Matthew 21:1-11; Promises Fulfilled 3 29 15 Zechariah 9:9-12 From the time of his birth, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of what the Messiah would be like. He was born in Bethlehem - foretold by the prophet Micah. According to Samuel, the Messiah would be an ancestor of King David who ruled 1,000 years before his birth. The massacre of the innocents occurred after Jesus arrival as Jeremiah prophesied. The prophecies that the Messiah would be a healer, speak in parables, and crucified with criminals came from Isaiah. So, it shouldn t have been a surprise that Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem at the height of his ministry on a donkey, since the prophet Zechariah predicted this moment in the 5 th century BCE. For the people who knew the prophecies, Jesus arrival on a colt was certainly cause for celebration. It made sense that a grand entrance would be, as Zechariah said, both victorious and couched in humility. I only know one Palm Sunday joke, so I thought I d slip it in here to keep you all with me It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5 year old Sammy stayed home from church with a babysitter. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds. Sammy inquired as to what they were for. 'People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by,' his father responded. 'Oh, man! Wouldn't you know it?' Sammy complained, 'the one Sunday I can t go to church and Jesus shows up.' 1
Apparently, from a very young age, we are poised and ready for Jesus to show up. From the creation stories that use the word we when referring to the Creator, to the prophets, and the life of Jesus himself, all scripture points to the fulfillment of a promise from God a covenant between creator and people that was blessed and broken, mended and amended through the centuries. At least 50 years after the first Palm Sunday, the gospel writer, Matthew wrote down the stories of Jesus for the people who knew the prophecies and had a sense of expectation about who was to come. This entire gospel message is to the Jewish people, building up the case that Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah that they had been waiting for. Jesus birth, life, and eventual betrayal, as told by Matthew, fit all the required categories for the fulfillment of God s promise throughout the history of the Israelites. And still, despite the consistency of the narrative, somehow on Palm Sunday we are disbelieving or at least surprised to hear that a stranger requests a donkey, and a donkey is relinquished for the parade in order for Zechariah s prophecy to come true. What if we really expected fulfillment of all the promises made to us in the Bible? What if the purpose of the scripture was to give us something to hang on to when everything else seems uncertain? What if we really could count on God and not be surprised when things work together for the good? Wolfgang Roth was an Old Testament professor at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary, and husband to Mary Beth Roth, one of our Interfaith Action of Evanston contacts. When speaking of scripture, Dr. Roth always called the Bible the book of promise. God made promises, covenants, with the people that we have been learning about through the Narrative Lectionary since September: 2
Covenants like the promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would be parents to a multitude of generations; the promise to Joseph through his dreams that he would rise above his brothers and care for all the people of the region through a position of leadership in Egypt; and the promise to Moses to deliver the people from bondage, lead them through the desert, and into a land of freedom, also promised for them. What if all of these promises were true for us right now? What if we were truly freed from the stagnation of our lives, from torment, from bondage and from powerlessness? We identify with these people in Scripture. You and I have a taste/we get a glimpse of what it is like to feel as though there is nothing left to life, only to have things turn around. We identify with being the sibling or kid who is kicked around and teased and tormented, who grows up to blossom and have prominence and admiration. We resonate with feeling as though we are in bondage, whether the bondage of ignorance, addiction, failed relationships, or financial hardship, or the bondage of illness, injury, or abuse, only to find that there is a way through and out of that captivity. The life and teachings of Jesus are not only the fulfillment of OT promises. Through them, Jesus gave us new promises. Are these promises still waiting to be fulfilled? Or are they being fulfilled and we have yet to recognize that? We can imagine that For Sarah and Abraham, raising Isaac and Ishmael was not an easy thing to do as elderly parents; Jacob sitting at the bottom of a pit without his coat of many colors was undoubtely questioning God s faithfulness; and the Israelites in the desert probably did not see their hardship as the rosy fulfillment of a divine 3
promise. They didn t see it in the moment, but they were in the midst of promises becoming reality. Even Holy Week, the time between Palm Sunday and Easter, was a time inthe-midst. It was a time when it seemed things were going to hell in a handbasket, but God was working through and around things like the betrayal by Judas, the disciples falling asleep when Jesus needed them, the trial before Pilate, and the gruesome crucifixion. You may be in an in-between time, as Jesus was. One day is like a parade, and the next day you are losing your best friend. One day you are sustained by faith in the providence of God, and the next you are wondering why God has forsaken you. I assure you, God is in a constant process of satisfying promises made. Especially in this week of remembering the last supper and the crucifixion, we need to be mindful of how the story unfolds. Palm Sunday celebration is not the last word any more than the cross on Golgotha is the last word. In his ministry, Jesus gave words of hope to the people around him hope of a coming kindom that would turn power structures upside down; hope of living by the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law; hope of peace and healing; and hope of life with God that never ends. These were promises, like the ones in the Old Testament, that continue to be fulfilled. 4
Matthew 21:1-11 Ann: When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Bill: Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, The Lord needs them. And he will send them immediately. This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Ann: The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Bill: The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Ann: When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, Who is this? The crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. Zecharaiah 9:9-12 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. Children s Message we always have palms with us to welcome Jesus whenever he comes. 5