Jesus starting a revolution?

Preached 24 March 2024 at Christ Church, Billericay

Reading Psalm 118:1-2+19-29; Mark 11:1-11

Revolution

I think we need a revolution. With climate change out of control and almost nothing being done about it, with the enormous overconsumption we have – it is said we need one and a half earths just to keep our lifestyle going sustainably. That’s without allowing for any improvement in anyone’s lifestyle or prospects. With our current system, no-one is going to succeed in cutting everybody back to use two thirds of the resources that they are using today. If it was suggested – would you vote for them, the vast majority wouldn’t.

Who is the leader

Who would you choose as the revolutionary leader – Ernesto "Che" Guevara, or perhaps Wolfie Smith – “Power to the people!”. Maybe you’d prefer someone less violent (although I don’t remember Wolfie every harming anyone but himself!). Someone like Mahatma Gandhi, perhaps? There are plenty of others you could choose to get behind, but all the ones that come to my mind are dead, I can’t think of any leader today that I believe can deliver what we need.

Galileans

The Galileans, wanted a revolution, too – their revolution was the removal of the Roman occupying force that had run their county for years. They knew who they wanted as their leader, too. They were very clear about it – they had seen what He could do, they knew He would make a great king. They’d almost tried once before, but John 6:15 tells us that Jesus was aware of their intentions:

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

It was not the right time then – He had a lot more work to do before He was going to be willing to accept that title.

King Now?

Now though, in our reading today, things have moved on. Now, the time is right for Jesus to show more openly His true nature.

Passover

It’s Passover, people from all around are heading to Jerusalem for the festival. Everyone within about 20 miles was expected to attend, but many more visited Jerusalem at this time. One estimate I read suggested as many as two and a half million may have been on their way, or already in the vicinity.

To give an idea of how many that is, the population of Essex was only one and a half million in the 2021 census. That’s a lot of people.

Staying outside the City

Most of them would stay outside the city, in the surrounding villages. That is what Jesus and the Galileans were doing, they stayed around Bethany and Bethphage. Those villages are on the Mount of Olives, about 2 miles from the city. It was the place these Galileans stayed every time they came from Galilee for a festival, probably three times a year. So, most of them will be very familiar with their surroundings and probably familiar with each other too.

Time to go public?

Jesus is ready to go public in a bigger way than He has before. Mark’s gospel is full of instructions not to tell what Jesus has done. Now things are changing as Jesus comes to the end of His mission.

Now, He needs to be seen, He needs to do something that will get the attention of the majority of visitors, they may not see it, but they will definitely hear about it.

Zechariah 9:9

So, the procession is planned, Jesus has even found a donkey, so that He can ride into Jerusalem. He is going to fulfil an old prophecy, it’s found in Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Normally, the conquering hero comes on a large white stallion, adorned with various decoration to make it look even grander than it is, he sits above everyone and is easily visible.

But this prophecy has the hero on a donkey, he will be only slightly higher up than those around him, who are walking. The prophecy is as much about the kingdom that the king brings as it is about the ideal, Davidic king that heads it up. The kingdom and the king conform to the divine standard of morality and ethics, particularly as revealed in the Mosaic legislation.

As importantly as it being what God wants, it is what the people want – well those that are travelling with, or around Jesus anyway.

Getting the Donkey

So the donkey is arranged and Jesus sends a couple of unnamed disciples to get it. They are given some words to say, so that if challenged, they can still get the donkey without causing a problem. If you thought passwords were new, welcome to the 1^st century, where they have been in use for some time.

Colt

It’s a colt, a foal that has never been ridden, That’s a sign of purity, an animal that is suitable for offering to God.

Procession into Jerusalem

Now the procession starts, and immediately the crowd are laying their coats on the ground for the donkey to walk across. They cut branches from the fields and lay them on the road too. (They don’t have to be palm branches, only John mentions palm branches, so, any branches will do.)

This is reminiscent of the welcome given to Jehu when he became king (2 Kings 9:13) and the celebration when Simon Maccabees threw the foreign occupiers out of Jerusalem. Both actions are symbolic of welcoming a new king.

The procession proceeds with shouts of

“Hosanna!”

and

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

and

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

Their revolution is underway!

These shouts are taken from Psalm 118, that was our Old Testament reading this morning. The psalm was used as liturgy in the temple worship, and would have been very well known to all the visitors in Jerusalem.

This was not the time it was usually sung though, so the crowd following Jesus, and cheering and praising God, would have caused quite a disturbance.

Effects of the procession

Word would have spread quickly through the crowd that something unusual was happening, so soon almost everyone around would know about it. That would include the religious leaders, who were no doubt well aware of who Jesus was. They would now be nervous about his intentions. After all, if he creates trouble now, with all these people around, and the Roman overlords feel like they are losing control, all sorts of bad things could happen.

In the temple

Once in Jerusalem, Jesus heads for the temple. He is not concerned about the effects his procession and the celebration that has happened outside has had, He was clearly there to be noticed. Arriving at the temple fairly late in the day, Jesus just looks around at everything and then returns to Bethany.

What was the point of going to the temple?

What was He looking around for in the temple?

If we read what happens next, we might get some idea. The next day, he enters the temple and begins to disrupt the trade that is taking place. He would not allow the normal temple trade to continue. That definitely got the attention of the religious leaders. So, we can assume that He took a good look around to see if the temple was functioning as it should and decide that it was not. So, was planning what He would do the following day.

Palm Sunday

We have re-enacted the Palm Sunday procession today. We have done it symbolically, inside the church building. We do it to help us remember who Jesus was when he was alive on earth. It is difficult for us to really understand what a king is like. King Charles does not have any real power, that exists in our parliament.

Palm Sunday raises the question for us about whether we are simple following a ceremony, or whether we are prepared as followers of Jesus to welcome him as our true King.

Are we really prepared for a revolution, not perhaps causing trouble on the streets, although it may come to that, but personally, in our own attitudes?

Are we ready to put our possessions at his disposal, to obey his orders even when they puzzle us? Are we ready to go out of our way to honour him? What are our equivalents of cloaks to spread on the road before him, and branches to wave to make his coming into a real festival? To draw attention to His presence with us.

Or have we so domesticated and trivialised our devotion to Jesus himself that we look on him simply as someone to help us through when our lives get tough, someone to provide us with comforting religious experiences?

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

let’s shout that together again now:

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Amen

 Recording :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a4oPPlgVKE from about 17:30–31:40

References

https://www.preaching.com/sermons/a-question-in-the-crowd-who-is-this/

https://www.preaching.com/sermons/palm-sunday-hosanna-or-crucify-him-its-your-choice-mark-111-10/

https://mark.bible/mark-12-37https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/27617/when-do-those-who-think-the-70-weeks-of-daniel-9-refer-to-years-think-the-weeks

https://www.preaching.com/sermons/the-day-jesus-turned-palms-into-nails/

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-palms-of-hope-robert-leroe-sermon-on-easter-palm-sunday-77371

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/triumphal-entry-a-misnomer-for-palm-sunday-paul-clemente-sermon-on-triumphant-entry-255140

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Smith

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021/report?compare=E10000012

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colt

 

A confused donkey & a disappointed crowd

Reading: Mark 1:1-11

Change of Direction for Jesus

So far in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been secretive about his mission, warning his disciples not to tell the crowd what they know.  The disciples for the most part have been portrayed as lacking understanding and generally unable to do the things that Jesus asks of them.
All that is about to change.  Jesus is about to make a very clear statement that anyone – and most importantly the Pharisees – can’t miss, even if they have only the most basic understanding of their faith.

Disciples knew Jesus had changed

The disciples have known that Jesus’ attitude has changed since He declared that they must go to Judea.  In John 11 the disciples reminded Jesus that last time He was there they tried to stone Him.  Jesus is going to raise Lazarus (one of the people he loves the most) from the dead.  At the end of that conversation in John 11:16, it is Thomas who says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  The disciples are dreading the journey back to Judea – but they can’t yet know the full horror that they will go through.

Bethany

Lazarus lived at Bethany, which is less than two miles from Jerusalem.  It’s at Bethany that we pick up the story this morning. Bethany today is known as el `Azareyeh which the place of Lazarus.

Disciples Instructions

Mark doesn’t mention Lazarus, but has the disciples in the village anyway.  Here they are told to go and get a colt – a young donkey that had never been ridden.
The instructions are very simple and very clear.  They are told exactly what to say if they are challenged.  They are not given any other information, so probably don’t know why they are doing what they are doing – perhaps that is the best way sometimes.  They do exactly as they are told, and respond correctly to the challenge - “The Lord needs it and will send back shortly”.  As a result, they are allowed to take the donkey to Jesus.

Miracle or plan?

Was this a miracle or a careful plan that Jesus had made.  There are a number of possibilities, if we are going to claim it as a miracle we need to be sure it wasn’t a plan.  The main objection to the plan theory is that Jesus hadn’t been here for a while – so how could he have arranged with someone to borrow their donkey.  It’s possible though that the donkey’s owner is in fact one of Jesus’ followers, and so had been with Him at various times and had made the arrangement.

Unridden Donkey

Miracle or not (and some commentators say ‘take your choice’) Jesus had chosen a donkey that had not been ridden. Animals that have not been under human control are specially valued for certain tasks.  Just as in 1 Samuel 6:7 when the Israelites were being given instructions about transporting the Ark of the Lord “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.”
This way it seems that it is clearer that God is in control, and that humans can have had no influence on the outcome.
The fact that Jesus was riding on an unbroken colt is a miracle.

The prophecy

Riding into Jerusalem on a donkey sends a very particular message.  The prophecy is in Zechariah 9:9 and says “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Jesus is making a claim to be the king of the Jews.  The crowd see it, the Pharisees see it and their reactions and responses will lead ultimately to the crucifixion.  That is Jesus’ plan, that’s why he is heading to Jerusalem in this way.

The crowds response

The Pharisee's response can wait until Good Friday, what’s of interest today is the crowd’s response.  Remember, it's coming up to passover.  Jerusalem is filling up with pilgrims from all over Israel and further afield.  The city will be heaving with people going in all directions – but here outside the city, the crowds will mostly be headed towards the city.
There will be lots of foreigners who won’t know who Jesus is, but there will also be many people who have seen Him and even more who have heard what He has done.
At the sight of Him riding a donkey, they begin singing his praises ‘Hosanna in the Highest’ and ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.

Royal Homage

They spread their cloaks on the road in front of him.  That must have confused the donkey!  You don’t do that for just anyone, I’ve never even heard of a celebrity receiving such treatment.  This response is reserved for Kings and Queens.  When Jehu was anointed king in 2 Kings 9:13 they immediately took off their cloaks and put them on the bare steps for him to walk on, the trumpets sounded, and the crowd began shouting ‘Jehu is king’.

Simon Maccabaeus

The tradition of cutting branches seems to come from the victory of Simon Maccabaeus over the Syrians in 141 BCE, where his return to Jerusalem was marked by his followers holding and waving palm branches.  As palms are not native to Jerusalem, the people responded by cutting down whatever leafy branches they could find and waving them and laying them in front of Jesus.  That must have confused the donkey too!

Peoples expectations

It is clear from these reactions and the chanting - “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” (v10) that the crowd were expecting just one thing.  They saw this as an opportunity to remove the Roman occupiers and restore the kingdom of David.  They saw this as a chance to restore their religious freedoms once again as Simon had done. Even though for the most part the Romans didn’t interfere with the Jewish religion.

Hosanna

We should look briefly at the other two chants – Hosanna and ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.
Hosanna simply means ‘save now’, but by this time had already become a shout of praise to God, and has retained that meaning to this day. 

Blessed ...

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ was the greeting use as pilgrims arrived in Jerusalem, so it would have been very familiar to them all.  Both these chants come for Psalm 118 verses 25 & 26, one of the Hallel psalms that would have been sung on the pilgrimage anyway.  Now though the attention of the crowd is on Jesus and the chants and shouts are focussed on him and the expected outcome of his journey to Jerusalem.

Frenzy – return of the kingdom

The crowd has whipped itself up into a frenzy.  They have been calling for the return on the kingdom of David, not the return of the king, so they are going to be disappointed, because in the excitement they have missed the second part of the prophecy, so their understanding is limited.

Jesus in Jerusalem

Jesus enters Jerusalem and goes to the temple.  In verse 11 “He looks around at everything” might make Him sound like a tourist, but Jesus has been to the temple before – more than once.  He is looking around to see just how things work, the money changers, the people who sell small animals for sacrifice, any other trading activities that might be taking place.  He’s taking in the layout and getting ready for tomorrow.  By now its too late, and its time for the walk back to Bethany, two miles away across the valley.

No crowd

Now there is no crowd – where have they all gone?  They have melted away towards the homes they are staying in, to the outlying villages, to the camp sites.  They will be reflecting on what they saw today, and as they do their anger will grow as they believe their hopes have been dashed. 
Jesus did not begin an insurrection as they were hoping, he just looked around the temple and then left.  Herod’s palace is on the opposite side of the city, so word will have got around quickly that Jesus did not go there.

Donkey not enough?

Surely riding on a donkey was enough to convince them what Jesus was about, but apparently not.  The next verse in Zechariah says “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

Save the World

Choosing to re-enact part of this prophecy should have made it very clear that insurrection was not the plan.  That the plan was crucifixion and resurrection.  That plan was to save the entire world, not just the Jews.  By dying the way he did he took all our sins, so that we can be forgiven.  And by rising to new life He proved, to his disciples and anyone else who will listen, that He was more than just a man.
We’ll hear more about that next week I’m sure.

The crowds reaction

The crowd reacted as they did because their vision for God was too small.  They were focussed on just their immediate problem and had lost sight of the amazing promises of God – even though they knew their scriptures much better than we know ours.  It is easy for us to be like the crowd and lose our sense of wonder and miss the big things that God is doing across His world, while getting very entangled in our own parochial problems.  It would be better to be like the disciples.

Be like the disciples

That’s much harder for us.  They were so attached to Jesus that even when all they could see was certain death – they still chose to follow Jesus.  Its hard for us to be like the disciples and simply follow commands, to respond to situations exactly as he would have us respond, with little or no understanding of what the point of our actions is.  If we can do that then Jesus mission will go on in the way that it should, bringing God to the world and

Glory to God.

It is those disciples and the ones who came after them who have made the ultimate difference.

References 

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/jesus-enters-jerusalem-tj-conwell-sermon-on-triumphant-entry-187873
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/whose-line-is-it-anyway-troy-borst-sermon-on-palm-sunday-200703
http://www.icf-online.org/icfprof.php?ident=bl06&name=Palm
http://bibleatlas.org/bethany.htm
https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/simon-maccabeus

 

Are we more concerned about living LIKE a king, or living FOR a king?

Palm Sunday 1 Apr 2012 at Christ church, Billericay

Zechariah 9:9-13 & Mark 11:1-11

Introduction

What do you think of Elizabeth?

What do you think of Elizabeth? Not, our youth worker – whose away at her friends wedding, nor our band leader, but Elizabeth II, our queen. It's her diamond jubilee year. Very few kings or queens make it this far – that's one of the advantages of living in a constitutional monarchy, the king does not have to lead the troops from the front.

Most people have only known the one monarch so it may be a little difficult to make an evaluation, but anyway do you think she is a good queen? What could she have done better?

Make Jesus King

In the passage for today we see the crowds have another attempt to install Jesus as their King. So I thought it would be a good idea to look at some kings and queens to see what they were like and whether we think they would make an ideal monarch.

Good king / bad king.

I'll start with a list of 4 monarchs that I think are good and then look at four who are not so good.

Edward I – his reforms of criminal law are still (just) the basis for most of our criminal law today.

Elizabeth I – had a conciliatory approach to the feuding Catholics and Protestants in the land, and established the Church of England. Her reign is still seen as something of a golden age.

Henry VIII – Henry's energy in the early part of his reign was responsible for setting the framework for Elizabeth's golden age.

Richard I – The lion heart. He was a brilliant military leader, commanding his own force at the age of 16.

Now for some bad kings:

John – probably tops everyone's list of bad kings, having tried to usurp his brother. He was also known to be petty and spiteful.

Charles I – had a very strong belief in the divine right of Kings lead to a fatal split with parliament and resulted in the English civil war, which he then lost!

George III - his focus on war with France and his attempt to raise taxes from colonists lead to the loss of the American colonies.

Henry VIII - had a flagrant disregard for the law which led him to behead his wives. His concern was to produce a male heir, at the expense of everything else.

Ideal King

So there we have seven monarchs from our history. All of them had some good qualities, but what would an ideal King be like?

Here are a few Ideas:

Wise, like Solomon

Strong, like Richard I, or Churchill

Decisive

Fair, like Eadwig (955 - 959)

Proactive, like Henry VIII

Dutiful, like Elizabeth II

Charismatic, like Edward I

Natural Leader

Merciful, like Richard I

Subject to his own Laws

Living Under a King

For us, of course, it doesn't matter very much. How will England change when Charles III takes the throne? It probably won't affect your daily life.

In Jesus time the ruler had a significant influence on daily life. They decided if there would be war or peace. Many wars have been fought solely to satisfy a kings pride, which were nothing to do with the security of the nation. If there was to be war, there would have to be money raised, so new taxes would be imposed. If the King came to visit, he would have to be given the best room in town. (Yes! Given! Even Elizabeth II does not carry money!). If the King asked for anything, however bizarre it would be done for him.

Jews wish for a king

The Jewish nation wanted their own king, they had been conquered many times – that is not an experience that we can easily understand. They were currently part of the Roman Empire. The taxes that were raised were used to support Roman military efforts, and even worse than that the customs and practices of their religion were restricted. The people were looking for someone who could lead them to freedom, to self determination.

They looked back to the reign of king David, when they had defeated their enemies and all was well with the Kingdom (hindsight is a wonderful thing).

Jesus for King – the crowd

There were huge crowds in and around Jerusalem, they have come for the passover festival – perhaps the biggest festival of the year. When the Olympics start later this year we will get a sense of the impact that a huge number of visitors can make on an area. There are people everywhere. They have come to remember the time that Moses led the people out of slavery and into the promised land. They are looking for a repeat performance from someone – from anyone. They are hoping for a miracle cure, a cure that would see the nation restored to its former glory – to independence and self determination. This time they are not going to run away, they want the Romans kicked out.

Jesus for King – the donkey

It's at this point that Jesus decides to demonstrate who he is. He clearly signals to them that He is their king. Remember the reading from Zechariah:

^{Zec 9:9} Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king ¹⁷ comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

The crowd could not miss the sign. They recognised their new king immediately and began praising him. They grab anything they can and use their coats as a 'red carpet' to welcome their honoured guest. For someone this important, even the donkey must not walk on the dusty, dirty earth.

A donkey is a symbol of peace and humility.

Hosanna means 'save' and it had become an expression of praise. A recognition of the fact that God had saved His people many times in their history.

Praise and expectation

The praise and the expectation are high. John's account tells us that the crowd who had seen him raise Lazarus from the tomb were there shouting their praises, and that the story of Lazarus spread through out the crowd. A prophet who can raise the dead was something that Israel had not seen since Elijah.

Jesus enters the city and then moves on to the temple. He enters the temple and takes a look around at everything. That's odd, because He had been there lots of times before. Jesus is planning what he will do next – tomorrow he will purify the temple.

Living Under the King

For whatever reason, and there are many theories, the crowd will turn on Jesus and reject him as their king or as their messiah (saviour). After his death and resurrection his disciples would see that He is in reality King of the world, not just King of the Jews (even if that title was finally given to Him by Pilot).

His followers would recognise that as King and Saviour Jesus has a special call on their lives. We as his followers should also recognise this.

Christians live under an absent King. Jesus is in charge, but not completely in this world, in this time.

How do we respond to living under a king?

It's something that we are not used to, and no longer has any meaning in our culture. Here are some questions – see how you respond to them.

Are we willing to follow the king's orders even when they puzzle us?

Is 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Try to interpret what God is saying, if it is not un-biblical, then obey. This can be difficult, how are you going to answer the question “Why did you do that?”

Are we ready to go out of our way to follow him?

In today's world a commitment to attend worship every Sunday can seem peculiar and fanatical. Worship is reserved for celebrities and sports stars, and some of them – the real fans – the fanatical ones will follow their heroes every week. Most don't. Jesus was a celebrity in his procession to the temple, but the crowd soon turned on him. Celebrity can be fickle. As a king he asks that we put one day aside each and every week, and stop our regular work. That day should be dedicated to Him, and used to prepare our selves for the week ahead. That's the day when we get together to worship Him.

If that's hard, supposing the king were to ask you to travel to a foreign land and live there among the people, so that you could tell them about him?

Here are a few quotes from Eric Liddel, the runner at the 1924 Olympics who refused to run on Sunday and afterwards became a missionary in China.

“One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having his peace and assurance in your heart; it is OBEDIENCE.”

“HAPPINESS is to have enough for the day's needs with always some to spare for those who have not.“

"The kingdom is where the King reigns. If He is reigning in my heart, then the Kingdom of Heaven has come to me."

What are our equivalent of cloaks?

In Jesus time most people would have owned only one cloak. It was the only outer garment for protection against the cold. Here they lay their cloaks on the ground in honour of their king, not considering the cost. Perhaps the nearest equivalent today would be your car. This question is really asking what of value we are prepared to put at risk in honour of our king? How many of those folks got their cloak back? How many got them back without any damage?

Has our God become domesticated and trivialised, a mere helping hand through the tough times of life?

Or is He really a King to us?

Are we more concerned about living LIKE a king, or living FOR a king?