Many Turning Points – April 2, 2023, Palm Sunday
Zechariah 9:9-10, Matthew 21:1-17
April 2, 2023 – Palm Sunday
“The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.” That’s what it says at the top of the page in my Bible. That’s the traditional name of event that we celebrate today. And as we talk about this, remember first and foremost, that Jesus planned this. He was very intentional. He made arrangements for it. He know it was going to be an important moment in history.
We’ve talked about this event in many ways over the years. We’ve noted how this was reminiscent – almost a re-enactment of another “Triumphal Entry” some 200 years before this. That was the time when Judas Maccabees rode into Jerusalem in triumph, perhaps along that same road! Judas had just let the successful revolt that freed Israel from the Seleucid Empire. On that day, the people celebrated with “praises and palm branches.” And the people who were there on Palm Sunday were no doubt familiar with that story! They wanted that same triumph!
We’ve talked about this in terms of the symbolism of what Jesus was doing here. We’ve noted that a conquering warrior – like Judas – would celebrate a victory by entering a city riding a war horse. But, if a king were coming into a city seeking peace, he would ride a donkey. So the people here on Paul Sunday were celebrating a conquering king! They wanted freedom from Rome. But Jesus was showing them something quite different. He was living out the words we read from Zechariah. “Lo, your king comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey!” He knew those words. The people knew those words! But still, they wanted the conqueror!
So, we’ve talked about this event in terms of what the people were wanting, what the disciples were promoting, what Jesus was showing, what the religious leaders were fearing, and what the Romans may have been thinking!
With all of that in mind today, I’d like us to think about this event in terms of “turning points” – many of them. And I don’t mean that there were a number of different turning points for Jesus. What I mean is that this one event was a turning point for a number of different people in different ways. A lot of things came to a head that day.
For Jesus, this day was a turning point! It was one that led to the final act of his ministry here on earth. Ahead of him was the garden, the cross, and the empty tomb. No longer would he be just the teacher, telling of God’s love. He would now become the redeemer, the object – the example – of God’s love!
It was a turning point for others that day, too. Though it was not the turning point that many of them expected. For example, for Jesus’ followers, it was time to make him king. They heard the crowds shouting, “Blessed is the king, who comes in the name of the Lord.” They had yet to grasp the importance, or even the reality, of the sacrifice he told them he was about to make! Even after it happened, even after he was raised from the dead, even at his Ascension, they still asked him, “Will you now restore the kingdom to Israel?” They had a hard time seeing past their desire for an earthly kingdom! And here they thought, on Palm Sunday, it might finally be happening. This could be that turning point!
It was a turning point for those who opposed Jesus. They saw this as the last straw. They saw this as the time to eliminate him. The Gospel writers all tell us that. And it wasn’t just that these men were indignant or jealous. They were! But they were also scared. They feared Roman retribution. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” Luke records.
Then Jesus “called them out” that day. So it was a turning point in that way. At the end of the procession, he “cleansed” the temple. He destroyed their “temple business” – the business of making the people pay for sacrifices. “My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.” He criticized them a lot, but that was the ultimate indictment of them. And this was the turning point in that relationship.
Then here in Matthew we have an additional story. After Jesus cleared the temple, the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And the Chief priests and scribes saw that. They heard children still echoing the cries of the crowds in the streets, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” And they said to Jesus, “Do you hear what they’re saying?” “Even these children?!” That’s where Jesus quotes this scripture to them. “Out of the mouths of babes and infants, thou hast brought perfect praise!” I’m sure that went over really well!
But as I said, it was more than just their indignance that came to a head that day. They did feared the Romans. They feared it might be a turning point for them, too! The Romans were always there, always watching, always ready to quell a rebellion, or even break up crowds that they saw as potential rebellion. The Jewish leadership worried that this “disturbance” might be that turning point. They said, “If we let him go on like this the Romans will come and take away everything!” They had a “give and take” relationship with the Romans, but it was always tenuous at best.
And perhaps for the Romans it was a turning point. Jerusalem was the center of the nation of Israel. Such a disturbance there could lead to the rebellion they feared. Up until now, they had kept an eye on this Jesus – in other places, in other parts of the region. And I’m sure they weren’t happy about the huge crowds he drew. But so far they had been peaceful, and his teachings non-confrontational. Now, he has brought this spectacle into the capital city! Now he has shown his first signs of violence – in the very halls of the Temple itself! I’m sure they noticed the ever increasing tension between Jesus and the leaders of Israel. Perhaps they were thinking that they might have to do something about all of this, before it went any further.
There were many turning points going on here. And I think that prompts us to ask what is the turning point in this for us? Maybe, like many, this is the event that makes us get beyond the thought that “Jesus was just a great teacher.” Many people are comfortable with that image of Jesus, but they refuse to take it any further. Because maybe they don’t like the idea that he might call them to make changes – to clean up their act, to make a turning point of their own. And they don’t like that idea. And it isn’t always easy for us, either.
But it must be so. This event we celebrate today cannot be just a parade, or just a grand procession. Because it is a turning point. Jesus is more than just a great teacher. He is about to make atonement for all the world. He was about to live out his own words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. For God sent not the Son came into the world to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved.”
That’s what was happening this day! This was the turning point. This was the beginning of Holy Week. By the end of this week, it will all have come to a head. The disciples will have fled, the religious leaders will have arrested Jesus, and forced him to confront the Romans. And we cannot begin to fathom the relief of those leaders when he was finally “gone,” and the depth of despair of Jesus’ followers!
We call this “Holy Week,” though I’m not completely sure why. Actually in Greek and Roman liturgical books it’s called the Great Week. The term “Holy Week” began to be used in the Fourth Century, when the Roman persecution ended, and the Church became more established. Either way, it’s said that it’s been called “Great” or “Holy” because of the great deeds that were done by God this week. But we know that some of them were not “great” in a good way. Some of what took place was tragic – even catastrophic!
I hope you consider the turning points I’ve pointed out this morning, and I hope you’ve been thinking about what they mean to you, and about what turning points in your life this may have prompted. There is much to think about here! And I ask that we would do so. And may we pledge not to take lightly the stories and events that took place long ago, that we still celebrate today.
And, as we ponder all of that, may we echo the cries of the children in the Temple – the “perfect praise” they gave that day. “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
Prayer
Eternal God may our thoughts be filled with the stories and events of Holy Week. Yes, these things took place so long ago, and they almost seem other-worldly. But we pray that what happened then may come home to us this day, and in the days ahead. May the great and holy deeds you have done dwell in our hearts, and fill our thoughts, as we prepare for the great celebration of our Savior. This we pray in his name, Amen.