Journeying Beyond The Parade (Palm/Passion Sunday)

Matthew 21: 1-11

Roger Lynn

April 14, 2019

Palm/Passion Sunday

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(the video for this sermon is unavailable this week)

In retrospect, it is difficult to say just what happened. How big was the event? Who was involved? Why had they come? Were their expectations fulfilled? We don’t really know! But apparently there was a parade. Matthew says it was a large crowd, and then goes on to say that the whole city of Jerusalem was thrown into an uproar. Mark says that it was many people. Luke qualifies it by saying that it was a large crowd of his disciples, but then indicates that it was large enough to attract the attention of some of the Pharisees. John says it was a large crowd, and then goes on to tell us that the Pharisees saw in that crowd “the whole world following him!” It was, by all accounts, a lot of folks. Word had spread that Jesus was coming to town. This itinerate rabbi who had been preaching and teaching in Galilee was coming to Jerusalem. Some said he was a prophet. Others were saying that he performed miracles and healed the sick. And there were some who were proclaiming that he was nothing less than the long awaited Messiah, the Promised One of God. 

So, the crowd gathered. The excitement built. The shouting started. And Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as David’s Son – the one who comes in the name of the Lord! It really must have been quite a spectacle. 

But who were these people who gathered, waving branches and shouting praises? Why were they a part of this scene? We may never know all of the answer to such questions, but we can make a pretty good guess, because we have a pretty good understanding of people. Jesus’ “triumphant entry” into Jerusalem is the story of a mixed bag of people who came together for a mixed variety of reasons. There were, no doubt, those who were genuinely seeking to follow this charismatic teacher. Some may have been healed by Jesus. Others may have listened to his stories and were seeking to learn more. His disciples, those who had already been following him, were most likely in the crowd that day. There were probably others who had heard stories about Jesus and wanted to see for themselves. Perhaps they believed the stories. Perhaps they only wanted to believe the stories. Still others would have come simply to see what the excitement was all about. There was a crowd gathering and that meant something worth watching was likely to be happening. So this assorted collection of humanity gathered to greet Jesus, for all of their assorted reasons or no particular reason at all.

And so it is with us. We come together to share in the business of being the Church and we each bring with us our own reasons and our own expectations. There is a parade going on, and we want to be a part of it. But for us, as for those in Jerusalem all those years ago, we must look beyond the parade. The excitement of it all may get us here in the first place, but once we get here we must discover something else to keep us here. Parades, after all, don’t last forever.

It has been said that at least some of those who were waving palm branches on Sunday were probably shouting “crucify him” on Friday. If that is true, it was because they could not or would not see past the parade to what lay beyond. When the excitement of the moment was over there was nothing left to hold them. The ways in which they looked at life had not been changed. 

But at least for some, Jesus was more than simply the source of  momentary excitement. They were able to see in this one who came riding on a donkey nothing less than the very image of God – a God willing to go to any lengths to reach us with grace and love. They found a way to look beyond the parade and still see God’s presence shining through the challenging and painful and horrifying events which occurred over the course of the next week.

And in 2000+ years of following the Christ, the challenge remains the same. Will we look beyond the parade to discover the God whom Christ reveals for us? Or will we remain one who is only drawn to the excitement of the moment, but is not truly transformed by the encounter? 

What occurred on that first Palm Sunday was, and is, important. Luke records Jesus telling the Pharisees that if the crowds remained quiet the rocks and stones would begin to shout praises to God. There is something vital and significant about such excitement and we should not miss it in our haste to move on. But, neither should we set up camp and try to live in the parade. May we look, finally, to the one who calls us beyond the parade to a transformed life of abundant grace. May we allow the Christ to lead us beyond the fleeting excitement of the moment to the eternal joy of living in the presence of God.