Mark 11:1-11
“A Mismatch between Our Expectations and God’s Answer”
By: Ken Suaer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chatt., TN eastridgeumc.org
Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem just five days before His bloody Crucifixion is one of the stories that all four Gospel writers tell us about.
Everybody remembers that day!
It was a joyful and glorious day.
It was a time of excitement, optimism, and renewed national pride for the Israelites.
What starts with a handful of disciples offering their praise to God turns into a citywide celebration!!!
And if we think about it, we can appreciate why.
After all, the people of Jerusalem had been waiting for something like this for a long time!!!
Their hope was that Jesus would launch a revolution against the Romans and free the Holy city from Roman occupation.
Still, if the truth be told, all of their hosannas couldn’t hide the fact that Jesus is not quite what they expected Him to be.
Most conquering Kings ride into town on a White Stallion—ready for war.
Jesus came on this little colt of a donkey that almost left His feet dragging on the ground.
Plus there was no sword in His hand nor any weapon attached to His saddle.
In fact, Jesus doesn’t even have a saddle, only someone’s old overcoat.
As we watch Jesus entering Jerusalem with friends and followers waving palms, not swords, we see into the heart of God.
And at least one thing is clear: Jesus doesn’t come to us on our terms.
Jesus comes on God’s terms.
Yet, He comes.
And that is a very good thing!!!
The people wanted a prophet, but this Prophet would tell them that their city was under God’s imminent judgment.
The people wanted a Messiah, but Jesus—the Messiah--was about to be enthroned on a horrible, bloody Cross.
The people wanted to be rescued from evil and oppression, and Jesus was going to rescue them from evil…
…but from evil in its fullest depths, not just the surface evil that they could see.
Those who believed in Christ would have their “hearts circumcised” or “changed” inwardly not necessarily their outward situations.
The story of Jesus’ grand, but surprising entry into Jerusalem is a great lesson in the mismatch between our expectations and God’s answer!!!
The crowds wanted Jesus to conquer in the worldly way.
Jesus would conquer through serving, loving and laying down His life to save those who will believe.
The “Hosannas” of Palm Sunday were justified, but not for the reasons the people had supposed.
And to learn this lesson is to take huge steps towards wisdom and humility and genuine Christian faith!!!
Jesus comes as Jerusalem’s King to bring salvation, but salvation means much more than relief from an oppressive government.
Jesus comes to free people from themselves!!!
Jesus comes to free people from self-hatred and selfishness…
…from shame…
…from greed…
…from fear…
…from death…
…from our broken relationship with God!!!
Jesus gives us Life and Life to the full.
But it is a life of humble service and love.
There is a significant little detail that is often overlooked in this story.
“Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”
Jesus rode into the city on a colt that had never been ridden.
An unbroken colt!!!
Anyone who has ever seen any riding or roping shows has seen what usually happens to people who sit on untamed colts, especially in the midst of shouting crowds!
Can we sense an underlying smile here as the writer of Mark’s Gospel contemplates this little miracle?
It may seem less spectacular than stilling a storm or raising the dead, but it is significant none the less!!!
Jesus is able to take the wild and chaotic and transform it into something manageable.
Jesus is able to take what we may see as a lost cause or a hopeless situation and turn it into a bright, sunny and gentle day!
Instead of being “bucked off” when He sits on the colt, Jesus rides it heroically and peacefully into Jerusalem—even amidst the chaos of people, palms and shouting.
Have you ever felt as if life were a wild ride which was threatening to “buck you off”?
When I look at the events which have occurred and are continuing to occur over in Japan, I come face to face with the fragility of this life, how about you?
I mean, here we are, we go on and make plans as if there is nothing that is going to stop us.
We take it for granted that there will be another year, another day, another hour.
But at any moment, an earthquake, a tsunami, and radiation from a nuclear reactor could wash everything away here in the United States just as easily as it has in parts of Japan.
The world could “buck us off” its back without a moments notice.
And then what would we have to show for all our hard work?
What would we have to show for the money we have been storing away in the bank or for any of the treasures we have been amassing here on earth?
This is not to say that we should throw up our arms and give up!
This is just to say that we ought to get our priorities straightened out a bit, and remember Who is ultimately in charge and what is Ultimately important in this life.
When the crowds cry “Hosanna to the Son of David!” and “This is the Prophet,” they say the right words, but they still miss the point.
They have all the notes and none of the music.
They have the theology, but they still end up rejecting Jesus and calling for His death!
Knowing the truth is not the same thing as doing the truth.
What one social psychologist once said of college students is also true of the Kingdom of God: “It’s possible to make an A-Plus in a course on ethics and still flunk life.”
Perhaps you’ve seen the old bumper sticker: “Honk if you love Jesus.”
Well, I saw a better one recently.
It said, “Tithe if you love Jesus. Any fool can honk.”
Everybody loves a parade.
Everybody loves to cheer.
But Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus came with a choice.
No one can be neutral.
We can stand and wave, join the crowds that cheered for Jesus on that day, and watch Him pass by.
Or we can follow Him and stand with Him at the Cross.
It’s easy to shout, but it’s harder to serve.
Someone once said, “Everybody wants to go to Rome to see where Saint Peter is buried, but nobody wants to live like him.”
Palm Sunday is a great day to think about what it really means to welcome Jesus into our hearts.
A week ago, I was speaking with a retired United Methodist Minister who recently returned from a mission trip to India.
It nearly cost he and his wife their lives.
“We knew it was a dangerous thing to do,” he told me.
“We weighed our options, and then we agreed, ‘It doesn’t matter what happens to us, we both died a long time ago’” and a tear of joy along with a smile of humble thanksgiving spread across his face.
When we make the decision to “step off the curb” and follow Jesus, we make the decision to die to self and live for God.
And in doing so, we begin to march to a different destination.
And it is radical, indeed!
In this world we are daily being bombarded with a completely different message all together!
According to the world, might makes right.
The one with the most toys at the end, wins.
Life’s goal is to be happy, satisfied, forever young and beautiful.
And this comes with a price.
Daily we are told that our value and worth are easily determined by what we eat, drink, drive and wear.
But following Jesus leads us to selfless love and service.
It means marching past this world’s riches and rewards.
And it is the most fulfilling thing we could ever do.
Nothing else compares.
Jesus’ road is the only Way to true joy, true peace, and real Life!!!
There is a story from the days of the Civil War about a woman who sat crying on a park bench outside the White House.
Her husband had died, and when he heard about this, her son had left his post on the battle field to comfort and support his mom.
But when he got home, he was arrested and was now going to be shot by a firing squad.
The woman had come to the White House to see President Lincoln in hopes that he might intervene.
But, to her dismay, she had been turned away at the gate.
“The President was too busy to see her,” she had been told.
So, she sat on the park bench off to the side, crying.
After a while, a young boy walked up to her and asked her why she was crying.
She told the boy her story and ended by saying that all she wanted to do was to see the President, because she knew that he was a fair man and her son would be pardoned.
To her great surprise, the little boy asked her to follow him.
As they approached the front gate, the little boy said to the soldier that it was alright for them to enter.
“She’s with me,” he said.
To her amazement, they stepped aside and together they made their way into the White House past generals and cabinet officers.
Finally, the little boy pushed inside the room, and running, he jumped on the President’s lap.
“Daddy,” he said.
“Here’s a lady who needs to see you. She needs your help.”
The little boy who had stopped to talk with the woman was Todd Lincoln and upon hearing the woman’s story, President Lincoln issued a Presidential pardon and the woman’s son was spared.
Like that story from the Civil War, God’s Son has come to speak to us.
He is offering to lead us into the Father’s presence.
Palm Sunday is a great time to become a follower of Jesus Christ.
There is no such thing as “spectator Christianity.”
What the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday didn’t realize was the God was offering them the opportunity to do something more than cheer.
God was inviting them to join God in doing something great!
And this is what God is offering everyone of us as well.
The choice is ours.
The invitation is here
