March 28, 2010

“Hosanna in the Highest ... Crucify Him!”

Matthew 21:6-15; Matthew 27:15-26

Introduction

      Well, what’s it gonna be? “Hosanna in the highest?” or “Crucify him?” Blessing or cursing? Honor or dishonor? Saved or damned? How stark the contrast. House of prayer or den of robbers? The children shouting or the religious indignant? Peter or Judas? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?

      Once every year the church calendar calls us to walk through the events of the final week of Jesus’ life here on earth. We celebrate Palm Sunday with exuberance. We

read how Jesus cleared the Temple and healed “sinners” (the blind and lame) on Monday. On Tuesday, read through Matthew 24. Jesus indicts with scathing realities. Thursday night we will participate in the Passover meal, the Last Supper, what we now call Holy Communion. Soon after comes the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. And we weep through Good Friday. Saturday’s vigil holds us in the throws of grief and loss.

      The church office will be busy this week with final preparations for Holy Week. We will run maybe 80 bulletins for Thursday night; 120 or so for Friday noon; but about 700 for Easter Sunday. What do those numbers tell you? I’m not trying to leak out my residual “Catholic guilt.” But I am saying that our faith is often held captive by our “busy schedule,” or personal convenience, or by our culture’s denial of sacrifice and death. So I pray that this Palm Sunday (also known as Passion Sunday) will move you and me closer to the reality of the central message of God in Christ: the Cross, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. That’s why I chose to give out palm crosses instead of the traditional palm branches this morning. For without the cross there would be no Easter celebration. 

I. Hosanna in the Highest (Matthew 21:6-15)

      It’s known as the Triumphal Entry. “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest.” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred.”

      The people well-knew Psalm 118 as one of the songs sung on the first evening of the Passover. “Hosanna!” it sings. “Lord, save us… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord… Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” There’s no question about it. Jesus was being welcomed to Jerusalem as the long-awaited Messiah, the Christ. What was in question was what kind of Messiah would he be? What kind of Messiah would the people accept?

      They mistakenly thought Jesus had come to liberate God’s people from the tyrannical rule of Rome. This is why Pilate assumed appreciation from the crowd as they were supposed to choose Jesus the Christ to be released. It was Pilate’s job to keep the peace (Pax Romana). It must have been a shock to Pilate to hear release for Barabbas and to hear “crucify” for Christ.

      It’s often said that religion and politics are strange bed-fellows. Christians should always be wary of using politics or being used by politicians to promote an agenda.

      Jesus has undertaken a different kind of Triumphal Entry. He entered the city as anticipated King and messianic Son of David. But his victory will come by being nailed to a cross (so not what the crowd expected or wanted). Yet Jesus will triumph over the ultimate enemy of sin and death; and bring salvation to his people through his righteous sacrifice on that cross. Jesus was not surprised when the “Hosannas” yielded to “Crucify him.”

II. Crucify Him (Matthew 27:15-26

      The same religious leaders who plotted Jesus’ arrest, conspired his betrayal, manipulated his trial, and bound him to Pilate now arrive on the scene to persuade the crowd to demand crucifixion. Jesus is a blaspheming charlatan and not their expected liberator, not the Christ. And the crowd turns ugly.

      Throughout history, crowds do the bidding of corrupt leadership. Ever see a crowd of white supremacists shouting their hateful slogans? How do people get that way? In the Middle East, crowds on one side or another chant with pounding fists with derision toward the “enemy” or “infidel.” From Roman coliseum to French guillotine, from “Heil Hitler” to the genocide of the Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda, we see the depth of depravity that has plagued us human beings in every culture, every language, every nation.

      Jesus consistently preached peace, mercy, and forgiveness, even of our enemies. The crowd had felt enthusiasm for Jesus and his teaching, his miracles, and his triumphal entry. But now they give up their shallow allegiance in favor of a true “freedom fighter” named Barabbas.

      “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. And we hear what has been called the darkest and hardest verse in Matthew’s gospel. “All the people answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ Ignorant, horrific, presumptuous: bearing the responsibility for the death of their own Messiah. Even today, the idea of the Messiah being put to death is unacceptable.

      Yet listen to Peter’s first sermon from the Book of Acts (2:22-24): “People of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

      As we move through Holy Week, be assured that what happened to Jesus was no accident, no mistake, no mere human decision. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd… and I lay down my life for the sheep… No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:14-18).

Conclusion

  WORDS THAT LAST FOREVER: That has been the topic of our sermons during Lent 2010. “Father, forgive them.” Jesus said that for you and me. He made the promise of Paradise – for you and me. He was forsaken – for you and me. Jesus finished all that he was sent to do – for you and me. 

      “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,” confesses the prophet Isaiah. “Each one of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the religious leaders. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise… For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:33-34, 45).

      The apostle Paul proclaimed it this way: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned… How much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to many! How much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:12-17).

      So, what’s it gonna be? “Hosanna in the highest?” or “Crucify him?” Blessing or cursing? Honor or dishonor? Saved or damned? House of prayer or den of robbers? The children shouting or the religious indignant? Peter or Judas? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?

Let us pray together.