Sunday... Palm Sunday Sermon on Mark 11:1-11

Palm Sunday – Mark 11:1-11

Mark 11:1-11 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10     Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

When my kids were small, and wouldn’t go to sleep when any lights were on, I started making up stories at bedtime so I could tell them in the dark instead of needing light to read.  I told them stories about Riddle the Rainbow Cat, Coyote Sister, and Star Quilts – I told them stories about girls and boys that were just about their ages and just about their sizes on incredible adventures.  But their very, very favorite stories were the ones I made up about superheroes.  Stories with clear villains and clear purveyors of good.  Superior strength, intellect, creativity, and moral fortitude won the day – sometimes in the final seconds, sometimes with disappointing haste, if I was tired – but always with flourish and decisiveness. 

We love a good superhero, don’t we?  Someone to storm the gates, brandish a sword, mount a prancing steed with arched neck and rippling muscles beneath a glowing coat, and come into the city to greet an adoring crowd, cheering and blessing the king, the savior. 

We are told by historians that this is exactly what happened in

Jerusalem on the day we’re considering today.  A huge parade, shining swords and armor, a display of power and might that was almost magical for crowds that cheered the incoming king.  It sounds amazing, doesn’t it?  Exciting.  Proof that there is someone we can count on, believe in, that will lead us to a better day. 

The problem here is that this isn’t our king.  This is Pilate, entering the west gate with the military with the intent of maintaining order in Jerusalem.  Our king is entering the east gate, on an immature, gangly, unimpressive colt, with a few cloaks and branches and a group of people – many people, perhaps, but not a “crowd,” or a “multitude” -- that isn’t really addressing him specifically, but is chanting about the upcoming kingdom of David.   Our king is kind of a mess in comparison to the glory that is coming in the west gate.  Where will he lead us?

 

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior – Amen

It is true that there are echoes of messianic prophecy in this account –  educated Jews hearing the story would certainly hear the words of the prophet Zechariah in their memories:  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king coming unto you; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (9:9)– but in many ways this moment seems to be more Jesus making a point against people’s expectations.  Is he calling our attention to the difference?  He knows that he is leading no one to a military victory – he is on his way to the cross, and that’s where he is leading. 

Even the people in the crowd following Jesus toward Jerusalem don’t seem to be cheering for the person actually there.  They are cheering for the re-establishment of the Kingdom of David – a military victory.  They are not seeing that this man in front of them is not that kind of a warrior. 

I think that this moment has a lot to show us about humanity and the situation we find ourselves in.  We want someone to follow, someone who gives us hope for the future.  This is a real human need, even for the most independent people.  But we have a weakness there, too:  sometimes we don’t clearly see the one who we are following.  That can mean we are following the wrong person and don’t realize it – it can also mean we are following the right person but don’t clearly know what that person stands for. 

Maybe this crowd outside Jerusalem wanted what a lot of us want – just look at the box office numbers of superhero movies! 

They wanted a leader that was dynamic and powerful.  They wanted to hold him up and live vicariously through him.  “Look how great we are because this is our leader!” 

But did you notice that by the time Jesus gets to the temple everyone is gone but the twelve?  This crowd only follows him to the gate  -- after that, things might not be so fun.  They might be making a commitment that has consequences.  They’re out.

This crowd wants a shiny and powerful superhero to cheer for, but not necessarily one that encroaches upon their lives.  When it might not be palm branches and cloaks any more, it’s time to drift away.   What do you suppose people in that crowd were thinking?  Did they just get scared?  Or did it become apparent that Jesus wasn’t what they expected him to be?  What do we do when Jesus fails to meet our expectations?  When we find that he expects us not to follow him into battle but into service and sacrifice?  When we find that he doesn’t just love us and the people we are comfortable with?  Maybe people we don’t think are worthy of him?  Maybe people who we’d rather just stayed invisible?

This whole Palm Sunday event – it encapsulates the upside-down, failing to meet our expectations nature of the kingdom of God.  It takes what we learn from the world and how it works and shows us instead a vision of a kingdom where all that power, wealth, spectacle; the superhero stunts and the great costumes are just not important.

What’s important is the young colt, the itinerant preacher without any wealth, and the shunned

people he shows us how to care for. 

This Jesus – he is constantly challenging our perceptions and our expectations.  The question is whether we will follow him into the uncertainty and re-evaluations of our values and our priorities or if we won’t.  I keep thinking about the silent character in this story that still figures so centrally – the unbroken colt. 

Has anyone worked with horses?  If you have you know that horses have an instinctual need to keep their footing.  I’ve had fully trained, steady animals get their whole brains twisted up because they stepped on a branch on a trail wrong and felt precarious.  New footing of any kind can just freak them out.  But here is this colt who has never been ridden, asked to step across cloaks and palm branches – and, presumably, he does it, because I think if Jesus had been bucked off and the colt had gone running back to where it can from, that might have made the story!

You could make the argument that this colt knows his creator and has perfect trust, and I would agree with you.  But, maybe, just maybe, this colt is also a symbol – a symbol of the precarious footing inherent in a life in Jesus’ kingdom, and the right way to handle it.    

Do we react like the colt?  With trust and forward motion, even when the ground seems unstable and what we thought was secure is shaken?  Or do we react with disappointment, despair, or even rejection?  Maybe.  Maybe all of these things in no particular order. 

But the good news is, Jesus knows all of these thoughts, all these reactions, and chooses you for his kingdom regardless.  This upside-down kingdom is for you in all your realness, messiness, enthusiasm or doubt.  This kingdom is not convenient, and our king is not a figurehead.  Jesus is present.  Jesus will stir us, Jesus will not leave us alone to just live our lives. 

Why?  Because what Jesus Christ brings to humanity in this upside-down kingdom is not superhero power but weakness.  Not the type of weakness that is the opposite of strength, but the weak-at-the-knees feeling when you encounter someone you love absolutely desperately.  When you would do anything – really, anything -- to live out your love for them and bring them new life.  This is what Christ brings to us.  This is what Christ brings to the cross. 

Pontius Pilate, the soldiers with him, the cheering crowds, and the glamorous horse he rode in on are long dead.  That’s the bitter truth of the kings of this world.  If we set our hearts and souls on them, we will be stuck in a perpetual Good Friday of death.

The crowd outside Jerusalem was stuck in that thinking, perhaps – but what they missed is that God’s vision is so much bigger than that.  God’s kingdom may be upside-down but it is about the future, not a re-enactment of the glory of the past.  That’s still just Friday.  But with our king – Sunday is coming.  Friday may be a day filled with sin and despair, but Sunday is coming with forgiveness and salvation.  Friday may be a day of darkness where we cannot see our way forward, but Sunday is coming, with light and healing of our blindness.  Friday may be a day of grief, but Sunday is coming with hope.  Friday may be a day of death – but Sunday is coming, with resurrection and the life. 

Our upside-down king is a Sunday king.  May we be Sunday people. People of incredible hope, people of unbelievable mercy and forgiveness, people living out their resurrection every single day. 

Amen