Isaiah 50: 4-9 (page 611 in our pew Bibles) The word "servant" is not
used here but this is often called the third servant song and is the most
intensely personal. Parts of the body mentioned are tongue, ears, back, cheeks,
beard and face - a forceful reminder that God uses real human beings for his
purposes. His word always has to become flesh.
Philippians 2: 5-11(page 980 in our pew Bibles) Sometimes said to be
an early Christian Hymn, it chronicles Christ's pre-existent nature, his
self abasement to earthly life and death and exaltation to universal
Lordship,
Matthew 21: 1-11 (page 826 in our pew Bibles) "The clash
of two opposing Kingdoms" is how the theologian Marcus J. Borg described
Palm Sunday which has retained its grip on my symbolic imagination ever since
and is certainly what I shall be concentrating on today!
Isaiah is full of beautiful prophetic poetry and none more
so than the celebrated “Servant songs” which from the very beginning Christians
have applied to Jesus Christ.
This particular piece we heard to today is the most
intensely personal of them and mentions parts of a human body like the tongue,
ears, back, cheeks, beard and face and is a great reminder that God works
through Human beings to fulfil his purposes, which includes us of course, but
none more so than his unique son, Jesus Christ.
He worked through and revealed his unique character and
will, through the actions of Jesus Christ.
So what did he reveal through Jesus on Palm Sunday?
What Jesus was introducing on this day was the essential
differences between all the kingdoms of
this world and comparing them with the Kingdom of God.
Because the truth is there would have been two great
processions entering Jerusalem before the Passover feast.
Pontius Pilate did not live in Jerusalem. He lived by the
seaside at Caesarea Maratime on the coast. For Pontius Pilate to be present at
the feast he need to get from the coast to Jerusalem so entering the city of
Jerusalem on the West side was the procession of Pilate.
What a magnificent sight that would have been. Soldiers and
horsemen in full gleaming armour, accompanied by trumpets and banners, and
Pilate carried aloft in a bier or carriage – showing off the full spectacle of
Roman power.
It was meant to impress and frighten. It was intended to
send the message – this is where real power lies in this country and don’t you
forget it. And if there is to be any trouble we will deal with it with
overwhelming force!
This was representative of how all power works in this
world. This was representing all the worldly kingdoms.
That was on the west side. On the East side of the city,
over the mount of Olives came a man representing the kingdom of God. A man
wearing the ordinary working clothes of a carpenter, riding on a donkey, a sign
of peace. He came not with armour or swords or spears, but lauded by yhe
ordinary people who strew his way with
palm leaves.
You could say that Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was
a parody of what was happening in the west of the city. Today who might call
this a counter demonstration.
It was an acted parable of the essential difference between
the kingdoms of this world, built on power, coercion, vanity and force and the
kingdom of God based on peace, love and mutuality.
To emphasise the difference between the new way and the old,
the very next thing he did was cleanse the temple of the money changers to
drive home just how corrupted religion had become by getting too close to the
centres of earthly power.
And he really wanted people to note what he did. In Mark’s
gospel he didn’t cleanse the temple straight away after entering Jerusalem. He
went home and came back the next day to do so. Why was that I wonder.
Well Jesus didn’t do it that evening because it was already
late (Mark 11:11), and there wouldn’t have been many people there to see it.
This was all pre-planned for maximum impact – both the entry and the cleansing.
He returned the next day when there were crowds of people and plenty of
Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees would have been there as well as hoards of
money changers and then he made his symbolic gesture for maximum impact.
In a lesson for us nowadays, Jesus said ( in Matthew
10:16)we have to be as innocent as doves but as wise as snakes – just like He
was in this instance.
Our palm crosses, this palm Sunday are a stark reminder that
we are involved in a Spiritual war. We are soldiers in the Kingdom of God
fighting against the corrupt powers of this world. But our weapons, are not violent
like the Roman army’s were.
Our weapons are (Ephesians 6:10 -) prayer, truth,
righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the spirit working through the word
of God.
