Palm Sunday Ecumenical Service ---- 13 April 2014

{On Palm Sunday, the Aylmer Ministerial Association holds an ecumenical service at one of the local churches for the sake of Christian Unity. This past Sunday, I preached the service at the Aylmer Full-Gospel Church.}

Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, ‘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. ³If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.^*’ ⁴This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
⁵ ‘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.’
⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸A very large crowd^* spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The 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!’
¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ ¹¹The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’

 ‘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.’ 

• Who here likes parades?
• I’m one who happens to like parades. I like the pageantry, the music, the colours, the         whole thing. As a child I watched my father and some of my older friends marching in         parades. Later I took part in many parades as a member of my high school’s marching     band. I’ve taken part in a number of parades since then as a bandsman or as a                   chaperone.
• I recall one parade I marched in (I play the tuba) where the parade ended where it started and was uphill all the way. I have yet to figure that one out!
• This evening, we hear of a different sort of parade. This parade is more spontaneous and celebrates a different sort of event. The event is the entry of the one the crowds called “the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” We might imagine that the whole city of Jerusalem –which could be pretty lively on an ordinary day- would be buzzing like a bee-hive. Here people knew where the parade was going to end.
• You’d think that such a parade would be a joyous occasion for the one on whom the attention was focused. We might imagine it to be a triumph for Jesus. If his disciples had had a “public relations” department, it might have been taken as a triumphal procession, especially as it was going into the centre of the Jewish world. With all this backing, what couldn’t Jesus do?
• Might this very occasion be another temptation for Jesus? Everyone is speaking well of him and those who don’t know him are asking just who he is. Could his popularity be higher?
• The Evangelist Matthew tells us that This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet… Did this pass through Jesus’ mind as he rode the donkey through the gates of Jerusalem? What might seem like triumph is actually an experience in humility. Jesus knew where this particular parade would end.
• Conquerors might enter a city with a similar procession, showing the might of his armies and the splendor of loot he’d taken. Such a parade might be useful to show who was in charge, as the victor advanced on his white horse or in his chariot at the head of his triumphant legions with captive generals or heroes in tow.
• Yet Jesus arrives on a donkey. This is NOT an impressive animal.
• In fact, there seems to be very little about this procession that is impressive. Much of the crowd has no idea what’s going on. The authorities were probably skeptical at best. Behind it all, there is the subtext of plot and conspiracy.
• We all know what is soon to come. We all know where this parade will end in a few days. We all know it so well, there is no need for much to be said about it here, beyond the fact that in a very few days what appeared to be triumph will become the ultimate humiliation of a criminal’s death and the death of a rebel who defied the powers of the world and ultimately, the powers of Hell.
• Still what appears to be devastation and failure turns out as triumph over the powers that led Jesus to death, whether we take those powers to be the power of empire or the power of Hell.
• The basis of this triumph is Jesus own humility, a humility that reverses and overcomes the original sin of Adam, namely that we humans try to be God.
• From this day and this rather wild parade, we are shown the humility of Jesus again. The ride into Jerusalem may not have been his real choice, but he chose to do the will of his Father on that day and through-out the week we memorialize this week. Because of this, we know where this parade ends and we know what is to come as the parade move to Friday and Saturday. What we learn from his example is expressed by Paul in his letter to the Philippians:
• Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:5-11)
• Jesus’ attitude and actions of humility and obedience to the Father’s will is salvation for us and something to rejoice in… and to take as our example for our parade through this life to what is yet to come.