The Street Sweeper

Palm Sunday

Luke 19: 28-40

Luke 22:14-23:56

The Street Sweeper

"What a mess!! I come to work on Monday morning and what do I have? A messy street. I wonder what happened? I see palm branches thrown all over, even some clothes. What a mess!! Who could have done such a thing, and why? I did not see on the schedule that we were suppose to have a parade this weekend, or I would not have left for the lake for the weekend. Now look at the mess I have to clean up.

Hey you, what happened here? Why the palm branches in the middle of the street, why the clothes strewn all over? What you don’t know what happened either. Yea I will get it cleaned up, hold your pants on.

Boy I need a break. This is tough work. I haven’t seen a mess like this since king Herod came to town. Everything was a mess the next day, but we knew he was coming, and we planned for it. But this, this was not expected.

I think I drop by the coffee shop and rest a moment.

Hey, inn keeper, a cup of coffee and make it snappy. I have a huge mess to clean up. Do you know anything about what happened here yesterday. You do, well tell me about it so I can charge the guy who started the parade without a license or permit.

What? You say it was that guy Jesus. He came riding in here on a donkey and a crowd gathered, and people started throwing palm branches in the way and even their clothes!!

Didn’t anyone try to stop them?

What’s that you say? The crowds started to sing Hosanna, hosanna, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" It was like a king coming to town. Everyone was singing, dancing as this Jesus came riding in on a donkey.

That Jesus fellow. I’ve heard of him. He was making trouble up by the lake. Seems he has healed people, casting out demons, raising people from the dead, and says He is the son of God. He has 12 followers and a rag tag group following him where ever he goes. Didn’t anyone try to stop him?

The inn keeper told him that the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." They should not be calling you King!! We have one King and that is Herod. You want to get all of us in trouble."

So, did this Jesus fellow stop? No, he rode all the way into Jerusalem like he owned the place.

Well, thanks for the lowdown. I better get back to work. I have such a mess to clean up. When I find out who to send the bill too, it’s gonn’a be a whopper, they will be sorry they made such a mess.

Push, push, push, bend, bend, bend, that ’s all I do all day. Push the stuff into a pile, then bend over and pick it up and throw it into the basket. Then haul the basket to the dump and start all over again.

Push, push, push, bend, bend, bend, haul, haul, haul. Hey what’s all the commotion up their at the temple. Hey, it’s that Jesus fellow again. Wasn’t it bad enough He made trouble yesterday and gave me this mess to clean up, but He’s at it again.

Hey, you, what’s goin’ on? I can’t hear you with all the noise, speak up man. What, Jesus just turned over a bunch of tables in the Temple. He is driving out the money changers, and He is calling the Temple His Father’s house. He says: "the Temple shall be a house of prayer, but you make it a house of thieves."

His Father’s house?? I suppose when I am done here, I’m goin’na have to go in there and clean it up too. But one good thing. There are places in there I can’t go. Them Temple people are going to have to clean that up!!

Wait just one doggone minute!! Jesus said the Temple is his Father’s house!! But the Temple is God’s. Is God Jesus’ father. No it can’t be.

Push, push, push, bend, bend, bend, haul, haul, haul.

The Temple Jesus’ Father’s house. Jesus the son of God. I remember something about that awhile back, maybe 30 some years ago. My cousin up at Nazareth told me a story he heard from an inn keeper up there. He said a couple came to the inn when everyone was forced to go to their own town to be enrolled. Boy, we had a mess here, too, that time. So many people no place to put them. There was no place for them in the Inn, so the inn keeper put them in the stable. He had his son clean out the place, replace the straw. Turned out to be a comfortable place. Then a baby was born. And shepherds came in from the fields and said that the angels told them "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; 11* for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12* And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And the story goes that baby is this Jesus character.