Palm Sunday: Arrival

¹⁴ The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.  ¹⁵ There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;  ¹⁶ the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”  ¹⁷ I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.  ¹⁸ The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.  ¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.  ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.  ²¹ I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  ²² The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  ²³ This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  ²⁴ This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  ²⁵ Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!  ²⁶ Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.  ²⁷ The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.  ²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.  ²⁹ O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. – Psalm 118:14-29

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When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples  ² and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.  ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'”  ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,  ⁵ some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”  ⁶ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.  ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.  ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.  ⁹ Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  ¹¹ Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. – Mark 11:1-11

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A Prayer from Westminster Abbey

Almighty God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
you have made us for yourself,
so that our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
Grant us purity of heart and strength of purpose,
so that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will,
no weakness from doing it.
Grant that in your light we may see light clearly,
and in your service find our perfect freedom.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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Palm Sunday greetings! What a day this is – a day of celebration, revealing Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – at the beginning of Holy Week once again.

Just as a side note: today, March 24, also happens to be the birthday of Fanny Crosby, who wrote quite a few hymns, including Blessed Assurance, To God Be the Glory, and Tell Me the Story of Jesus which we just sang a moment ago. Also tomorrow, March 25, is the Feast of the Annunciation: the day the angel visited Mary to tell her that she would give birth to the Messiah. So exactly nine months from tomorrow is Christmas!

But one holiday at a time, right? In the very beginning of Christianity, in the early church with its Jewish roots, Palm Sunday was the first day of an eight-day holiday like Passover or Hanukkah. Today we still call it ‘Holy Week’ but back then they actually had things to do, and ways to remember Jesus every day for eight days, starting today.

I mention this because I discovered something new this week that I’d never heard of before. Most Christians today observe Maundy Thursday with the remembrance of the Last Supper, and Good Friday and its remembrance of the Crucifixion. But people also used to observe Holy Saturday as a day of waiting and grieving and hoping-against-hope. Some Christians would literally not speak on Holy Saturday: so that the first word spoken after the crucifixion, on Easter morning, would be “Hallelujah!” I think that’s cool – I might try it this year if I can get away with not talking for a day!

Meanwhile, our Lenten series this spring has focused on Wilderness Living – a reminder of how Israel traveled through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, and also a reminder that we too live in a wilderness, in our own way. Plus it’s a reminder to us that life grows out of what appears to be dead: like a seed. Or a cross.

For today, though – just for today – our focus is on Arrival – specifically, Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem that final time. The disciples and all the people following Jesus see his arrival as a turning point, as a victory. Jesus, on the other hand, sees it as a fulfillment of prophecy and the pivot point into the darkest week of his life. For Jesus, Jerusalem means the Cross.  So Palm Sunday brings an odd mixture of celebration and sadness – and isn’t that just like life?

Today’s focus will be mostly on the celebration: namely the journey from the Mount of Olives through the Kidron Valley and up to the Temple Mount, with all the crowds shouting and celebrating around Jesus.

I was thinking this week how to give an idea of what this journey would have been like. Just to give a rough idea – and I’ve checked the mileage with Google – the walk from the top of the Mount of Olives to the Temple Mount was about the same distance – and the about same topography – as if we started a walk at Hill Top Coffee (on the other side of Brownsville Rd.) and walked down the hill, across the 10^th Street Bridge, and up to Duquesne University (there are city steps connecting the 10^th Street Bridge to Duquesne).

Jesus and the crowd started at the top of the Mount of Olives, walked down the hill (which was a bit winding, just like it would be here) across the Kidron Valley (the Kidron is actually a wadi – usually dry, so they didn’t need a bridge to walk across it, unlike the Mon River), and then up a steep hill (like the cliff below Duquesne). And of course at the top of the hills – Duquesne has a chapel at the top of its hill, and Jerusalem has the temple at the top of its hill. So it’s a very similar walk.

Imagine now doing a walk like that with a donkey, and palm branches, and shouting and singing and celebration… imagine how many people along the way would have stuck their heads out of windows and said “what’s going on?” and maybe even joined the crowd!

This day was different from all previous days in Jesus’ life. Up until this day, if someone had said they thought Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus would have cautioned them to keep it quiet; but not today. Jesus is no longer hiding who he is, he is longer deflecting questions. Now he is being careful to fulfill every prophecy about the Messiah in the Old Testament. Just to give a few examples:

• The presence of the donkey was prophesied by the prophet Zechariah: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” (Zech. 9:9)
• Zechariah also said: “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem… On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” (Zech 4:4, 9)

Zechariah wrote these things 500 years before Jesus was born! And today we see those prophecies fulfilled.

Other scholars tell us that palm branches were important because they were symbols of victory in both Roman and Jewish culture. Palms were used in Jewish worship, and festivals, and celebrations of thanksgiving, because they were a reminder of the Exodus, and of freedom from captivity and slavery – and a reminder of God’s favor and God’s saving power.

Then in Psalm 118, which we read a moment ago, there are more prophecies that were fulfilled on Palm Sunday. Just to mention a few of them:

• Verse 25: “Save us O Lord” essentially translates in Hebrew to “Hosanna!” Hosanna is a word that means ‘save now’.
• Verse 26: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” – that’s Jesus right there!
• Verse 20: “This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.” – this verse refers to the eastern gate of the city of Jerusalem, which was named “the Gate of Mercy”.

This gate into Jerusalem is still there today, but it has been walled up – get this – by armies who attacked the city hundreds of years after Jesus. The attackers were not believers in Judaism or Christianity but when they heard the story that the Messiah is supposed to enter by the Eastern Gate at his second coming, they walled it up to make sure that doesn’t happen (as if a wall could stop God). It still stands that way today.

• Verses 22-23: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

There’s an interesting story connected to this verse as well. The word ‘cornerstone’ might also be translated ‘capstone’ or ‘keystone’. There’s an ancient Jewish story that says this verse refers to the building of the original temple, the Temple of Solomon. The building was done, as much as possible, in silence – in reverence. So all the stones were cut and shaped off-site and then brought to the Temple Mount to be installed. First Kings chapter six describes all of this happening.

“One day one particular stone arrived onsite that didn’t seem to fit anywhere, [so it was set] aside… and as the Temple drew near to [being finished] the workers discovered they needed one last stone to put in the last supporting arch. This arch would hold the whole Temple together…. and they looked around… and they discovered the stone they had rejected was the one they needed.”[1]

On Palm Sunday, Jesus becomes this cornerstone – this capstone – the stone the builders rejected, which was the one – the only one – that was needed.

So this crowd on Palm Sunday, led by Jesus on a donkey, makes its way down the Mount of Olives, singing, shouting, praising God, and giving Jesus a hero’s welcome… and the temple authorities are watching. They are worried, and they are telling Jesus to silence the crowd before something bad happens.

Other gospel-writers give us more detail on the events of the day than Mark does. Mark says the crowd arrived at the temple, and Jesus and the disciples “looked around” and then went back to Bethany – which would have meant retracing their steps back up the Mount of Olives, and then to the next town over.

Luke, on the other hand, says that this was the day when Jesus turned over the tables of the money-changers in the Temple. So which version is true?

People who research these ancient events disagree on the exact date when Jesus turned over the tables of the money-changers – and many of them say Jesus did it twice, on two different occasions! This much, though, they agree on: Jesus did confront the money-changers in some way on Palm Sunday, and this confrontation – combined with the show of popularity from the crowd – got under the skin of both the Roman and Jewish rulers and became the trigger that put into motion Jesus’ arrest, and trial, and death. [2]

Bottom line, there were less than seven days in between shouts of “Hosanna!” and shouts of “Crucify him!”

Why did the people turn against Jesus so quickly? Probably because what they were hoping for didn’t happen. They expected Jesus to confront the powers-that-be. They were hoping the Messiah would free them from the Romans. When they shouted “save now!” they were thinking about politics, not faith. Many people today make the same mistake.

But the story’s not over yet. To be continued… next Sunday!

For today I’d like to leave us with some words of faith I found on the internet this past week, talking about how people understand the cross and its meaning. The website said…

• Some people see the Cross as God’s victory over the world’s death-dealing powers
• Some people see the Cross as Jesus paying the price for sin, once and for all
• Some people see Jesus’ suffering on the Cross as God’s way of showing solidarity with all who suffer
• Some people say the Cross shines a light on human hatred, violence, and scapegoating
• Some people say the Cross shows us the depth of God’s love
• Some people say the Cross shows us God’s creative, subversive redemption, transforming one of the worst things in the world (the Roman cross) into one of the best things in the world (the Tree of Life)
• Some people say all of the above.

“The overarching point is that the divine mystery of the cross is a kind of cathedral, [all of these things arching and coming together]; an architecture with many points of entry”[3].

This is the redeeming work of our savior Jesus. AMEN

[1] CMJ

[2] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleansing_of_the_Temple

[3] SALT

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Palm Sunday 2023

Psalm 118

1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
6 With the LORD on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?
7 The LORD is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in mortals.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

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Matthew 21:1-11  

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,  2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.  3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately. ”  4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,  5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;  7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”  11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

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Welcome to Palm Sunday and the first day of Holy Week! Given the events of this past week – how very much we need to bring our tears and our fears and our grief to God during this Holy Week. I pray that this week will be for each one of us a time of reflection and prayer and drawing near to God as God draws near to us.

I spent some time this past week asking Google about Palm Sunday, and in the process I discovered Palm Sunday is celebrated literally around the world. I’ve always known that Christmas and Easter are celebrated worldwide, but I never really thought about Palm Sunday, and about the fact that, for example, in some places in Germany they use pussy willow branches instead of palm branches – because that’s what’s available this early in the year. If you have a moment this week go out to Wikipedia and look up “Palm Sunday”. Their list of traditions and the customs in every nation are almost as colorful as those at Christmas!

And of course in Israel, on this day, thousands of pilgrims will re-trace the steps of Jesus and the disciples: from the top of the Mount of Olives, down the winding path into the Kidron Valley, and then back up into the city of Jerusalem.

On that first Palm Sunday Jesus looked out over the city from the top of the Mount of Olives, and as the people around him were celebrating Jesus was weeping and saying, “oh Jerusalem if only you knew… the things that lead to peace. But they are hidden from your eyes.” Today there is a church near that spot called Dominus Flevit which means “God wept”.

On that first Palm Sunday, the disciples found a donkey for Jesus to ride, and they and the people spread their cloaks on the ground in front of him, and palm branches too. Both of these things very symbolic, with meanings that varied depending on where you were from:

• If you were from Israel and surrounding areas, it was a custom to cover the road ahead of someone who you felt was worthy of the very highest honor. The cloaks and the palm branches were truly an expression of love from the people to Jesus.
• If you were specifically Jewish, palm branches would have brought to mind the Feast of Tabernacles, where palm branches symbolized rejoicing.
• If you were from Greece or Rome, palm branches were a sign of triumph and victory, often associated with the goddess Nike (the inspiration for today’s sneakers).
• If you were from Egypt, palm branches were used in funeral processions and they were a sign of eternal life.
• And not too far into the future palm branches would become associated with Christian martyrs.

All of this symbolism came together in the same time and place. It’s easy to see how the people of Israel might have meant one thing by it – namely the arrival of a saviour – while the Roman authorities might take it another way: maybe even thinking a revolution was starting.

Against this backdrop, I’d like to focus today on two things: (1) how these events fulfilled Old Testament prophecy; and (2) how this all leads up to Holy Week.

Where it comes to Old Testament prophecy, maybe the most clear and distinct prophecy is found in the book of Zechariah. The prophet writes:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10)

How clearly this describes the first Palm Sunday! And at the same time, any chief priest or Pharisee who heard this passage would also remember the references to battle and would be asking what Jesus was about to do. Does Jesus come in peace or not?

The second prophecy to look at today is found in Psalm 118 which we read earlier. If you would like to follow along with me, grab a Bible so you can see what the psalmist is talking about.

• In the opening verses we hear the words “God’s steadfast love endures forever” – four times! This is good news for God’s people.
• In verse 5 the psalmist says, “out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.” This is a promise for anyone who loves God. It’s a promise I’m sure Jesus held onto during those dark days leading up to his crucifixion.
• In verse 7 we hear a similar promise: “The Lord is on my side to help me…” These words apply to Jesus very deeply. Jesus did not want to be crucified – he prayed that the cup might pass him by; but he was willing to trust God the Father to give him the victory no matter what – and God did so on Easter Sunday.
• In verse 13, the Psalmist says “I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me”. This could apply to Jesus on the cross, as he cried out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Before Jesus dies he says with confidence, “into your hands I commend my spirit.” So God had indeed helped him.
• Verse 14 says “The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.” Jesus could say this about God; and we can say this about Jesus.
• Verse 15 says: “There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous” – and today, we sing songs of victory – of a victory that will be won, in completeness, this time next week.
• Verse 17 says: “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.” – This describes Jesus’ future, and ours too. It’s a song of victory for all of God’s people.
• Verses 19-20 say “Open to me the gates of righteousness… that I may enter through…” This is one of the songs of Palm Sunday, something the crowd may have sung on that day. The “gates” are the entrances into Jerusalem; the city is surrounded by a wall and it has wide doors called ‘gates’ to get into the city.
• Verse 21: “you have become my salvation” basically means “save now!” which means “Hosanna”.
• Verse 22-23: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Jesus quoted this verse to the chief priests and the Pharisees in Matt 21:42. When Jesus said this, it made the Pharisees angry enough to want to arrest him right then and there, but they didn’t – because they were afraid of the crowd, because all the people believed Jesus was a prophet.
• Then we hear in v. 24: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is exactly what the people were doing on that Palm Sunday: rejoicing and being excited to see Jesus coming into Jerusalem. (Some churches even today use this verse as a call to worship, to gather the people to praise God.)
• Verse 25: The psalmist says “Save us we beseech you O Lord!” – which is exactly what the word “Hosanna!” means.
• Verse 26: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” – again, the psalmist is giving the people a song to sing as they go down the road.
• Verse 27: “Bind the festal procession with branches” – exactly what they’re doing.

The overall feeling of both the psalm and the event is one of joy and celebration – that God’s blessing has finally come to God’s people!

Jesus is the focus of it all – the cornerstone – the promise that has been fulfilled. Jesus comes in humility, riding on a donkey, which spoke to the people of peace. A conquering hero would have ridden in on a horse: the bigger the better. But Jesus comes in gentleness, not to exercise power, but to share God’s peace and salvation. And set within the larger context of Passover – which was about to be celebrated – Jesus’ actions remind the people of liberation from slavery, and from Pharoah, and from all who swagger in their power; he reminded them of the freedom to follow God and be God’s people.

You can imagine the powers that be in Jerusalem were none too thrilled about the events of Palm Sunday, especially when Jesus followed up the procession by going into the Temple and turning over the tables of all the money-changers. He had ridden into Jerusalem like a king; he had gotten the peoples’ hopes up; he was defying authority; and the great fear of the religious leaders was that the Romans would see this as an act of rebellion and would take control of the city – which would mean the Jewish leadership would lose their places, because they only ruled with Rome’s permission.

The High Priest Caiaphas himself said: “Do you not understand that it is better… that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish?” And the apostle John, in his gospel, comments: “Caiaphas did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation.”

And some of Pharisees, some of whom may have been Jesus’ friends, were worried about the fallout from this demonstration. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop!” But Jesus answered, “if the people are silent, the stones themselves will cry out.”

All these events, taken together, place Jesus on the unavoidable road to Calvary. For those who were thinking this day would be ‘the day of the Lord’ when God would set all things right – they would go home disappointed. This, by the way, is a word of caution to us all: the end times, and the second coming of Christ, will never be what we expect it to be, and it will not come when we expect it to come.

But on this day, as one author puts it, Jesus had his eye on a tree: the Tree of the Cross. And Jesus would redeem that Cross, for all of us who love him, turning it into the Tree of Life.

To be continued on Thursday…

Preached at Carnegie United Methodist Church and Hill Top United Methodist Church, April 2, 2023

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Palm Sunday 2022

“After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,  30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'”  32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.  33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”  34 They said, “The Lord needs it.”  35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.  36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.  37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,  38 saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”  39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”  40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” – Luke 19:28-40  

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Welcome to Palm Sunday! Our Lenten journey will be drawing to a close this week. Today, Palm Sunday, is a holiday like no other because of its unique combinations: of adults and children, light and darkness, joy and sorrow, all wrapped up in one day. In many ways these differing messages and emotions were present on the very first Palm Sunday. And looking at it from Jesus’ perspective, Palm Sunday is the beginning of the end of his rescue mission for our world.

The scripture reading for today, from Luke, focuses on the joy part – and I think rightly so. Today should be a joyful day. But we’re going to get a little bit of everything this morning. That said, let’s dig into the scriptures.

First a little background. For most of his life Jesus avoided coming straight out and telling people he was the Messiah, especially if scribes or Pharisees were nearby. This was probably in order to prevent anyone trying to proclaim Jesus the king of Israel; and/or to prevent his enemies from putting him to death before his work on earth was finished.  But today is the day that Jesus will finally declare himself publicly.

The evening before Palm Sunday, Jesus and the disciples were staying with Lazarus in Bethany. They had eaten with Lazarus the night before. We heard that story last Sunday – about Mary’s expensive perfume and Judas’s grouchy comments.

Then Palm Sunday morning, Jesus and the disciples walked a couple of miles from Bethany to the top of a ridge of mountains, to a place called the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem.

The Mount of Olives, from Jerusalem

From the top of the Mount of Olives a person can look out over the city of Jerusalem, and the wall around the city, and the Kidron Valley, and the Garden of Gethsemane, and of course all the olive trees. It’s a beautiful place.

As Jesus and the disciples arrive at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends two of the disciples on a mission to find a colt – a young colt that had never been ridden. Jesus told them where to find it, and he said, “if anyone asks, just say the Lord needs it.” (The other gospel-writers add the words “and we’ll send it back to you” – which they did). And they brought this colt to Jesus and Jesus sat on it.

This is a miracle in itself: getting on and sitting on a young untrained animal for the first time without being thrown off! How did this happen? Did the colt recognize its creator’s voice? Animals can be smart where it comes to the things of God – smarter than humans sometimes. Remember Balaam and his donkey in the Old Testament: the donkey had to tell his rider that there were angels blocking the path! Did the colt have some instinct about Jesus? Was he tamed by a single word from the Lord? The gospel-writers don’t tell us.  They just say the disciples threw their cloaks on the colt and Jesus got on.

While all this was going on, a crowd was gathering at the top of the Mount of Olives. And people start spreading their cloaks on the road ahead of Jesus. In those days this was an action that indicated the presence of a great leader. This procession, happening on the road on the top of the Mount of Olives, could have been seen (and probably was seen) from any building or house in Jerusalem that faced east.

Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives

There’s a path that wanders down the side of the Mount of Olives, and across the Kidron Valley, and up the other side to the “Golden Gate” of Jerusalem. All in all from the top of the mountain it’s just over a mile’s walk – what they called a “Sabbath day’s walk” – from the top of the Mount of Olives to the valley and then up to the temple in Jerusalem.

So they travel along the top of the Mount of Olives for a little bit, looking out over Jerusalem. They would see the Temple and (on the far right) the Golden Gate into the city.

Then the road turns left – a gentle bend to the left – and begins to head down the Mount of Olives.

Path down the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem

Today if you take this path you will see a Jewish cemetery to the left and the church of Dominus Flevit (“Jesus Wept”) on the right. Back in Jesus’ day the whole side of the mountain was just olive trees, with a foot-path running down the hill.

As they make the turn, all the disciples and all the crowd started to praise God with loud voices. They waved palm branches, which are symbols of victory, triumph, peace and eternal life. They praise God for all the works of power they have seen Jesus perform, including Lazarus’ resurrection. They praised God for sending Jesus, the Messiah. And they praised God with ancient words written by King David, the heir to whose throne Jesus was and is. They shout: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

By now the people in the city would be seeing the crowd for sure. Some ran out to join them; others ran to the temple to tell the Pharisees and Sadducees what was going on. The Romans looked at this and saw something vaguely resembling the triumphal processions their military leaders led… except their leaders would be riding horses rather than donkeys. The symbolism might have looked a little uppity from a Roman point of view but Jesus didn’t look threatening. There’s a different kind of power about Jesus, a power that brings life and not death.

So on the Mount of Olives, there’s a celebration going on – even the children are joining in! The fact that Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a colt fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion, shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey.”

The crowd is singing another song too: the words are: “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven.” This is an echo of the song the angels sang at the birth of our Lord Jesus (Luke 2:11-13). The multitude of disciples, like the multitude of angels, proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

There were also some Pharisees in the crowd that day. In Jesus’ day, like today, there could be many differences of opinion among religious parties. Some Pharisees despised Jesus; others liked him. These particular Pharisees were in the crowd supporting Jesus; but they’re warning Jesus to keep his head down. They had been telling him for some time that Herod wanted to kill him. They also understood that a display like this of… what might look like a royal claim… might bring down on Jesus’ head the wrath of the powerful, whether it be the Sanhedrin, or Herod, or Pilate. They’re warning Jesus to tell his people to be careful what they’re saying. I believe this is was honest concern on their part: they didn’t want to see Jesus or anyone else in the crowd arrested or thrown out of the synagogue. So they said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout out.” There was no stopping this celebration. Jesus is aware of the danger. He knows what’s coming. All of these things are a fulfillment of prophecy. In the Old Testament, Zechariah predicted that the King, the Messiah, would enter Jerusalem “riding on a colt.” And the people would acclaim him. And the celebration continues.

That’s where our reading for today ends; but that’s not the end of the story. The very next verse (41) tells us that while all this celebration was going on, Jesus was weeping.

“As [Jesus] came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:41-44)

The failure of the people of Jerusalem to recognize “the things that make for peace” will have tragic consequences for the city and the nation. Looking out over the city of Jerusalem, Jesus can see into the not-so-distant future, when Jerusalem will fall, and he is grieving.

The year will be 70AD. The Roman destruction of the city is described by a friend of John Wesley’s, Charles Simeon, who wrote: “[they suffered] such calamities from the hands of the Romans, as had never been endured by any nation since the foundation of the world…”

The Siege of Jerusalem, 70AD

Jerusalem and its people were wiped off the map in the most cruel way possible. Jesus loves Jerusalem, and so he grieves, because things could have been different if the leaders of Jerusalem hadn’t been threatened by him. The Chief Priest at the time was famous for saying (of Jesus) that it was necessary for one man to die to save the nation – which was true, but not the way he meant it. He was afraid Jesus would start a revolution and the Romans would come down hard on the city. Jesus never intended to start a revolution; somebody else did that – in the year 70 – and that’s when the Romans came down hard on the city.

Jesus sees all this as he is looking out over Jerusalem. In Jesus’ lament, ‘Jerusalem’ is also symbolic of the nation of Israel, and in a larger sense of all humanity. So while the crowds are cheering, Jesus is weeping.

The Garden of Gethsemane

The procession down the Mount of Olives continues, and at the bottom of the hill, the crowd passes through the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s a beautiful place, and very peaceful. This is where Jesus will choose to spend his last night of freedom before his arrest.

The procession that had come down the mountain then crosses the Kidron Valley, and through the Golden Gate, where Jesus enters the temple and turns over the tables of the money-changers.

But that’s another story for another day.

For today, it is right that we celebrate Jesus’ glorious entry into the City of David – the city that should have been his, and someday will be. Today we shout along with crowds and the children, “Hosanna! Save O Lord! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Bishop Martyn Minns wrote this past week:

“From God’s perspective, the events of the first Palm Sunday are as much for you and me today as they were the first time Jesus rode into the city. God does not count time as we do. […] NOW [as always] is the day of salvation.”

So let no-one and nothing discourage your joy in Jesus today. We who live in the present have even more cause for joy than the people did back then. We know, from the vantage point of time, that Jesus will be back three days after his crucifixion. We know more clearly than before that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, but that a new heaven and new earth are on the way.

So let us celebrate this day, saying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  AMEN.

Preached at Fairhaven United Methodist Church and Spencer United Methodist Church, 4/10/22

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