The reading
John 12:12-27; 19:16b-22
12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the
festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of
palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!" 14 Jesus found
a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Do not be afraid,
daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was
glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and
had been done to him. 17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called
Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. 18
It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd
went to meet him. 19 The Pharisees then said to one another, "You see, you
can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!"
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival
were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told
Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I
tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love
their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it
for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there
will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say --
'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to
this hour."
19:16b So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by
himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew
is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one
on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription
written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews." 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where
Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin,
and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do
not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the
Jews.'" 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have
written."
The message
We are now in our last few weeks with John’s Gospel. From September to Christmas, we looked at about
15 Old Testament readings that covered the history of God’s communication with
people, God’s great acts of interference and power in the world and the
corrective words and bold promises of the prophets. These reports, teaching
stories and historical events showed us God reaches out to people in love and
care. We heard God make big promises,
that Abraham would be father of many nations, that there would never again be a
flood, that the people will be set free from slavery in Egypt, that God’s
people would be restored, that God would walk with some unlikely heroes. We saw so many of those promises fulfilled at
Christmas, when the word of God was made flesh and dwelled amongst us. From
Christmas until now, we have gone through John’s Gospel, starting with the
prologue, where again great promises are made, that reading this book will
change you, that the witness and testimony of John the Baptist would be proven
right at Easter, that the 7 signs of power that Jesus performed will show the
world that Jesus is the savior.
Over the last few months, we read 4 of the 7 signs that John
reports to prove and verify that Jesus is the Messiah, learned from some of the
teaching moments where Jesus shows that all people are welcome in the kingdom
of God through his words and actions, were inspired by the faithful actions of
Jesus first followers and reality checked by their failures.. All of this leads
up to “there they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side,
with Jesus between them”. A few weeks
ago, we started the story of Jesus last hours, events that make up almost a
third of John’s Gospel. Today, we hear
the joyful beginning of those hours (Jesus entry into Jerusalem) and the worst
part of those hours, where it all leads, “there they crucified him, and with
him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them”.
This best of times and worst of times, starts as the story of
2 crowds. That whole great crowd did
not come to Jerusalem just to see Jesus.
One part was a crowd that followed Jesus after he raised Lazarus from
the dead, wanting to see what’s next. The other part was a crowd in Jerusalem
for the festival. People had come to Jerusalem to mark the Passover in the Holy
city (like Christians make pilgrimages to Bethlehem at Christmas or to the
sites where Jesus died and was buried at Easter). Many of the people on this first Palm Sunday
did not come to see Jesus, they did not go there to hear Jesus speak or
experience his healing, helping and restoring ministry. They had no idea Jesus
was even going to Jerusalem, The crowd following Jesus since they saw him call
Lazarus out from death, they become witnesses, they teach and tell the
Jerusalem crowd all about what has been happening, what Jesus has said and
done. We see this a little later as Andrew and Phillip tell Jesus a group of
Greeks want to see him. Jesus says no but he does not dismiss the visiting
Greeks, their curiosity or their needs, Jesus tells Andrew and Phillip you go
do it, you talk to them, pray with them, help them, share the good news.
We just completed our annual Palm Sunday parade or
procession in the neighborhood, Sunday mornings are quiet around here, but along
with us, there was another crowd, people driving or walking by, people looking
out their windows or slowly plodding to work, maybe even a few going home after
a very long night. Some people do come
up to me days later and ask “what were you doing out there”, That is our chance
to witness, to tell people what we are doing here. We have many people who come through this
space each week, to play basketball, practice soccer, attend school, talk to
teachers, support one another in 12 steps.
They are not necessarily here for Jesus, but let’s make sure they know Jesus
is here for them, at the heart of our community and lives.
Of course, we really have 2 readings this morning, the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem and Jesus crucifixion. Right after Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead. Jesus disciples expected him to be
walking into glory and power, to make claims to thrones and kingdoms, to
overwhelm the worldly powers around them. The Palm Sunday walk is one filled with
imagery that shows us a great crowd proclaiming Jesus is the Messiah (riding a
donkey and covering the road with palm
branches where both spoken of by the prophets, the cry Hosanna means “save us”).
After entering Jerusalem, it is not a coronation
anyone expected. There is no crown of gold waiting for Jesus, it is a crown of
thorns instead, there is no great army swearing allegiance, there is a crowd
yelling crucify him instead. We do not
hear Jesus was anointed as high priest or placed on the throne, Instead, we get
“there they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with
Jesus between them” None of the crowd
were on a walk to glory, they are on a walk to the cross (a walk most of them
stop long before its end).
To see these chapters side by side, Palm Sunday and Good
Friday, we have to ask “what am I walking into”. This is a question Police,
EMS, Firefighters and other first responders face dozens of time per shift. That’s
a question we all ask a lot. We ask it anxiously waiting for news from a Doctor
or results from a medical test that will be available in a week or two. We ask it waiting for test scores or pacing
in an office waiting for an administrator to tell us how we did, we ask it waiting
for a phone call, We ask it when we avoid people we fear will give desperate plea
for help or lead us into something we really do not want to do (or to be fair,
can’t do) . I ask What am I walking into a lot, I ask before hospital visits, weddings,
funerals, meetings, baptisms, even simple follow ups to messages “give me a
call, I have to ask you something”. I
frequently enter some of the most private, personal and emotional
moments in the life of a family and community, without knowing too much about
what I am walking into (as a generally shy or reserved person, its not the easiest
thing to do but I can go because God
walks with me).
Perhaps that’s what makes sharing faith so hard. We do not
know what we walking into, If our prayer will be welcome, if it will get very uncomfortable,
interfere with new relationships or ruin long standing ones. People we tell “God loves you: may express
exclusion, a belief in wealth or science or undeniable reports of hypocrisy and
bad behavior, In some parts of the
world, witnessing can be a crime, an action punishable by imprisonment, death
or at least exclusion from family and community.
What am I walking into, that’s a good question, its practical,
necessary, helpful, It can sometimes be a matter of life and death, but it can’t
stop us from being the Lazarus crowd. We
should be asking “What are God and I walking into”, That is the question that
should be on our minds
What are we walking into here, As St Jacobus Lutheran Church? I see a community that cares for one another,
walks with one another, encourages one another, gives generously of time, space
and money.” I see a community that has for almost 151 years taught our
neighbors the forgiving, joy giving,
community changing presence of God.
Next week as we
celebrate Easter, we will hear angels and Jesus ask Mary “why are you crying”,
in that question, we will see how asking “what are God and I walking into”
works.
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