Whether they spit upon him or spread cloaks for him, Jesus died for them all. By selflessly giving up his life, Jesus created Christianity because the disciples he left behind were changed for all time by what he had done. Jesus could have taken up a sword and fought his way to victory. He could have sent hordes of angels down to smite his enemies. Instead, with ultimate love and peace, he saved the world with only one death – his own.

What was Jesus thinking about as he rode into Jerusalem on that donkey? I’m not sure, but I do know that whatever he was thinking about, his thoughts and motives were much more pure than our own would have been.

Amen.