“Welcoming the King” – Matthew 21:1-11
There is a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming Royal Wedding. I realized that there are many people only a few years younger than myself who have no memory of the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. We Americans have always had an strange obsession with British Royalty, and some have said the closest we have ever had to American royalty is the Kennedy’s. I think most of the Amercian interest in this upcoming wedding may come from those who are nostalgic about the last royal wedding, but so many were disillusioned when it ended in divorce and remember the horror of Princess Diana’s tragic death. Still I suppose there are many young girls who dream of the life of a Princess and the fairytale that surrounds her.
Generally, throughout history royalty has always commanded a high level of attention. Several of you may have seen or read about the small army of personnel, equipment, and advanced planning that is involved in moving a U.S. President anywhere in the world. It is truly a staggering and impressive event.
Each of the Gospel writers emphasizes a different aspect of Jesus. For instance John says that He is the Lamb of God. In Luke He is the Lord. In Mark He is the Messiah, but here in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is the King of Kings. Throughout the Gospels Jesus visits many different towns and areas throughout Galilee, Judea, and Samaria getting nearer to Jerusalem. This isn’t the first time that Jesus went to Jerusalem, but this is a very special occasion. It is clear that the time is at hand for Jesus to fulfill His divine destiny.
So how Jesus, the King of Kings, makes His entry into Jerusalem at this climactic moment is extremely important. If a neighboring King would make a State visit, you would expect great fanfare to welcome him, if he came in peace, and if he came with hostile intentions, you can only imagine the welcome he would receive. So pay close attention to how Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem.
Consider the preparations for His coming. There was no advance delegation to plan and prepare for Jesus’ coming. No fleet of aircraft arrived carrying helicopters, a motorcade, and an armored limousine. There was no Secret Service detail to secure the town for His arrival. As they were almost to Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples into the village ahead to make last minute arrangements for His arrival. Much like the way Jesus entered this world unexpected in the last place His young parents could find for the night, Jesus enters Jerusalem lowly and meek, and once more God provides the way.
Consider the way He traveled to Jerusalem. He rode a borrowed donkey. It was not His. Even at this stage of His ministry with disciples following Him, parables and sermons being told and retold everywhere He had been, and news of miracles that He had done, even now, Jesus has nothing of His own and must borrow a donkey upon which to ride.
As a demonstration of his power, you might expect a king to arrive on a majestic white horse equipped for battle, but here we find the King of Kings entering Jerusalem on a donkey. It is not a sign of state but a sign of service. It is a sign He is coming in peace. In fact He is coming to make peace riding a beast of burden, an animal used to carry loads too heavy for us to carry, to break up the hardest soil to make it useful for planting. This animal carries the one who will soon bear the weight of the world upon his back and make a way for us where there was no way.
Consider those who welcomed Him there. The closer He got to Jerusalem on His journey the more crowds began to gather and follow Him there. I said that there was no great fanfare for His arrival like we might expect. It’s true. The political leaders, the military leaders, and the religious leaders did not welcome Him. Those that did welcome Him and follow Him were more like what we might call a “flash mob.” They were a group hastily come together in a frenzy as rumors swirled around who Jesus was and what He was going to Jerusalem to do. Recent scenes we have seen on television of massive, viral protests that quickly came together in different Middle Eastern countries might be similar to the crowd that gathered here to usher Jesus into Jerusalem.
These were also oppressed people, suffering people. They wanted a folk hero to come up from the common people and lead a movement to overthrow the oppressors. They wanted to get rid of the Romans who ruled their lands, and they hoped that Jesus might be that leader. They wanted everything you see in the movies, a brave hero to come riding over the hill on a white horse and save the day. We may not be expecting a Jewish carpenter riding a donkey slowly into town.
Crowds are fickle. Watch the supporters of any professional sports franchise and you will see. When the team is winning the stadiums are full, when the team hits a losing streak, the stands are empty.
Whether they are political supporters, pop idol followers, or sports fans; crowds are at their best when they are cheering on a winner. Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was a public relations winner. The Messiah hungry crowd witnessed and interpreted His arrival with all of the Old Testament symbolism and nuance of a royal arrival to the capital. This was a hero’s welcome. This was the Jerusalem equivalent of a ticker tape parade.
How quickly this crowd in Jerusalem changes their mind and their allegiance. Just as fast as they came together, this crowd would soon turn on Jesus. When He turned out not to be the kind of leader they were looking for, they abandoned Him, and many of them would be the very ones to cry, “Crucify Him!” If we follow the timeline we have Jesus the victor on Palm Sunday and Jesus the villain by Thursday night!
We must not judge the crowd too harshly, because so often in life we have been fickle, vacillating, or worse indifferent and undecided. It’s always easier to follow the crowd, to go with the flow. Our culture is not only so much larger than it was in Jesus day, but we are also bombarded by it everywhere we go, everyday, all day long. It’s easy to be caught up doing what everyone else is doing, distracted, busy, and selfish. We could certainly do a better job at welcoming Christ into our lives.
What kind of preparations have we made to welcome Christ into our lives? How will we welcome Him? Will we recognize Him when He arrives?
Jesus is coming. Many take that to mean that Jesus is coming at some point in the future, and He is. But He is coming now, this moment, in the present. Jesus is coming today, each and everyday. He is always coming. Unfortunately, many of us have a picture in our minds of how we expect the King of Kings to return. We are mistaken if we think He will only come with celestial trumpets descending from the clouds in brilliant light surrounded by an army of angels. Christ comes to us each and everyday in so many different ways and in so many different faces.
Jesus comes to us in the face of a child that we overlook. He comes to us in the face of an elderly woman we don’t visit. He comes to us in the face of a homeless man we pass by. He comes to us in the face of a neighbor we never greet.
Engraved in the pulpit of a church I pastored were the words, “We must see Jesus.” We must expect to see Him, expect to encounter Him, not in some far off distant day, not only in a Sunday morning worship service, but today, here and now, in every person, every moment. If we seek Him, we shall find Him. We must welcome every person we meet, greet every soul we encounter, as though we welcome Christ Himself into our midst. I’ve read of Celtic Christians who always set an extra place at the supper table and pray grace such as this:
Bless, O Lord,
this food we are about to eat;
and we pray you, O God,
that it may be good
for our body and soul;
and, if there is any poor creature
hungry or thirsty walking the road,
may God send them in to us
so that we can share the food with them,
just as Christ shares His gifts
with all of us.
Amen.
~ Celtic Daily Prayer of the North Umbria Community
We also must expect to encounter the risen Christ this day and even find Him in the most unlikely of places and faces.
Let us close with line from morning prayer, “May Christ be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me.”
