On an Unexpected Entry

In which, at long last, we have something to discuss.

It’s been a long time since I last wrote anything. There have been a number of reasons, not feeling motivated to write being among the top. But this morning I woke up and felt the need to write. In particular I felt the need to write about Jesus. Today is Palm Sunday and across the world priests and pastors and teachers and believers read what is commonly know as “The Triumphal Entry.”

Growing up I was familiar with the text, mainly for the fact that at church they would give all the kids palm fronds to wave around. I would usually just pull the leaves off of them and was lucky to have anything left by the time we headed home.

A few years ago¹ I was asked by my community-mates to prepare a short sermon/discussion about any text I wanted for a spring retreat² we were taking. The retreat happened to fall on Palm Sunday that year so I dug into the passage of Jesus’s entry as told by John. What I learned was amazing and beautiful, as a result this became one of my favorite passages in the Gospels.  

To get us rolling here is the relevant text that I want to discuss³:

The next day a huge crowd came to the festival, having heard that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem. So they got branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and were roaring:

‘Hosanna [literally, O please save us now]!                          Blessings on the One Who Is Coming in the Name of the Lord!      Yes, the King of Israel!’

But Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written in Scripture:

‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion;                                          Look! Your King is coming,                                                       Sitting on a donkey’s colt!’

Four short versus, and yet, there is quite a lot going on here. First a little historical background to set the stage. At this point in history the people of Israel were under Roman rule. While there were some Jewish leaders in positions of power they didn’t do much of anything without the say-so of Rome. And this situation was not a new one for the Jewish people. They had be toiling under the rule of various people for many years. But there was hope in the Messiah, it was believed that one day a Messiah would come, throw off the shackles of bondage, and free Israel.

People wanted a leader. A revolutionary. A king. And many of them found this in Jesus. So they decided to announce that fact in a very obvious way, that sadly isn’t as obvious to us now. When the passage starts we find that, upon hearing that Jesus was approaching, the people gathered palm fronds to waive around. This may seem like simple way to get a parade going, but there is a deeper meaning going on as well.

Palms, at this time, had an extremely patriotic mean. They were used when the temple was rededicated, and more importantly when Israel rebelled against Rome two previous times the rebels printed coins with palms on them. Simply put; the palm was a symbol of rebellion and of war.

Maybe you think that we are reading too much into this. Perhaps the people just didn’t have time to pick up confetti and signage so they went with the most available thing? Perhaps, but let’s look at the next little section, when the people start chanting. The first two lines are quotes straight from Psalm 118. The last line though? They added “Blessed is the King of Israel.” And that is a large addition. They were calling for Jesus to take his place as a new King of Israel and cast off the Roman rule. They want him to enter with sound and fury, a great warrior and rebel.

Jesus, being Jesus, responds in a beautiful way.

“But Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it…”

Horses are majestic creature, they are graceful and when you stroll into town on one there is a high likelihood of looking like a boss⁴. Donkeys on the other hand are more awkward, they tend to jostle their riders. It’s tough to look regal on a donkey. A grown man riding on a young donkey? Even tougher. Jesus very consciously chose to ride in on an animal that would downplay his grandeur. He took on a role of humility, certainly not the role of warrior or rebel that the people were hoping for. In fact, culturally, his choice of ride said exactly the opposite.

When a king rode a horse his purpose was one of war, he meant to conquer. When he rode a donkey he was coming peaceably. Jesus was sending a clear message to those who wanted him to be a conquering hero, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t going to be overthrowing anyone, at least not in the way people hoped. Jesus wasn’t out and out deigning his role as a king, he still entered in a kingly fashion, but he wasn’t your typical king.

There is a very strong nationalist vibe going on during the beginning of this passage. The people wanted Jesus to be their king, the king of Israel, a king FOR Israel. When I think about this moment, this point when people loudly cried out for Jesus to be just for them I think of a lot of the voices that I hear in this country today. Often I hear politicians, church leaders, and talking heads bring up how the United States is “God’s country” or that we are blessed or in some way specially set aside by God. In the passage when the Israelites waved the palms a close analogy would be a group of people waving American flags as Jesus entered the city.

Certainly there are people out there that would have no problem with this. However, I believe that Jesus, through his actions, pushed back against this view. Jesus didn’t come as a warrior king for one nation. He is a peaceful king for all nations.

Please don’t read this to mean I am taking a negative view of patriotism. That is not my intent. However, patriotism wrapped up faith, and in Jesus, is something that I think is dangerous and is something that we need to avoid. As we enter into Holy week I hope that you will think about this passage, envision the palms not as the symbol of one nations, but of all nations. When celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus join me considering all of our brothers and sisters across the globe.

Ironically the Pharisees bring it all together in verse 19 when they say ‘See you’re getting nowhere at all! Look! The whole world is going after him!’ Jesus came for all of us so that we may all have the opportunity to know him.

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¹ I can't believe it's been two years, what the what.

On Being Countercultural

In which two responses to a similar call are considered and a challenge extended.

Have you ever had an idea swimming around in your head and it just doesn't seem leave?  That where I've been this last week.  So I thought I put it all down here on this blog.

According to my past labels I have talked about my small group before.  However, I don't think that I have mentioned that we are currently studying Genesis¹.  We are currently studying Genesis².  There now that that is out of the way we can move forward.  Last week we looked at Genesis chapter 12 in it is God's original call to Abram, who would become Abraham.

"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your county, your people and you father's household and go to the land I will show you³.'"

I think there are a couple of interesting things going on in this one verse.  First, it should be noted that in Abram's time, in what is now Iraq, family was everything.  Many people were nomadic traders (including, it is believed, Abram's) and you stuck with your family as a sign of strength.  The wealth and power of a tribe was dependent on its size, so one way to bolster this power was to have kids and to have them stay with you.  When the patriarch of the family died one of the sons, usually the eldest, took control and the tribe continued on.  Secondly, when traveling you stayed on the same trade route that you always stayed on making the same loops through the same areas year after year.  This is partly because you got to know the people that you would trade with, but more importantly this took place in the desert.  Knowledge of the land, where to find food, water and shelter, was integral to your very survival.

Knowing this adds a certain amount of gravity to the call "leave your country, your people, and your father's household."  The Lord was telling Abram to leave everything he knew.  To leave the safe places he was familiar with, the power and safety found in the family, the material wealth of the tribe.  In essence Abram was asked to leave his life behind, to turn away from everything he knew.  God was asking him to be countercultural (see how I brought that around).

Things only get crazier in the second half of the verse.  God doesn't tell Abram where he is to go, he simply says to "go to the land I will show you."  "Follow me" he says, with no map, no compass, not even GPS.  And Abram goes.  Pretty wild stuff, but in return God promises to make Abram into a great nation (which is a pretty bold claim when your wife can't have kids) and to bless him.  Not only that but Abram's name will be a blessing and through him all people of the earth will be blessed.

Keep all of this in mind as we jump ahead a few thousand years and see a similar situation with very different results.

In Matthew chapter 19 Jesus is teaching people, blessing small kids, basically doing his thing.  When a young man comes up to him and asks him what good things he must do to gain eternal life.  Jesus tells him to follow the commandments.  The man asks which ones and Jesus says, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself⁴.'"  "Done-skies," says the man, "what else you got⁵."

So Jesus tells him that he needs to sell all of his stuff, give the money to the poor, so that he will have treasure in heaven, and then he needs to come follow Jesus.  The next sentence is very interesting.  Most translations, the NIV included, say "When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth⁶."  However, in his commentary on the book of Matthew, Dale Bruner says that a more accurate translation is, "But when the young man heard this teaching, he went away heartsick, because he had many things⁷" (my emphasis).

Let's come back to the translations in a moment.  The first thing that is important is how similar this is to God's call to Abram.  While things start off a little different, with the young man essentially seeking Jesus's blessing (eternal life), the two stories dovetail quickly.  God tells Abram that he must leave everything behind and follow where God leads without telling him where that is.  By doing so his name, which is a blessing, will live on forever by blessing all the people of the earth.  Jesus tells the young man that he needs to leave behind everything and follow where Jesus leads without telling him where that is.  By doing so he will have eternal life.  Unfortunately for the young man he is unable to make the sacrifice that he is called to make.  Which brings us back to the different translations.

So often this passage is read as a rich man talking to Jesus, the heading of the section is even "The Rich Young Man" (but don't get me started on the headings in general, they drive me nuts).  When we read it like that it is easy for us to shake our heads and think, those silly rich people, making idols of their vast wealth, how sad for them.  We distance ourselves from the young man, thinking, that isn't me, I'm not rich. And you know what; I don't consider myself to be rich.  So for a long time I didn't connect with this guy.  I do however have lots of stuff.  And I'm guessing that you do as well.

We live in a consumer driven society, we are taught that it is good to buy, or more importantly, to own things.  We think that the more we own the more control we have over our lives, and the things in it.  But more often than not owning a bunch of crap doesn't give us control, it controls us.  Still, though, we buy books and movies and clothes when we don't really need them, or could borrow them⁸.  We overextend ourselves financially so that we can have the newest, most updated gadgets.  And companies are more than happy to supply us with all of this nonsense (I'm looking in your direction Steve Jobs).

By reading this passage as a story about a young man with many things it seems to speak directly to the consumer culture of America.  Because in this culture whether you are rich, poor, or somewhere in the middle you most likely have many things.  Jesus challenges us, get ride of all the crap in your life and just follow him.  Live a life that is in radical opposition to the culture of the day.  Follow him, and we will be blessed, and will be a blessing to those around us.


So that's my challenge for you this week.  Take stock of your life.  What is it filled with?  Maybe it's time for us to consume less and follow Jesus more, because you know what, that dude had some pretty awesome ideas on how to live life.  Will it be easy?  No.  But living a life that is countercultural rarely is.
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¹ That would be the Biblical book Genesis not the British rock band Genesis.
² Do you remember the song I Can't Dance, I totally had that album.
³ Genesis 12:1 NIV
⁴ Matthew 19:18-19 NIV
⁵ That may be a paraphrase.
⁶ Matthew 19:22 NIV
⁷ Matthew A Commentary, Book 2 The Churchbook, by Dale Bruner, page 286.
⁸ For some great thoughts on this very topic check out my friend Sarah's blog, she hit on the topic not once, but twice.