Choosing your lamb - Peer pressure
Mark 11:1-11
A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch.
The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?"
"You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today."
The little boy replied, " Aw Shucks! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!"
We are not quite out of lent but we are getting close. Today we have listened to the scripture that is describes the Triumphal entry. If you were one of the followers of Jesus, it looked like the show was getting on the road. While we know there is still danger in Jerusalem, it looks like it is all going to turn out ok. The crowds like Jesus and are responding with support.
If we do this right we probably won’t get killed.
Jesus has been on the way to Jerusalem for weeks or months, he is not in a hurry and he stops and teaches along the way. He zigzags his way there and arrives just in time.
He arrives on the last possible day to be involved in the full celebration of Passover. The place is packed. The noise of people and animals is deafening. You really can’t see anything except the sea of humanity.
It is like going to Six Flags on discount ticket day. There are so many people it is uncomfortable, everything is expensive.
It seems like everyone is carrying something, food, water, snacks for the kids, bedding, cooking stuff. You name it someone is struggling to get it through the crowd.
Let me remind you, each Jewish man was expected to make three trips to Jerusalem each year. The most important one was for the Passover. It was the day that the people celebrated the salvation from slavery at the hand of God. How the blood of a lamb was used to protect them from God’s vengeance.
Many brought their offering with them. They choose the best lamb and headed of to the festival. The lamb was to be treated as a pet. It was to live with the family.
When the family’s oldest son was old enough he was placed in charge of the lamb. So as the crowds got thick, he had to have it on a leash or to be very safe he probably carried it across his shoulder. The oldest son was made responsible for keeping the offering safe, that was a pretty big responsibility.
City folks they bought their lamb. And on this day that Jesus would enter the city was the deadline. Choose your lamb and live with it for the week.
The general idea is that the lamb would take on your sins and on Friday would be slaughtered and the blood offered for the protection of the family. The keeping of the feast, being faithful to remember God’s past salvation is somehow connected to receiving God’s mercy.
So, Jesus is coming to town for the celebration of this great feast. He books a room outside of town by a few miles.
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, 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. If anyone asks you, ’Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ’The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ "
So, one or two miles out, Jesus stops and sends two disciples, go get a donkey colt. So, let me get this straight, he walks everywhere for months and now that he is within a couple of miles, he needs a ride!
He sends two unnamed followers to get an animal from the edge of the village on a heavy travel day and borrow a ride. Notice he did not tell them to ask first.
Horse/donkey thieving was a big deal back then. He does not send them to get a big impressive stallion or a chariot to ride on.
It is like He is asking these followers, “go to the car dealer and you will find a new 4 wheel drive KIA Convertible that still has the new car sticker on the front window. The key will be in the ignition. If the salesman or security guards ask you a question, tell them that the Lord needs it and will send it back in just a little while.
Are these the disciples that Jesus did not like very much? He has asked them to do some strange things but, this seems a little dangerous for the disciples.
All that is radical enough to get my mind going.
-- The thing that really stands out is that the Lord needs something. I don’t recall many times that Jesus says he needs or wants anything. He asks for water at the well. He will borrow a tomb for the weekend. I ma sure there are others but I don’t recall him whining about his personal needs.
Couldn’t he just Pray and God make or send a New KIA or donkey. Flash, it’s there ,or have it lowered slowly out of the clouds. Wouldn’t that be more impressive that borrowing.
I think he could. I think he could have changed one to the disciples into a donkey for a few minutes too, maybe no one volunteered.
But, don’t we already know what he could do and what he does do are often very different things.
So, even with Jesus physically present the Lord need’s someone physical. He need something to help him fulfill prophesy. He needs willing people to carry out the tasks. The disciples must go and do and the owner or responsible person must let what he owns be used. Humans must choose to participate in Gods plan.
Guess what, God owns everything anyway, he is just gracious enough to let us be stewards for s short while. But God won’t take without permission, even what belongs to him. He won’t force people to do he will instruct and ask but he won’t force.
Jesus provides the directions of where and what to say and the disciples scoot up the road and get the ride.
The prophesy Jesus is going to fulfill comes from : Zechariah 9
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Tom translation - Rejoice Israel, the king is coming to save you riding on a donkey.
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"
That’s where it could have gotten interesting. They could have just said, “O. is this yours, I thought it belonged to my friend…sorry about that. His must be up the way some place.” They could have just run off being confronted on this strange mission.
But, they responded just as Jesus told them and the possible problem just vanished. They just made the lame statement and the people said OK.
They headed back down the road mission accomplished.
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
So, Jesus is sitting on an unbroken donkey, and is not bucked off. That is a bit of a miracle in itself. Perhaps a special revelation of his divine nature, but the donkey is never quoted. So we can only guess.
The people, most likely disciples, start taking off their coats and collecting palm branches and wave them and throw them n the road in front of the donkey.
This is done as a sign of respect for Jesus. The people are making an offering to support and treating His procession like a king returning from battle or from a trip.
They make it a parade like when people come home fro IRAQ. People waving American flags, tears of Joy for the return of family and friends perhaps just as a sign of patriotism.
The Jews were looking for a king.
Not just any King, but a God sent king d the Jews and Things were lining up as if Jesus was that person.
Hurrah, our savior has come! They were looking for the new release from captivity, an absolute freedom from Rome.
They are escorting Jesus into the city, their action draws attention and a crowd gathers, some just watch but others join in the excitement.
They throw their coats off and snatch up branches and weeds and wave and shout. The excitement from the crowd is a bit like peer pressure.
Everybody wants to get in on the fun.
The disciples take the position of the king’s army and pushing and cheering the way through he crowd of people.
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
Hosanna – in Hebrew means “save now.” It is used in Jewish and Christian worship to give adoration and praise to God. In today’s scripture it is part of the identification that the crowd was telling the hearers that Jesus was the messiah. I wonder if it was done as a chant, the leaders shouting one thing and the followers another.
-- Let’s divide it in half and try it. LEFT and RIGHT It’s on the bulletin on the front.
-----(Humm – depending on how it comes out – Talk about peer pressure – Positive and negative.)
Do ya’ll remember peer pressure in school? It could be terrible; some smoked or drank alcohol and pushed their friends into it. There were other kinds of pressure, what to where, where to go.
I remember begging for Converse tennis shoes. I finally ended up with a pair and I found out that I really did not jump any higher except to the difference of weight in my wallet. My joy was short lived.
I was happy and proud of my bright red shoes with the logo on the ankles. But it had no lasting value. It never really made me a part of the group, I just dressed like them. By the time I got my pair they had moved on to some other thing that I did not have to make me cool.
Here is the point, do you think that some of the people were in the crowd outside of Pilot’s residence on Friday morning?
Where was their excitement then. The disciples were no longer leading the parade and a different group was influencing the crowd. Pilot offers to free one prisoner and they shout for Jesus to be free….But not Jesus of Nazareth, They shouted for Jesus– Bar –Rabus. They were asked what should happen to Jesus of Nazareth? The shouts of Crucify Him start someplace and then they ring out all around
Peer pressure to choose a lamb of salvation.
Peer pressure to be in the popular group.
Peer pressure to fit in with the crowd and not stand out.
Peer pressure keeps people quiet and self-controlled
Peer pressure keeps people from taking risk and speaking the truth.
Peer pressure is choosing the group over choosing God and following his direction and plan.
They were influenced to choose a murder and thief instead of the Lamb of God.
Now, we could never be influenced like that right? We are sophisticated and mature we could not be influenced by peer pressure to choose something other than Jesus.
Folks, here is our focus this morning, Today on Palm Sunday is is easy to be caught up in the excitement of the crowd.
From here it is easy to leap from Sunday to Next Sunday and not remember that the world influences us negatively during the week. It is easy to forget being swayed and never really repent for what has happened. It to go with the flow and live a life of Palm Sundays and Good Friday’s very week and never really reach resurrection day.
The Lenten journey is a time of reflection on how you live and seek the direction of God and a child going to a parent instead of deciding how to live based on what we see others doing, wearing, and wanting.
Peer pressure will lead you to a life where you are never satisfied. Where you will never really know Jesus because His ways are old fashioned and simple. Peer pressure will make you act out against what God wants and has provided for and lead you into utter darkness.
Folks, today is a good day to choose to revive your relationship with the father through the son. It is a day to leave what the group wants and be willing to break out of their expectations and work toward Gods. His direction and plan offer you eternal promises not just a warn out pair of shoes.
All Glory be to God!
Let’s think ahead to what happens next Friday. We call it Good Friday, and I hope you will come to the service over at Oostanaula UMC – 7PM.
SOM-Rise Service @ RUSH UMC 7AM – Centennial Breakfast after the service
