SERMON | Matthew 21:1-17 | HOLY WEEK - IN AWE OF GRACE - 1. "This Is the Day" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana
THIS IS THE DAY!!
Palm Sunday!
Hosanna!
We have begun Holy Week.
Our Lenten journey has brought us here…to this week.
We have traversed the wilderness…and we have arrived at the heart of God’s people.
Jesus rides into Jerusalem—on two donkeys??
—we see the author’s confusion about the prophecy from which the imagery comes.
(there is no “and” in the prophecy, so one donkey becomes two)
That isn’t the only bizarre thing about this passage.
We KNOW that the people shout “Hosanna!”…but in just a few days time they will be replaced with “Crucify Him!”
We KNOW that Jesus came to be the Messiah and cleanse the earth of evil…but then he goes to the Holy Temple of God and cleans IT out!
What do we make of this story we tell every year?
We must remember that this story is a part of our Lenten journey.
We MUST not simply tell the story and then not allow it to speak to our hearts.
We MUST NOT assume we wouldn’t have gone from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him” right along with the rest of the people.
We are human.
We are always going to fall short.
We are going to struggle to understand.
The more we think we understand, the more we probably do not.
Those who should’ve understood and celebrated, instead criticized…
While those who were assumed to know little opened themselves to it all.
Those who should’ve been displaying hospitality for the world to worship God were setting up shop in the court of the Gentiles ripping off the poorest of the poor.
—doves were the sacrifice of those who couldn’t afford anything else
After walking and traveling and spending what little money they had, they would need to purchase doves…and the Temple priests made them exchange their money to get the Temple coins—and would rip them off to do it!
Worse…this was happening IN the Temple.
A house of prayer became a den of thievery.
And it were the religious leaders in charge and reaping the benefits of it all.
We must NOT assume that we are incapable of losing our way as well.
It is SO tempting to get distracted and focused on ourselves.
It is SO tempting to exploit the poor and reap the benefits of it.
If our clothing was made in Asia…
Or our coffee is less than $12/lb.
Or our bananas are less than $3/lb.
We are reaping the benefits, friends.
This isn’t a guilt-trip.
It’s a reality check for all of us…me, too!
It’s so hard to do things right in a system and world where almost everything is broken.
Where we are literally tearing our world apart and have the option of pretending we are not.
We need cleansed!
We need healed!
We need to be put in our place!
Amen?
We need judgment…not for others, but for ourselves.
We want to be put right, don’t we?
But there’s a feeling of fear and dread at the thought.
But…the beautiful part of this whole story is how the judge, the king, the rescuer, the deliverer comes onto the scene.
_________________________________________________
The Son of David has, in fact, arrived.
But what does that mean?
David had made Jerusalem the city of God’s people long ago.
Ever since the time of David and the exile, the people have longed for a king to be like David and lead them out of oppression.
David was the prototype king to which all other kings were measured.
So there’s that element here.
The waving of palms and laying down of cloaks has kingly elements.
When Israel welcomed King Jehu, they laid down cloaks.
When Judas Maccabaeus led his people to defeat the oppression of the Greeks in Jerusalem, he rode into the Temple area as people waved palms and laid down cloaks. He entered the Temple and removed the Greek idols that had been placed there.
Zechariah’s prophecy foretold of God’s king coming to establish the people of Israel and God’s kingdom across the earth…to cut of chariots, break bows, and basically overpower