A Moment of Joy – Luke 19:28-40

Today I invite you to step back in time and imagine the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on what we have come to know as Palm Sunday. The people are gathering in preparation to celebrate the Passover – that commemoration of the time when Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt after their release by Pharoah. It was an event that had never been forgotten and one that led so many of them to come to the Temple in Jerusalem to make their offerings and share the Seder as the Passover meal was called - in the place where the Temple was with the Holy of Holies in the Inner court.

And so, Jesus has come with his disciples to Jerusalem. But Jesus has more in mind than a memorial celebration of the Passover. The Seder meal that he will share with the disciples will forever be changed. The focus of the meal will no longer be of a time when the people received their physical freedom and were led to the Promised Land. The focus would now be of the moment  when Jesus took the bread and broke it and took the cup and blessed it and gave it to the disciples as signs of his sacrifice – the Lamb of God – whose body and blood would be broken and shed to take away not just the sins of a nation but of the world and reveal not just a momentary reprieve from death but an eternal reprieve – the will of God to restore humanity to the relationship for which they had been created.

It is significant that this journey of Jesus into Jerusalem begins with a colt that comes from a village in the place called the Mount of Olives.  This would be the same place that Jesus would return to after the meal and before his arrest. This is said to be the place that Jesus would often go to pray.  He had given the disciples instructions to secure a colt – a young animal that had never been ridden before. A new colt for a new beginning.

Now this coming of Jesus was not just a ride into the city because he was tired from walking. His arrival on the colt was a definite sign and signal of his kingship and his mission. And the path he takes leads him from the Mount of Olives to the gates of Jerusalem.  From a place of prayer and preparation, Jesus descends to Jerusalem – the spiritual heart of the people where he will weep, where he will cleanse, where he will be betrayed, where he will be arrested, beaten and put to death.

But before he can even enter the city itself, people begin spreading their cloaks on the road.  They cut palm branches and spread them on the road. And these signs herald the words that the multitude of the disciples – not just the inner group of 12 – but the wider group of those who had committed to follow Jesus – the words that would echo in the ears of the Pharisees and enrage the leaders of the people.

The people have heard his teaching, they have witnessed his miracles.  They know that this is the sign they have been waiting for – the king who has come to the people sent by the Lord their God. For them this is a sign that there is peace in heaven – the peace proclaimed by the angels at his birth; and so, glory to God in the heavens and may his coming bring peace to the earth.

What we are witnessing in the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is the coming of the king who will fulfil the will of God, who will listen to and speak the word of God, the one who will surrender his life as a sacrifice for the people in order that they may experience a renewed and lasting relationship with the LORD.

The Pharisees demand that this outburst cease.  To which Jesus replies, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out”.

Nothing could stop the rejoicing, the celebration of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Today was a time for welcoming the one who had healed them, taught them and prayed for them.  This was a moment of joy.

Yes, the coming week would bring conflict, terror, suffering and sorrow but today was a day of celebration.  For the people this is the King they have long awaited, the one sent by God.  But this is no king who seeks to fulfil his own destiny or rule by force of will and might. This is a King who is a servant.  Jesus chooses to be faithful. He chooses to go to Jerusalem and to fulfil the mission for which he was sent.

Paul reminds the Christians in Philippi that everything Jesus did was not for the purpose of glorifying or raising himself up for the purpose of revealing God’s ultimate gift of salvation to the world. Paul saw in Jesus One who was fully human and yet fully God. And he saw in this person One who was prepared to do whatever was necessary to restore the people.  He saw faithfulness, a faithfulness that would lead to his death but also to His resurrection.

Choosing to be faithful – a choice made by God for us. And he gives us the freedom to choose as well. In the verses preceding today’s passage from Philippians, Paul encourages the people to make a choice. The choice is to be an imitator of Christ.  They are to do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than themselves.  In other words, they are to be faithful to God in all things not because they are compelled but because they choose. As Christ chose to accept his mission to bring the new revelation of God to the nation of Israel and Paul spread that new revelation throughout the known world, we are to choose to place our lives in God’s hands and seek daily for what he would have us do.

This day as we celebrate again the entry of Christ into Jerusalem, let us remember that it was not a triumphal moment so much as a moment that was the catalyst for events that would change the world forever. It was Christ choosing to be faithful to the will of God. Our life may never lead us on such a path but let us make our choice to be faithful and to trust God to lead us and instruct us every day that we shall live both now and forevermore.

AMEN