If I were to ask you if you ever felt out of place, or like you didn’t match the expectations that people had of you, how many of you could relate to that statement? I know that I certainly can! And this looks different for everybody. For some people, it’s the big things. Maybe your parents had really specific expectations for your life when you were young, maybe a certain career path they expected you to go down, and you just didn’t fit that at all, it just wasn’t who you were. Now that wasn’t my experience, but I know that for me, everyone around me expected that when I enrolled at MCC, I would be there for four years, graduate, and then move on into ministry. But nobody expected me to take TEN YEARS to finish a degree, and many people are surprised to find that a) I haven’t finished yet, and b) I’m actually still enrolled!! The way that I have done my schooling doesn’t fit the typical mold, or the typical expectations, that people have when they hear about someone going to get a degree.
I have experienced this as well when I explain to people that my goal is bi-vocational ministry. Often when I tell people that I’m going to Holland College for Electrical, I will get the comment, “Oh, you decided not to go into ministry then?” The reason they ask this is because somebody being both a pastor and an electrician does not fit into the mold or the expectations that they have of someone who is a pastor. And that's fair! It’s not common these days!
Now I’m saying all of this, because sometimes, things aren’t what we expect them to be. We all have preconceived ideas about the way that things are supposed to be, based on our experiences in life, and our cultures and background. We all see the world through a lens or a pair of glasses, a worldview, and it is through that set of glasses that we begin to expect things to be a certain way. And this has been true for all time. Different cultures and religions have different sets of glasses on, and through those glasses, they interpret the world around them.
Today is Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And when we picture this scene of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, we see a huge crowd of people laying tree branches in the road, and people spreading their coats on the road ahead of Jesus as a royal welcome, and people are crying out Hosanna. This is the day that we remember the people of Jerusalem finally recognizing that Jesus is the promised King and Messiah, who has come to save them. But in this moment, while everything seems to finally be coming together, there is a huge problem. The problem is that the people were wearing a set of glasses that prevented them from seeing what was truly happening, they didn’t understand what God was doing before their own eyes. They were celebrating because they thought that this coming of Jesus meant that they finally had a king who would drive out the Roman oppressors, and so they gave that king the welcome that he deserved as he came victoriously into his capital city. But the problem is, the only thing that they had right was that he was the Messiah and King. In every other way, their expectations were way off. And we know what happened when they figured out that he WASN’T there to get rid of the Romans. 5 days later, those same people were yelling for him to be crucified. You see, Jesus didn’t fit their mold. They wanted a warrior, but they got a king of peace and gentleness. He wasn’t interested in a revolt, his plan was way bigger than a revolt against the government. That may have been what the culture expected of him, but he was counter cultural. Jesus did not match the world’s expectation of the Messiah, and we should strive to follow his example.
Let’s read this story, Matthew 21:1-11: “When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’ ” The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Ok, so there are some cultural things you need to understand here. In Judaism, and in the ancient world at large, symbolism was important, it isn’t just what you say that is important, but the way in which you say them, and the things you do. Where you do things is important. HOW you do things is important. In the ancient world, these factors spoke as loudly as the words they said, and understanding those symbols is vital to understanding the events.
So the first thing I want to talk about is this donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, because he wasn’t just tired of walking and wanting a break. Now, he certainly had come a long way! He had just walked all the way from Galilee in the north down to Jericho, then up to the mount of olives and Jerusalem. But he only borrowed the donkey for that last part, from a village named Bethphage on the mount of olives. Considering that this is the only time Jesus is recorded as not having walked on foot, it seems strange to borrow a donkey for such a short trip. According to Google Maps, it is 190 km from Galilee to Jericho, about 25 km from Jericho to the mount of olives, and 1.6 km from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. On PEI, that would be like walking from O’Leary to Souris, then hitching a ride from Tim Hortons to the IGA. So he obviously didn’t NEED to do that, he did plenty of walking during his ministry, he was used to it. The reason that he did it THIS time, was to fulfill prophecy. Zechariah 9:9 says “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
So to us in the 21st century, a donkey seems like a strange animal to ride, but it wasn’t uncommon in the ancient near east. Like I said before, symbols are important, and in that day, the animal that a king or dignitary rode symbolized the reason for their visit. If a king came in on a warhorse, you knew that he came with harsh words and possibly to declare war. But if he came in on a donkey or mule, it was a symbol that they came with peaceful intentions, not seeking war or trouble. Symbols are important, and the symbol of the donkey is completely counter to what the people wanted from him. They are celebrating as he is coming into Jerusalem, because they want a warrior to drive out the Romans and they think he has finally arrived, but Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, a symbol of peace, humbleness and gentleness. Symbols are important. During King David’s reign, he was responsible for many wars with neighboring nations, and in our accounts of him, he always rode on a horse. But he was not permitted to build the temple due to all the bloodshed, God wanted his temple to be built by a man of Peace. 1 Chronicles 22:8, “But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.” But Solomon was permitted to build the temple, because his reign was one of peace. During his coronation, he rides in on a mule, not a horse. So you can kind of see how the animal that a king rode was symbolic not just of the reason for visiting somewhere, but also of the type of reign they had.
So back to Matthew 21, the disciples go to get this donkey and colt on Jesus’ orders. Now obviously you can’t just walk up to someone's home and start walking away with their animals, unless you are looking for trouble. But Jesus says, just tell them that “The Lord has need of them”, and it’ll all be fine. So there are a few different perspectives on this situation. Some people believe that Jesus pre-arranged for these animals to be waiting for them ahead of time, like with the room for the last supper. And then some people believe that this was prophetically done, that Jesus made it all work out because he is God. While scripture doesn’t explicitly say, obviously either could be true. Jesus is well within his power to make this happen prophetically, and it also would not diminish from his power to have had it pre-arranged. What is IMPORTANT, is that this is all part of a plan that Jesus has. He is doing this for a REASON.
So the disciples go and get this donkey and colt, and bring them to Jesus. Jesus gets on, and they go down the mount of Olives towards Jerusalem, where they encounter the crowd, with the palm branches. After they go through this crowd, they enter Jerusalem through the Eastern gate, which leads right to the temple mount.
So this is another place where we need to stop for a minute and talk about the symbolism, because this Eastern gate is significant. Jumping backwards in time about 600 years, In Ezekiel 10, we have this vision of the glory of God leaving the temple when the Israelites are sent into captivity, so I’ll read this vision from Ezekiel: “Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.” And It is a bit wordy after that, but essentially, the glory of God leaves through that eastern gate. And what is happening here is unique. Some scholars have interpreted this as God abandoning Judah to their sin and eventual defeat by the babylonians. But what is ACTUALLY happening, is God is GOING WITH THEM to Babylon in the East, as the jews are taken into captivity. Even in their punishment and exile, God goes with his people. Pretty cool.
But fast forward to Ezekiel 43, where Ezekiel has another vision of a time in the future when the glory of God will come back to Jerusalem from the East, and enter through the Eastern gate. Here it is: “Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east.” Then skipping forward a little bit, “And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.”
So when Jesus enters Jerusalem through the eastern gate, it is extremely reminiscent of the Spirit of God coming back to Jerusalem after the exile. He follows the same path that the Spirit of God left in. He doesn’t need to come this way, on a donkey symbolizing peace, through the gate that symbolizes the return of God’s favour, but he does. I’m not sure if you remember this sermon, it WAS a while ago, but there was a sermon where I had mentioned that the jews considered themselves to be in a spiritual exile. Even though they had returned to their homeland, they did not believe that the return from exile would be complete until the Messiah came to restore their place as a nation. So here you have Jesus, riding in on a donkey, through the gate that symbolized God’s returning favour to the nation of Israel. He’s checking off all the boxes! Remember, symbolism is important! The people in this crowd are full of emotion, they are putting down their coats and branches on the road and crying Hosanna, which translates from Hebrew as “Please, save us”, in recognition of the fact that he is the Messiah, he is the Saviour! This was the moment in which the people finally recognized that Jesus was their Messiah and King. And if Jesus had gone into the temple and declared himself king of Israel right then, the nation would have been his.
But he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t declare himself king. What he does instead, he goes straight to the temple, chases out all the money changers, and starts literally FLIPPING OVER TABLES. In Matthew 22 it says that while he was doing this, he said to the money changers, ““It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” This certainly was not what anyone expected was about to happen, but it is what Jesus did. Because Jesus wasn’t there to overthrow the Romans. His plan was completely different than what the people were expecting. He didn’t fit their mold.
So let’s take this classic Palm Sunday story, and apply it to ourselves. What can we take away from this story, that helps us to be more like Jesus, both as individual Christians, and as the Church?
First of all, Jesus is counter cultural. In John 15:18-19, Jesus says this: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” The people were looking for a political answer to a spiritual problem. The people of that day were expecting a messiah who was a warrior, and who would lead them to freedom from the Romans. But Jesus was counter cultural. They wanted him to say or do one thing, but he often would say and do the opposite. They asked for assurances and clarification about laws and rules, but he took it up a notch and made it about the heart. Everything he did and said was counter cultural, and the Jewish leaders hated him for it! And once the people realized that he wasn’t going to fit their mold, once they realized he wasn’t there to bring them freedom from the Romans, they hated him for it too.
In the same way, we can’t fit into the mold of the world around us. Our entire belief system is counter cultural, especially today. Just as one example, the idea that truth can be absolute is counter cultural. People say things like, oh well that is your truth, and I have mine. No! We know that there is only ONE way, ONE truth, and ONE life, through Jesus Christ. Now I do think it is important to not pretend that we are separate from the world because we are morally superior, because at the end of the day, we are all sinners, and none of us are perfect. And this is something we haven’t been so good at historically as the church. We have to remember that the only thing that makes us any different from the world around us, is that we have accepted the forgiveness that is available to anyone who wants it. We are not here on our own merit, and sometimes we need to be reminded of that. We did NOTHING to earn the salvation that we now enjoy. But BECAUSE we have accepted that forgiveness, BECAUSE we have been given that salvation, we are no longer a part of the world. We can’t be. We have to be different. We can’t be the same as the world anymore. We are called to be counter cultural.
Second, Jesus was not willing to compromise God’s will. We know that Jesus was fully God, but we also know that he was fully human. He knew what awaited him at the end of the week. The night before he died, when he was praying in the garden, he was so physically tormented at the thought of what was to come that he was literally sweating drops of blood. He was God, but he was also human, and he was terrified. Crucifixion was, at the time, the most painful method of execution we could contrive. On Palm Sunday, he could have assumed the throne and become a king, and avoided the cross. But he doesn’t do that. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus says to Peter, ”Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Even though he was terrified of what was to come, he submits to God’s plan, he is unwilling to compromise even slightly. Luke 22:42, Jesus prays this to God: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” The challenges that we face pale in comparison to what he faced. Like Jesus, we should be unwilling to compromise when it comes to his will for our lives, and for his church.
Third, Jesus was about peace, not war. This doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t know when to be tough. Right after riding in on this donkey, this symbol of peace, he goes into the temple and starts flipping tables! But at the same time, he doesn’t use force to advance the kingdom of God. This is something Christians have gotten wrong over thousands of years of crusades and inquisitions. All through the New Testament, both through the life of Jesus, and throughout the letters, submission and humility are preached. It is BECAUSE of Jesus’ submission and humility that he is given the name above all names! Philippians 2:5-7 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” Then in the garden when Jesus was being arrested, he said this to Peter: “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. And then finally, consider the fruits of the spirit from Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” We are to imitate Jesus in all that we do. This is what it looks like. Whatever is happening around us, whatever state the world is in, this is the model we are to follow. We are to be a people of peace and humility.
In conclusion, Jesus did not match the world’s expectation of the Messiah. They wanted a warrior, and on Palm Sunday, they gave him a warriors welcome, praising him, and crying Hosanna, “Please, save us!” They wanted a revolt. But Jesus came on a donkey, a symbol of peaceful intentions, and humbleness. He wasn’t there to overthrow the government, he was there to fulfill prophecy. I want to share the second part of this week's prophecy, which I’ve held back until now. Zechariah 9:10, “I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” THIS is what Jesus came to do. The exact opposite of what they were looking for. He didn’t come to start a war, he came to end a war. A war that began long ago, in the garden of Eden. Jesus came to bring peace to the world. He didn’t fit their mold, he didn’t fit their expectations. And he wasn’t willing to compromise God’s will to do so.
As we head into the Passion week, let’s consider the example that Jesus left for us. Peace, not war. Love, not hate, Humility, not aggression. It is my hope and prayer as we leave today, that we can all strive to live up to this example that Jesus has given us to follow.
