Today s scripture is about one of the first flash mobs recorded in. biblical history: Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Transcription

1 1 PALM SUNDAY April 1, 2012 Rev. Vivian L. Rodeffer Text: Mark 11: 1 14 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. Mark 11:11 Today s scripture is about one of the first flash mobs recorded in biblical history: Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. And it happened while everybody was on their way to Jerusalem, The Holy City, to observe the holiday of Passover. I ll get to the flash mob in just a moment, but let me share some background about this day first. During this annual holiday, families would come from all over the countryside, rent rooms in small towns near Jerusalem and make plans to celebrate the Passover meal together. Each day they would travel back and forth into the city and end up at the Temple, the most holy site, the place where their worship of God was centered! This is why they gathered at Jerusalem. First century historian Josephus writes that during that time period, crowds of three million pilgrims would descend on Jerusalem each year. So many people, that the slaughter of lambs for the feast began an entire day ahead at the Temple. So many people that it would be easy for a child to become separated from his family and not missed for a couple of days

2 2 which is exactly what happened to Jesus when he was younger and his own family made the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Every year the pilgrims would come. Every year they would look back into their history and celebrate God as the liberator who freed their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. And every year, they also looked forward into their future to the coming of the promised Messiah and the way that the world would change under his reign. One Bible commentator shared: Passover is about The hopes for a renewal of society when God s anointed King enters Zion and establishes true peace and justice. [ IB, Mark, p.659] Hope for a king in the line of King David. Hope for a renewed society with peace, with justice for all. Food, shelter, education, jobs. No children going to bed hungry, no persons living in Tent City or sleeping under a piece of cardboard on a city sidewalk, no more need for Trayvon Martin protests, no more need to bring bags of food on this Sunday for the hungry or to collect clothes for migrant workers, no more warfare. In this new kingdom, a new age would be inaugurated one the prophet Isaiah saw illustrated in his most unlikely vision of a lion and a lamb

3 3 peacefully resting together. A kingdom in which the values of the present order are turned upside down. The flash mob ignites on the road leading to Jerusalem as the crowd sees Jesus. The one who has healed them, taught them, had compassion on them, welcomed sinners, ate with tax collectors, showed mercy, welcomed the little children, challenged the religious authorities. The spark that ignites the crowd is a familiar song [Psalm 118: 25 26] used at the Passover dinner: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! [Mark 11: 9 10] The crowd shouts out this psalm to welcome the Messiah! Even as the crowd placed their garments on the road and ran into the field to cut branches to wave, Jesus knew their human limits. He knew that when push came to shove, they would be pushed and shoved right along with the crowd mentality once more; and that when he walked to the Hill of the Skull, Golgatha, their coats would remain on their backs and the trees would retain their leafy limbs. That this Passover, even his closest friends, the disciples would betray and deny him. But today, he would ride the road into the city, go into the Temple and look around at everything as gospel writer Mark tells us. Then he would

4 4 leave the city along with the crowds and return to a rented room in a nearby town to await the feast of Passover. The last verse in this morning s scripture captures my attention Jesus going into the Temple and looking around at everything. That s where I will leave us this morning, our Lord and Savior looking around at everything. What does the Son of David see as he looks around at everything? And, more importantly, what does he see as he looks around at us this morning? Does he see us hoping for the coming of his kingdom? Does he see us willing to praise him here at church with our friends and family, but what will he see when we go back home? Does he see us willing to work for the kind of society that will inaugurate his kingdom or does he see us content with the status quo, the poor we will always have with us mentality? What does Christ see as he looks around at everything? I leave you with an invitation this morning to come on the journey this Holy Week with your church family. Come as we revisit the places and events in the last days of our Lord s life, as we discover once again what he has seen in the heart of humanity, as we retrace his final journey to the cross. Let us pray:

5 5 Hosanna, loud hosanna, we sing out with faithful followers down through the centuries. Lord Jesus, fortify our minds and hearts for the Holy Week pilgrimage of remembrances so that we might truly understand the depth of love you shared from the Cross. Amen