John 12:12-19
Palm Sunday
J. J.
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in Thy sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
“Would the real King Jesus, please stand up?”
These last two weeks there have been several stories in the news about the re-burial of England’s King Richard III. He died in battle in England, 1487, which is 4 years after Martin Luther was born, to give you an idea of the time, and was buried in the chapel or chapel courtyard of the Grey friar’s monastery. His body was discovered two years ago, under, of all places, a parking lot. You’re the king of all of England, and you end up buried under a parking lot?
One of the first things they had to do on finding the skeleton, was to identify it. Just who is he? Is this the real King of England?
That’s a question we find in our gospel readings today. We began the service with a reading about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is coming into Jerusalem from Bethany, down the mount of Olives. He is riding on a donkey. The crowds are cheering and waving palms. Just like we did earlier. And they are shouting, Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel. The people are happy to receive a king. Then the week goes by. Now we are in the judgment hall of the Roman governor, Pilate. He asks Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Pilate, of course, is concerned. Because Rome does not want competition. If he is a rebel, an insurrectionist, something must be done. Pilate decides that Jesus is not a troublemaker.
Then he asks the people, "What shall I do with 'the King of the Jews?'" Not. "What shall I do with 'Jesus?'" But “the King of the Jews?” There it is again. The people say, "Crucify him."
Jesus is turned over to the Roman soldiers. They are hitting Jesus and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” It is almost the same words that the cheering crowds of the palm parade were using: “Hail.” and “King of the Jews.” But while they shouted it with gladness, the soldiers sneered at it in derision.
Now Pilate is back on the scene. He writes out the sign to be posted on the cross of Jesus. What does he write. “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
Jesus is on the cross. A crowd is there, and in the crowd are scribes and Pharisees. They say, “Let this 'King of the Jews' come down and save himself.”
We are unable to escape this refrain: 'King of the Jews.' So we ask ourselves, which of these kings, the one on the donkey, the one before Pilate, the one the crowd condemned, the one mocked by the soldiers, or the one on the cross jeered by the sPharisees, is King Jesus? It almost feels like an episode from the TV game show, To Tell The Truth, where there was a set of three people, one of them the real guy, and the other two imposters. And you want to ask, “Will the real, King Jesus please stand up?”
Well, then? Which one is the real King Jesus? All of them, and None of them. Of course, all of them are the real King Jesus, because all of them are the same person, the same Jesus. No imposter actors here. Jesus is real. Quite real.
And that is the same reason that none of them are the real King Jesus. For you see, none of these, the crowd at the parade, Pilate, the rioting people, the soldiers, the Pharisees at the cross, none of them saw Jesus for who He is. None of them saw the real Jesus. Oh, yes. Their eyes worked just fine. They didn’t need glasses. At least as far as we know. They saw, however, the King they wanted to see, and not the King who was before them.
The Palm Sunday parade goers saw a King who would give them freedom for their country. They are saying words from the prophets. They are giving Jesus the credit as Messiah, the promised one of God. But they don’t know, they don't see, His real role as Messiah. They are looking for a different liberation, a different king.
Pilate sees a Jesus who is mostly a fool. Perhaps wise. Certainly well intentioned. And not a threat to Rome. Which is why he tries to free Jesus.
The rioting crowd. They have been stirred up the Jewish leaders. They don't seem to see a king at all, more like a kingpin of crime. Whatever they see, they don’t see in Jesus a king that they want.
The soliders, they see a loser, a two time loser. He’s a Jew, and He's condemned to death. Their recognition of Jesus as King is all farce, it is no recognition at all.
The Pharisees at the cross see a victim. Not that they are sympathetic. But they see the victim of their plot, their clever plan.
All of them did not see the real Jesus, because they saw a Jesus of their own making. And although He had the name “Jesus”, the Jesus they made up was not the real Jesus at all.
This is not so surprising is it? Don’t we still have Jesus’s of our own making? A King Jesus who blesses America. A King Jesus who makes our life easy. A King Jesus who is there for me when I want him or need him, but doesn’t mind if I otherwise live my own life the way I see fit. What is so deadly, is that these imposters have the right name. Shakespeare said, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But another king by the same name, Jesus, is not the same. Not the same at all. We would not fall for an out and out idol. But a newfangled Jesus? That is Trojan horse.
“My God would never ---- fill in the blank” Everyone loves the Jesus born at Christmas. The baby in the manger. But King Jesus. That’s a tuff one. We especially don’t like the King Jesus who will judge the world, and condemn all who have sinned. Why? Because we know, deep in our bones, that we, you, me, we are in the category of the condemned. As much as we try to ignore sin, forget sin, overlook sin, or minimalize sin. In our heart of hearts, we know the evil is lurking there.
So, what is there to do? Repent of our pretending. And cry out “Would the real King Jesus, please stand up?” For He did. King Jesus rode into Jerusalem. He rode in triumphantly, not as a new king of the nation, but because He was conquering the Adversary. He had proclaimed, “The reign of God was at hand.” And He was bringing the restoration of God’s rule throughout all of creation.
The real King Jesus stood before Pilate. But He did not protest. He knew His Father’s will. The real King Jesus stood up. He stood on that nail in His feet on the cross. He offered Himself as the perfect Passover sacrifice for us. To pay our sin debt and to set us free. Free to live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in righteousness. The real King Jesus, who entered into Jerusalem, suffered, died, and rose again. He is seated as King now at the right hand of the Father. We are living in His kingdom. And He will come again in glory -- oh so much more glory, than that Palm Sunday parade. And He will bring us, you, me, those who have gone before us, and all believers, into the fullness of His kingdom in the world to come.
For Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ shall come again.
Amen.
S. D. G.
