Rev.
Debbie Cato
John 12:12-16
God of grace, your Word is like a song. It is the melody that we long to sing, the refrain that we pray will get stuck in our heads. So, as we return to scripture once more, we pray that you would allow us to sink into this song. Allow us to hear the truth in between the words. Allow the cries of the crowd’s “hosannas” to feel like our own. With open hearts and open ears we pray, amen.
Songs of Loudest Praise
In the
Gospel of John, Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead which intensifies
the plots to kill Jesus. He has dinner at Mary and Martha’s house and Mary
washes Jesus’ feet with expense perfume.
And then in verses 12 and 13, John writes: The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
the rest of the disciples when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a colt. As the disciple
witness the crowds shouting hosannas, they must be confused. When they look
back on this experience, when they are locked away in a room after Jesus
crucifixion and death, perhaps they will remember the songs. The singing will
surely be etched in their memories. I imagine they will ponder those shouts of
hosanna.
It is Passover and so Jews from all over the region have arrived in Jerusalem to
worship together and celebrate. Jerusalem was more crowded than normal. The
city streets were crowded with people celebrating. People were in a good mood.
The air was filled with festivities.
As we imagine ourselves in the crowd on this day, we should remember that the
people are supposed to be praising Caesar, but instead they are shouting for the
One entering the city on a donkey. Their singing is subversive, courageous, and
contagious. Their praise shows the ripple effect of public displays of faith.[1]
We
marched around the sanctuary today, waving our palm branches and singing
Hosanna like the people did when Jesus entered Jerusalem. It felt like a parade.
We were smiling. We were happy - at least I was. But it is interesting to know
that hosanna means “save us.” We were
singing “save us Jesus.” Save us! The crowd was shouting to Jesus, “Save us!
Save us!”
All four of the gospels record Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. John’s version is the shortest. John leaves out Jesus’ instructions for his disciples to get a colt and bring it to him. Instead, Jesus finds his own donkey to fulfill the scriptures. In our Soup & Study we have talked about how the Gospel of John always has Jesus being self-sufficient; strong and capable. He did not rely on his disciples to find the donkey[2] like the other gospels tell the story.
John goes on to report that, “His disciples did not understand these things at first.” Can you imagine yourself in the crowd feeling the same? Can you picture
the disciples in the crowd waving their palm branches, looking at each other and
wondering, “Is there something these people see that we don’t? What are we
missing here?”[3]
The
people think Jesus is going to save them. They think he is the king who will
save them from the Roman empire. They think he will declare war, defeat the
Roman army and restore Jerusalem to the Israelites. They don’t understand that yes, Jesus is the
Messiah. Yes, he is going to save them.
But not in the way they expect him to.
Misunderstanding is a common theme in the Gospel of John, and rightly so. We
are not supposed to understand that God, the great “I AM,” came to dwell with
us in the flesh of a human body. And at this point in the story, it is not possible to
grasp what Jesus’ kingship is all about. Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion,
resurrection, and the promise of his ascension is yet to come. The fullness of
grace upon grace will only be realized once Jesus returns to the Father to prepare
a dwelling place for us. No wonder the disciples could not understand as they
watched Jesus ride by.[4] We would not either if we were there. I am not sure we
always grasp it now, even knowing the whole story.
Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week is a solemn time. It is a time when we should be focused on Jesus. We should be thinking about our relationship with Jesus. We should be praying. We should be more aware of our own sinfulness and our weaknesses. We should be repentant. We should be
aware of our need for Christ.
Thursday is Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday is when we recognize Jesus sharing his last Passover Supper with his disciples. We remember Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. We remember Jesus sharing leftover bread and wine and
explaining that they were his body and blood, sacrificed for them, for the
forgiveness of their sin. We remember that this is why we have the Sacrament of
Communion. Maundy Thursday is the night when Jesus was arrested.
Friday is
Good Friday. We acknowledge Jesus’ crucifixion and death on the cross, bearing
our sins – past, present, and future. We should feel the full weight of our
sins. We should understand the weight of torture, humiliation, and pain Jesus
experienced.
Today, on
this Palm Sunday, we are looking forward to the events of Holy Week, yet we
also know how the story ends. So, we must view all that happens through a resurrection
lens. We experience Holy Week knowing
that Easter Sunday will arrive, and we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from
the dead. He lives!
But we
cannot truly experience the joy of the resurrection, we cannot fully celebrate
Easter morning if we do not walk all the way to the cross with Jesus. We need
to experience and feel the weight of Jesus crucifixion and death before we can
fully appreciate and celebrate his resurrection. I hope you will join us for
our Good Friday service. I hope you will fully experience this Holy week.
I am
going to end like I have every Sunday during Lent – with a poem by Rev. Sara
Speed from Sanctified Art.
Courage
Rev. Sara Speed, Sanctified Art
We summon
every ounce of courage.
We give
ourselves pep talks
and we
call our friends.
We dig
deep within.
We
practice the words out loud,
rolling
them around in our mouths,
imagining
the response.
We deal
out every “what if” card our brain holds on to
and spend
absurd amounts of time
imagining
all the ways it could go wrong.
And then
finally, blessedly, we say it:
I love
you.
To speak
the truth of your heart takes courage.
It always
has.
But
please,
summon
your courage,
join the
parade,
and speak
with conviction.
For God
has been saying to the world since day one:
I love
you.
What is
your response?
Amen.
[1] Summarized from Sanctified Art. Theme Connections.
Palm Sunday. John 12: 12-16.
[2] Excerpts from Sanctified Art. Commentary. Palm Sunday.
John 12:12-16.
[3] Excerpts from Sanctified Art. Commentary.
Palm Sunday. John 12:12-16.
[4] Sanctified Art. Commentary. Palm Sunday. John
12:12-16.
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