The Reading: Philippians 2: 5-11
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: 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, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the [Eternal Parent].
THE GOSPEL: Mark 11: 1-11
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?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
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?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 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. 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 heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
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Hosanna Times Two 4-1-12
God, we come like the crowds waving palms and shouting “Hosanna!” We wonder what comes next. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear as we walk the way of Jesus on his journey to the Cross. May the words that I speak and the thoughts and feelings in our hearts be acceptable unto you, O God. Amen
Here’s what we know about the two disciples who went into Jerusalem to retrieve the donkey for Jesus: (pause). That’s right, nothing, we know nothing about them except that they followed Jesus’ request to a ‘T’. I looked in all the Gospels, read commentaries, and then gave up. Nothing, we know nothing. We don’t know whether they were men or women, gay or straight, rich or poor. We do know, or we can gather, that they weren’t among the 4 or 5 ‘top’ disciples because their names are not used. Had Peter, James, or John, or even Judas been one of these disciples, we would know it. History always fails to record the names of the least important, so we can safely assume they were not among the more highly regarded disciples. But they are very important in at least one way: they showed us what it is like to do exactly what Jesus says because they “answered as Jesus told them to”.
Let’s just assume for a moment that these two disciples were women or gay, very old, or had tattoos all over their bodies. Let’s assume they listened to hip-hop or lived on the streets; had Ph.D.’s from Harvard, or spoke the broken English of a Mexican immigrant living illegally in Arizona. Let’s assume they had AIDS, or were autistic; had 6-figure jobs or lived on welfare. What then? Would any of this mattered? No, not one bit, because what mattered was that they followed what Jesus told them to the very letter. The Bible is full of anonymous people, but these two are anonymous is a special way—their anonymity stresses to us that the most valuable thing we can do or be is a follower of Christ.
The sermon on Palm Sunday is always hard—the so-called “holy” week that follows leaves us wanting, maybe even begging for Easter. We’d rather skip right from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. It is my task to say, wait—wait, there’s more. And the more is not easy to hear, like the twelfth grader who walks in on the first day of school, eyes all sparkly with thoughts of graduation—wait, wait there’s more, like 9 long months of school and F-CAT’s and tests. Well, wait-wait, there’s more to our story, more our two anonymous disciples can tell us when we view this week through their eyes.
Now, just for the sake of the sermon, I’m going to be one of these disciples and you are the other. Just for now, I will do the talking, but feel free to answer me many times over as we walk together through this week.
We are with Jesus. He says to us, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there… Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” Off we go. I can’t imagine why Jesus picked us for this job, I’m really shy and if someone tries to stop me, I don’t know if I’ll have the courage to get Jesus what he wants. Oh, I know all about Jesus giving us strength to do what he asks of us—it had better be true, because I’m not at all sure about this. We walk on, you are not doing much to calm me down. Sure enough, there’s a donkey. I look around. Oh, good, I think we can pull this off without anyone seeing us. All of a sudden, there are a group of men who walk up to us and say, “What are you doing with this donkey, it isn’t yours.” Suddenly, I remember the words Jesus told us to say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.” And, they let us go. I don’t even know where those words came from, certainly not from me. Jesus was right about everything so far, but this whole thing feels a little strange.
After all that, I’m taking this donkey right back to Jesus. Look at the disciples and other people—they are starting to put their coats on the donkey and on the ground for Jesus to ride on. The word spreads through the crowd and, suddenly, everyone is shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed, blessed, blessed—hosanna, hosanna! They’re whispering, “this is the King that God promised us; he will overthrow our enemies and we will be free!” What? This is Jesus, we’ve been with him for months now—how could we not have known that he was the King. But, we’re in it now, just part of the crowd and I’m getting hoarse from shouting. By the time we get all the way to the Temple, it is late, so after He looked around, he went with us back to our camp at Bethany.
Jesus doesn’t try to explain what had happened. He seems lost in thought, almost somewhere else. I know that he is praying a lot and seems to be headed somewhere I can’t explain. The next morning and for the next four days, He just keeps going into Jerusalem and preaching and teaching in the Temple and around the city. I tell you, I am really frightened for him—I know this can’t lead to any good. Those guys have it in for him, and he’s walking into their trap. Look, there is another one of them—listening to Him. Why do they shake their heads in disgust? Don’t they know what I know—that he is a good man who never meant anyone any harm?
I’m glad that our headquarters were in Bethany—we’re in the house of Simon. Simon is a Leper, but things like that never stopped Jesus before. Look, do you see that woman? What, what, oh, no—she just broke an beautiful jar and poured the sweetest smelling oil all over Jesus’ feet. Oh, look at her face, how she adores him. There’s going to be trouble though—I can feel it. Can you hear those loud mouths? Telling Jesus to rebuke her and send her away—that the oil could have been sold and the money put to better uses. Look at her, her pain just breaks my heart. What does she know that I don’t know? Jesus is putting them in their place. But there he goes again. Why is Jesus telling us that we won’t have him for long. I’m really starting to be scared.
It’s the night of the Passover meal. Some other disciple has set it all up. It’s just before the meal, and Jesus is telling us that there is a traitor among us. Please, don’t let it be me, it just can’t be me. Jesus lifts a loaf of bread—he tells us to take a piece and remember him by it. Remember him, where is he going? The meal is over and he’s passing us a cup of wine—what does he mean by “this is my blood”? It’s just a cup of wine—he’s starting to scare all of us now. And, now, we go to the garden. It’s getting dark, and it’s really a little creepy out here. But it’s late and I’m afraid I’m going to fall asleep. Jesus is waking us, he is in tears, asking us to stay awake with him. I’m one of the last to go to sleep, but I just can’t stay awake. I’m trying, Jesus, I really am…but it’s just too hard and I’m too tired.
Suddenly there are soldiers everywhere and before we know it, they take Jesus away—Wait, wait, where is he going? Will this night ever end?
And so, it is morning—Jesus is on trial—now the crowd is yelling to crucify him—there’s no one even trying to defend him and they beat him in front of everyone. Look, there’s Mary and Jesus’ mother—they are sobbing, this is all so out of control—I just don’t understand. They beat him bloody and now they are putting a cross on his back. He can hardly stand, somebody ought to help him. And finally, they nail him to the cross—I can’t watch, I want to be with him to the end, but it’s just too hard and I’m too tired. It seems like hours later—the sky turns black. What has happened? People are scrambling—most of us stayed at a distance where we could see what was happening. And so it is over. Where do we go now? And how do we go on?
I love you Lord and I lift my voice
To worship you, o my soul rejoice
Take joy my king in what you hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.
Amen and amen.
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