Spirit and Growth

Palm Sunday 2011
“Majesty, Perceptions and Reality”
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church

Humor Opening: First, some “groaners” for you this morning from the World Wide Web:
Missing Missionary and Sick Cannibal
Did you hear about the cannibal who got sick after eating the missionary? He boiled him, but he was a friar!
Total Oneness
What did the Zen Buddhist Monk say to the Hotdog Vender?...Make me One with everything.
and finally,
The Confused Samaritan
A man was beaten up by robbers on a road to London. He lay there, half dead and in bad shape. A Vicar came along, saw him and passed by on the other side. Next, a monk came by but also walked by quickly on the other side. Finally, a social worker came along, looked at the man and said "Whoever did this needs help!"

We enjoy jokes and funny stories because they give us a different “twist” on reality, or they present to us some aspect of our lives that we may have not considered, usually in a funny or humorous way. Our Epistle and Gospel lessons for this Palm Sunday do the same, that is, they present to us an aspect of reality that we may have not considered, just this time not in a way that we may find humorous or even comfortable.

That is because the Gospel and the Epistle show us a side of human nature that is not attractive; in fact they paint a picture of mankind’s will run riot, in total revolt against God. The Gospel from St. Matthew, chapter 27, shows us exactly what happens when mankind seeks its own will absent the guiding, moderating and sanctifying touch of the Holy Ghost.

The scene depicted in today’s Gospel comes on the heels of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, spoken of in Matthew 21. In that tremendous scene, recall how the people strew their garments in the way and waved palm branches, saying: “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” This account is also echoed in Mark 11 and John 12. John tells us that the people that had seen Lazarus raised from the dead met him, and that a great multitude met Jesus because they had heard that he had done this great sign. The whole city was moved and said “Who is this?” They were told, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” It is at this point that the earthly tide begins to move against Jesus, as the Pharisees and other Jewish authorities saw the people’s hearts going after Him. They heard the hosannas, they had seen the overturned tables of the moneychangers in the Temple and now they said to themselves, in the words of John’s gospel: “Behold how ye prevail nothing: lo, the world is gone after him.”

Here is the first picture of rebellious human will pitted against the holiness of God. Rather than accept the one who had just fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass”, they chose to reject Him instead. Actually, it is much worse than that. They now actively plotted against Jesus, knowing that they must destroy him. Why? What was their motivation? It was jealousy, pure, simple jealousy, motivated by fear of losing their position. It was this all-too-human emotion that set the stage for Jesus’ death on the cross.

In the intervening chapters between Matt. 21 and 27, we see Jesus, teaching, healing and ministering. We also see, like a sinister sub-current, the plot of the Pharisees to find a way to capture Him. They succeeded, of course, on Maundy Thursday, after Jesus had just celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. In this all-important supper, Christ gave the sacrament of the Holy Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, to mankind. We intend to discuss this more at our Maundy Thursday service, but suffice it to say that Christ forever changed the theological landscape by converting the old remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, the Passover, to a new and everlasting Sacrament, the Holy Communion, to which we often refer by its Greek name, the Holy Eucharist. Maundy Thursday gave us a remembrance of our deliverance from the bondage of sin and death, as we enter into the New Testament or New Covenant through the sacramental eating of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The drama of that New Testament sacrament begins today, as we begin Holy Week. Beginning with Palm Sunday and culminating in Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, we approach the holiest day of the year, the blessed Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We look forward to the joy of Easter, having passed through the rigors of Lent.

Easter, however, does not come without a price. This is what our Gospel for the day teaches us. I have often wondered why we do not read the account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as told in Matt. 21 or John 12. After all, it is Palm Sunday, the day that Christ was adored by multitudes and praised as the Son of David. The answer to this may be twofold. First, we read of the crucifixion on Palm Sunday, then of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, a week later. This may have been meant for those who either did not, or could not, participate in Holy Week services. Also, and more importantly, it reminds us graphically of the price paid for our salvation. Salvation comes to us, but not without a price, a very dear price. We see this as human will, marred and deceived by sin, , yet still free will, leads to an inexorable path to the Cross and the fulfillment of God’s Great Plan of Salvation. All the human “players” in this drama, act in a way contrary to righteousness, yet in the glory of God’s predestined Plan, still bring about His desired end. This is truly mysterious and truly glorious.

First, we see the price paid by Judas Iscariot, Christ’s betrayer and later, sincere penitent. He returns to the Sanhedrin and says, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” He bringsback the blood money and seeks conciliation of some sort, but is met with the cold reply of the Pharisees: “What is that to us? see thou to that.” Judas indeed sinned a great sin in betraying Jesus, but it is widely thought that he, as a Zealot, hoped to force Jesus’ hand to call down legions of angels and dramatically end the Roman occupation of Palestine. His truly great sin was that of despair, as he repents, falls into deep despair, and takes his own life by hanging himself. This may be why Dante places Judas Iscariot at the base of Hell in his Inferno, just barely above Satan himself. Once again, we see human will juxtaposed against the sovereign Mercy of God.

Next, we see the Pharisees and Jewish rulers accusing Jesus before Pilate. This is further evidence of twisted human will braying against God. As they continue in their accusations, Pontius Pilate marvels as Jesus stands mute in the face of their trumped-up charges. Later, he even tries to release Jesus, knowing that jealousy and envy were the Jews’ reasons for accusing him. He even attempts to offer a substitute, holding to the tradition of releasing a notable prisoner to the people. The chief priests persuade the people to ask for Barabbas, another zealot who had recently led a revolt against the Roman authorities. This must have been distasteful to the governor, for he is persuaded of Jesus’ innocence and fully cognizant of Barabbas’ guilt. This is confirmed when Pilate’s wife sends him a message, telling him that she has been bothered by a dream concerning Jesus, removing any doubt that he is a just man, unjustly accused. For a moment, Pilate looks almost heroic, as he tries to deliver Jesus from the Jews’ insidious plans. He even protests to the people saying, “Why, what evil hath he done?” It is at this point that Pilate could have thwarted the evil plans of the Jewish authorities. All he had to do was give the word and Jesus would be released. Instead, when he saw that a tumult was being made, he takes the easy way out, the expedient measure. He simply washes his hands in front of the crowd and declares himself innocent, which he is not, because he possessed the power to save Jesus. Instead, he caves in to the will of the people and Jesus’ fate is sealed. Here again, another example of human will running directly counter to the righteousness of God.

Now, it’s the multitude’s turn to be examined. Disappointed because Christ was not the earthly King they had expected, the long-awaited military Messiah that they hoped would deliver Israel, they cast him aside. Worse yet, they consign Him to a dreadful torture death. “Let him be crucified!” they cry out. In John’s account, this scene is even more chilling. When, in John 19:15, Pilate says, “Shall I crucify your king?” the reply is, “We have no king but Caesar.” Thus, in one statement, the chief priests spoke and the people assented that God was no longer their King. The Almighty Jehovah, who delivered them from Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and gave them the Promised Land, was no longer their king. If this is not human will opposing itself to God, please tell me.

On Palm Sunday some two thousand-odd years ago, we see an unholy human “trinity” of evil, made up of the chief priests, the people and the Roman authorities, all arrayed against Jesus. To this dreadful armada of power stirring against Jesus, what is our Lord’s response? Jesus did nothing, absolutely nothing. When he was attacked and accused by the Pharisees, he said nothing. When Pilate asks him if he is indeed King of the Jews, Jesus replies “Thou sayest.” Modern translations render this as “You say so” and “You have said it.” He doesn’t confirm or deny his kingship or divinity, but stands mute, ready to fulfill the pre-determined Will of His Father.

Here we come to the glory of Palm Sunday. Despite mankind’s best efforts to thwart the Will of God, despite its desire to do the worst to Jesus, namely physical death, in the end all mankind can do is perform the overarching , sovereign Will of God. This is God’s world, His creation, and He will do what he wants with it. In a supreme example of complete sovereignty over the world and the wills of men, Jesus Christ allows himself to be offered as the spotless Lamb of God,” the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’, as Rev. 13:8 tells us.

Today, we Anglicans focus on the Lamb. We look to and worship the One who gave Himself for us, in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Today, we try to recognize the price paid for our salvation and fail utterly, because the price is too high, the cost is too great. We as Anglicans do not focus largely on the Passion, as our Roman Catholic brethren tend to do, nor do we skip right to Easter and try to forget all that “unpleasantness” on Good Friday, as some Fundamentalist groups tend to do. Rather, in a sober, balanced and worshipful manner, we seek to praise and glorify God for Lent, for Passiontide and of course, for Easter. We are almost there, but we not there yet. We still have the somber, yet glorious experience of Holy Week ahead of us. Pray that all of us may walk with our Lord day by day on His way to the Cross and then to His glorious Resurrection. Read the propers in the Prayer Book for each day of Holy Week. Let them speak to your innermost self. By the time we come to Easter, I pray that your soul will proclaim, “My Lord and My God!”

Matt. 27:1-2 “Now when morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2 and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor.”

All Glory be to the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, now and forever. AMEN