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Notices
Palm Sunday
Luke 19 verses 28-44
I don't know if you have seen the advertisement where the little boy asks his dad where he came from and his dad begins to explain the intricacies of procreation. Then at the end of the advertisement the little boy says 'that is amazing, jimmy says he is from Scotland' or words to that effect. The face of his dad is priceless. You see sometimes you can think you answering the question but you are not actually answering the question at all. Sometimes when it comes to a passage of Scripture, especially one that is familiar to us, we think we know what it is all about but in fact we have got it wrong. I believe that for those in the day of Christ, and maybe even some people here this morning, they thought they knew what 'Palm Sunday' was all about but in fact they had gotten the wrong idea.
Turn with me to Like 19 verses 28-44. Don't panic I am not going to go through it verse by verse. As always let me set the context. The gospel of Luke is written primarily for a Gentile audience. Luke writes this gospel for a man called Theophilus, you find that out in Acts 1. Luke has a very clear theological purpose in his writing, as do each of the gospel writers. Today if we were writing a life story of someone we would tend to write things chronologically, that is in the order of time that they occurred in the person's life. The gospels are not written in a strictly chronological order. Each of the author's arranges their material for theological purposes. Luke arranges this 'journey of Christ to Jerusalem' in order to teach about the kingdom of God. If you look at what Luke has placed before this incident we see teaching on the Kingdom of God and immediately after it we see Jesus clearing the Temple and declaring his authority as the one who brings in the kingdom of God. During this incident Jesus speaks about the coming of the king of peace and how Israel's eyes are not open to this fact but actually the kingdom of God is now hidden from them.
We should note as well that no where in this passage does Luke mention Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. He speaks about Jesus' journey to Jerusalem but as to his entry into Jerusalem he is silent, unlike the other gospels. It is safe to assume that Luke knew Jesus had entered Jerusalem because he could not have entered the Temple, to cleanse it, if he had not entered Jerusalem. But a close reading of the text before us reveals that Luke is not concerned with the entry into Jerusalem as much as he is concerned with the kingdom of God coming to Jerusalem. The outward journey is not all important for Luke, the meaning of the journey is all important. You see Luke wants his readers, his listeners, to understand that this is not a journey to triumph but actually a journey to tragedy. Jesus will be rejected by the people of Jerusalem, by the rulers of Israel and he will be crucified. Unlike Luke, we view Palm Sunday as a triumphal entry into Jerusalem but Luke moves beyond that, and he wants us to move beyond this day, to the cross and the inauguration of the kingdom of God. So let us turn our eye for a moment to the text.
Verses 28-35 Jesus has just finished teaching on the kingdom of God and how those who are faithful will be rewarded in the kingdom of God. Luke then tells us that Jesus journeys to Jerusalem. Since chapter 13 of Luke Jesus has been journeying to Jerusalem. It is the geographical and theological turning point of the gospel of Luke. When Jesus turns his face to Jerusalem the cross looms ever nearer.
Luke follows the other gospel writers in the incident of the colt and the request of Christ to use it as a means to journey to and into Jerusalem. It is not clear if the request for the colt has been by prior arrangement or a prophetic utterance of Christ. The fact that none of the gospel writers thought it important to record means, I take it, that it was of no great consequence to them, and should not be to us. Christ has means of transportation. Luke does not record for us, but the other gospels do, that the riding of Christ into Jerusalem on a donkey was the fulfilment of a prophetic promise in Zechariah 9.9. Luke's primary concern is that now riding towards and into Jerusalem Christ is bringing the kingdom of God into the very heart of the people of Israel.
Verses 35-40 As Christ begins his last journey to Jerusalem the disciples and those along the way begin to praise him. They place their cloaks on the ground and the other gospels tell us that they put palm branches on the ground. Here is the sign of royalty being hailed by the people. The laying of your cloak on the ground was an act of humble submission to the one who rode over it. The people proclaim Christ as king and praise God for the coming of the 'messiah.' Even though they had failed to understand what sort of 'messiah' he was. You know the interesting thing in these verses - the reaction of the Pharisees. They act like a sort of praise police. Here are men, righteous men, who rebuke the people for praising God and praising Jesus as king. You can hear the anger in their words "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." They want Jesus to silence the praise of the people. They want Jesus to rebuke those who are singing his praise. When I read those words I wondered how often I had been the Pharisee and sought to silence people's praise of Jesus because their exuberance embarrassed me? I am not naturally given to exuberance in praise, part of that is my upbringing, and part of it is that I don't wish to cause offence to others but there are times, and I am sure you find the same, when you just want to put your hands in the air and praise Jesus. There are times when we are praising God that I just want to raise my hands and I don't care if you hear me sing or not, but just to raise my voice because my heart is just bursting with praise. Then along comes a little praise policeman, usually in my head, and I am told to quieten down, don't even think of raising your hands. You know the saddest thing of all is that the Pharisees thought they were honouring God by speaking to Jesus in such a manner. The saddest thing is that such people still live today- the Pharisees are always with us.
I love the way Christ responds to this challenge. He does not get into any argument with them about what is right and what is wrong. He simply states that even if they silence the people's voices then creation itself will praise him. Friends, there is nothing anyone can do to stop creation praising God. The very stones on the wayside will praise God if people will not praise him. The beauty of this created world will sing to God each day even if the voices of people are silent. When I read this I realised how feeble my praise of Christ is sometimes.
Verses 41-44 Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. Luke is the only gospel who includes this incident. The other gospels include incidents of Christ crying over Jerusalem but Luke cites the story here. Again he has clear theological reasons for doing so - the coming of the kingdom of God. Look at what he tells us. Christ is descending the Mount of Olives and when he glimpses Jerusalem his heart is so overwhelmed for his people that tears flow down his cheeks. He is so moved with love, with compassion, with mercy and with grace for these people that he cannot hold back the tears. How he longs for his people to have eyes that see, ears that hear, minds that understand and hearts that believe - but they are blind, deaf, ignorant and unbelieving. At the end of chapter 18 Luke records how Christ had opened the eyes of a blind beggar - physical sight had been restored, but now those who can physically see are spiritually blind. They have eyes but they fail see beyond the physical. They hear the praise of the people being sung but they fail to hear the voice of God declaring the kingdom of God has come. They have minds that can understand that Christ is no ordinary man, the miracles themselves attest to that, but their minds are dull to the knowledge that here is their messiah. They have hearts that are swollen with praise but still do not believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Christ. All of this moves Christ to tears for these, his, people.
Look at what Christ says with tears falling from his eyes. He longs for the people to realise what would bring them peace. Here are a people in turmoil. They are oppressed by enemies from without and they are oppressed, ordered to be silent, from religious leaders from within. These people long for peace but they cannot see that the One who would bring them peace is before their very eyes. Are you any different this morning? You long for peace in your life? Is your life in turmoil this morning? Maybe and enemy from without or even within is destroying the peace of your life. This morning is Jesus weeping over you because your eyes are still closed to the One standing before you this morning who is your Peace.
Jesus says, and I can imagine him saying this in a low voice, what was obvious is now hidden. How sad a comment that is! How sad that what is so obvious is hidden from people's eyes - not because God would not have them see but because so much other stuff has gotten in the way! Friends, it is a dreadful thing that you allow so much to hide Jesus from your eyes. How awful is it when the church is the very means of hiding Jesus from people? How awful is it when the praise police are the means of hiding Jesus from people? How awful is it when your life is so full of things that Jesus is hidden from your eyes? Father's - you hiding Jesus from your children's eyes by the way you live? Mothers?
You know the next few lines a so prophetic of Jerusalem. Jesus warns them how their enemies will come and lay siege to the city and how the city will be destroyed. In AD70 the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and they laid waste the city. The Temple, of which they were so proud, which was the centre of their worship of God was torn down by the Romans. Christ was prophetically foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem. I read that and I know it came to fruition in AD70 but I realised as well how often Christ warns me, and you, that destruction in our lives is never far away when we fail to come to him, our Peace. When I have blind eyes, a dull mind and an unbelieving heart then the enemy will come and bring destruction. When a church is blind and cannot see the kingdom of God then destruction is just around the corner and Christ weeps for her. When a person will not open their eyes to see Jesus then destruction is just around the corner and Christ weeps for them. This morning the application is very simple - Christ is here, right now, today, standing before you and he is weeping over your life. Your city, your Jerusalem, your life - he is weeping over it. He longs for you to open your eyes and see him. He longs for you to open your heart, your life, and to welcome him in. Not just with the praise of your lips, that like the crowd will be full of hatred by Friday, but with your heart and life. This morning Jesus comes as the king of Peace - he wants to bring peace into your life but what will he find? Will he find a Pharisee telling people to be quiet and not to disturb the status quo? Will he find exuberant praise that will be gone in the morning? Will he find eyes closed, ears closed, minds closed and hearts closed?
Friends you can praise Christ this morning and tomorrow be swearing at him. You can be like this crowd of people on Palm Sunday who praise Christ but have no idea that he is calling them to a cross and not to an earthly triumph. Your bible, like mine, may have the words 'triumphal entry' as a paragraph heading - in Luke's gospel that is a wrong title - Christ rode in majesty headed to a tragedy - which would bring salvation, victory and glory to sinful men and women like you and me. Today, we remember Palm Sunday but I pray that Christ will find open eyes, open ears, open hearts and an open church.
Amen.
