Hidden

Scriptures:       Isaiah 50:4-9a             Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Philippians 2:1-11        Luke 19:28-48

Today is Palm Sunday, when we remember Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – which set off the chain of events which led to his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion on Good Friday.  It’s a day full of ambiguity, with cheers from the crowds that we know – and Jesus knew too – would be short-lived.

Luke’s account has much in common with the accounts in the other gospels – Jesus’ disciples borrowing a colt, and Jesus riding this borrowed colt into the city.  But actually, the account in Luke’s gospel is slightly different from those of the other Gospels.  For one thing, Luke appears to have forgotten the palms; he speaks of onlookers spreading their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus, but makes no mention of palms.  Another difference – while the other gospels speak of the crowds cheering and shouting, in Luke’s gospel, it’s really just the disciples of Jesus – as Luke says, “the whole multitude of the disciples”, some going ahead of Jesus and some following behind Jesus, who are making the noise.  Surely others were looking on, but we don’t hear much from them…

…Except we do hear from some Pharisees, who tell Jesus to make his disciples pipe down.  “Teacher, order your disciples to stop!”  And Jesus responds by telling them basically, “I couldn’t stop them if I tried; if they were silent, the stones would shout out!”

Why are the Pharisees so cranky?  It’s not just a desire to rain on Jesus’ little parade.  Remember that these events took place in the days leading up to the Jewish Passover, the celebration of liberation from slavery in Egypt.  The Passover was a time of tension in Jerusalem, both because of the many visitors who would have been in the city, and because Rome would have been exerting heavy-handed crowd control, lest the Passover account of liberation from Egypt give the people any funny ideas about rebelling against Rome.  The Pharisees were concerned that anything vaguely resembling a rebellion against Rome would bring down the wrath of Rome on them like a ton of bricks.  And certainly, Jesus’ riding into town, with his disciples calling him “the king who comes in the name of the Lord”, would have sounded suspicious to Roman ears, for whom there was no king but Caesar.  So the Pharisees, from their point of view, were entirely justified in urging Jesus not to let his followers stir up trouble.

Indeed, in their book “The Last Week”, theologians Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan say that there actually would have been two parades going on that day.  Pontius Pilate, the local governor, would have ridden into Jerusalem from the west to pacify the local population – by means of intimidation and threats of force.  Pilate would have ridden into town on a magnificent warhorse, with his officials carrying banners and his troops carrying weapons, in a display of the empire’s power, just to remind the locals who’s boss, who’s in charge.  And on the other end of town, from the east, Jesus rides into town in what seems like a parody of the empire’s power – no weapons, the cloaks of peasants instead of the banners of empire, and Jesus riding, instead of a warhorse, the colt of a donkey, his feet probably dragging along the ground.   It was a nonviolent act, but provocative, just the same, in which Jesus at the same time thumbed his nose at Rome’s power, while demonstrating that he would be a very different kind of leader, bringing a peace that doesn’t need to be enforced with banners and weapons and intimidation.  Jesus wouldn’t be in town for long before he engaged in another provocative demonstration, not against Rome, but against the Temple, or more specifically those who were selling animals for sacrifice at inflated prices, thus exploiting the poor who came to sacrifice there.  Jesus told the moneychangers and sellers of animals, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you’ve turned it into a den of robbers.’”  So in just a short time, Jesus managed to poke a thumb in the eyes of both Rome and the temple leadership.  No wonder that both the Temple leadership and the local Roman authorities turned against him.

But while all four gospels tell of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, and Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels also tell us about Jesus driving the moneychangers out of the Temple, only Luke’s gospel captures the brief moment, while Jesus is riding but before he enters the Temple, in which he weeps over the city.  “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes.”  

“The things that make for peace”….as those who were with us on Wednesday night know, that phrase has stuck in my mind this week.  It’s ironic that both Pilate, riding in with his warhorse and his retinue of officers and banners and weapons, and Jesus, riding in on a donkey attended by his ragtag followers, both came to Jerusalem for the purpose of bringing peace.  It’s easy to recognize the kind of peace Pilate intended – a peace imposed by intimidation and brute force.  But Jesus came to bring a different kind of peace – a peace that was disruptive, that wasn’t intimidated by the authority of Rome and that felt God’s temple should be a place of liberation, not exploitation.  Jesus brought a peace that came from living in alignment with God’s purposes, a peace that begins within individual hearts but does not stay there, but rather moves beyond the individual to transform society.

As is true so often with Scripture, it may be  helpful to ask ourselves, “Where do we find ourselves in the story?”  Probably not as Jesus – there’s only one Jesus.  But do we find ourselves with the followers of Jesus, helping spread the message?  With the Pharisees, acting out of fear to try to quiet things down?  With the Romans, offended by Jesus’ demonstrations and misunderstanding his message?  With the Temple authorities, scandalized by Jesus pointing out their corruption and greed?   With the crowds, looking on, but not understanding what’s going on?

Do we recognize on this day the things that make for peace?  Everybody wants peace, but everybody has different ideas about how to get there.  In what, or in whom, do we put our trust?   If Jesus were to ride down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC – or past the capitol in Harrisburg, or past our own City Hall, what would he be saying?  Would Jesus be weeping over Philadelphia, over Harrisburg, over the White House and Congress and the Supreme Court, saying “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace”?  Are they hidden from our eyes?  Is it Christ’s peace that we seek, or Pilate’s?

May Jesus’ words open our eyes, as he tried to open the eyes of those in Jerusalem, to the things that truly make for peace.  May the peace of Christ be with us, and through our example may others be led to Christ’s peace that passes all understanding, that cannot be imposed by weapons and armaments, but comes from living in alignment with God’s purposes for us.  May our lives be, not a betrayal but a fulfillment of Christ’s message of peace.  Amen.