Sermon for April 13, 2025: Who is Shouting?based upon Luke 19:28-40

​Luke 19:28–40 Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” 

So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
 
As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

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     It’s been clear that Jerusalem was going to be important from all the way back in the temptations in the wilderness. In today’s story, Jesus finally arrives in a makeshift parade with a borrowed donkey. There’s even talk of shouting rocks. This story is much like some ancient prophecies while also being very different than what people expected. Because of that, it will teach us something important about how Jesus will be a Messiah.

     Jesus going into the city on a donkey happens in all of the Gospels. But they tell the story differently. In Luke, there are no palms. The people simply lay down their cloaks. Also, nobody yells hosanna (even though we’re gonna yell Hosanna in worship). In Luke, the people gathered aren’t just random people, they are Jesus’ closest disciples who knew him the best. Also, there’s only one donkey in Luke. There are two donkeys in Matthew. This version still takes place during Passover, like the others. The city would have been tense with all the preparations for the festival and with increased military presence.

     Who here has heard of Passover before? Scholars remind us that Passover was a commemoration of God's liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian rule. Jewish people continue to celebrate Passover. In fact, they started celebrations last night. In the time that Jesus was alive and teaching, the scholar Michael Joseph Brown reminds us that Jewish people were living under a different terrible ruling empire. So, liberation from bad rulers would have been on their minds. The bad rulers knew it, too. So, they’d send extra soldiers to the city to try to scare people who might be thinking about revolution. Leaders like Pontius Pilate might even enter into the city in a parade, riding a big warhorse, surrounded by their soldiers, trying to look scary enough to keep people in line.

     In some ways, Jesus’ little parade will be about showing his power, too. But, it’s not power like a soldier is powerful. In Luke, Jesus’ entry into the city looks just like a prophecy about the Messiah from Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion, shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey.” Even though Jesus is on a donkey, which aren’t fancy at all, he’s supposed to remind us of that king from Zechariah. This is who is supposed to lead their people, not the Roman guy on the fancy horse.

    I read something a while ago from a teacher named Elisabeth Johnson. In a commentary about this text, she pointed out that the people gathered, in this case, the disciples of Jesus who knew him well, shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” This is almost a direct quote from Psalm 118, but with one important change. The Psalm says, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” The disciples, or the author of Luke, added “king.” The people who are celebrating Jesus’ entry into the city are making in clear that they understand him to be more than just a teacher. They believe he will stand up as an alternative to the cruel power of the Roman Emperor.

     It matters that the people at the parade in Luke are actually a small group of his disciples. Kathryn Matthews, in her commentary on this text, points out that these are the people who know him best and have been following him for the longest. They cheer for him because they have been healed by his love, have seen his miracles, and heard his wise teaching. There will be a time later in the story when people turn on Jesus. That is not these people at the parade. At this very moment, they get something right: They celebrate Jesus as Jesus has been telling them that God celebrates them. They celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem because they know his peace is so very different than the so-called peace of the empire.

     Remember a couple weeks ago, when some Pharisees try to warn Jesus that Herod was going to come after him? I think they are trying to warn him again in this story. They tell him to get his disciples to quieten down. It seems reasonable to think that they are once again trying to save him, this time from Pilate. Remember, you would be in danger if Rome thought you were trying to get people to rebel against them. Pilate might get mad if he hears people call Jesus “king.” Elizabeth John notes in her commentary, the Pharisees knew their scripture well. They would have understood all the ways that Jesus’ entry into the city was like the entry of a king in Zechariah and that the Psalm had been changed to make it celebrating a king. Pilate, if he thought any one Jewish person could get people to rebel, might end up targeting all the people. Powerful people could come after them. In a few days, powerful people... The Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate... will all come after Jesus.

     Jesus knew, though, that the people needed to celebrate and tell the truth about what they were seeing. That's what he meant when he said if that the people were silent, “even the stones would shout out.” The celebration must happen, even if it leads to unwanted attention. Teresa Lockhart Stricklen notes that in the book of Habbakkuk, in chapter 2, verse 10-11, it says that the stones will cry out demanding justice from the divine when wicked people have shamed themselves by being cruel to many people. Jesus, who loved the poor and outcast and knew that God does, too, must have remembered this text. He must have been clear that all of creation, even the rocks, know of Holy Love that is the foundation of divine justice and true peace. When you see something so good, you have to say something about it! Even if you’re a rock!

     A lot of big and sometimes scary things will happen in the next parts of the story. Jesus will share that he is sad for his people. He’ll also drive manipulative people from the temple. He will be betrayed and sent to trial. If you look closely, all of these bad things and more are on the horizon. It is good, then, for there to be celebration to bolster him as he enters the city. It is good that he is surrounded by people who knew him and were confident in his mission. May we never forget that love and celebration are vital to the mission that Christ has given us. May we forever be like the rocks who cannot help but shout about God’s love and justice. Hard times are just around the corner. The joy we cultivate together will help us get through it.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Elizabeth Johnson: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4022
Michael Joseph Brown: https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2801
Karoline Lewis: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5311
Teresa Lockhart Stricklen, "Sixth Sunday in Lent (Liturgy of the Palms)," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year C Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Dale P. Andres, Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, and Ronald J. Allen, editors (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012).
​Kathryn Matthews: http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_march_20_2016
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