Sermon for March 24, 2024: Saying No to Fear

John 12:12-16

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into JerusalemThe next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--
   the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
   sitting on a donkey’s colt!’
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

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     Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of those stories that happens in all four of the Gospels. But, there are some interesting differences in how they tell the story.  Sometimes there are two donkeys and sometimes there is one. Does anyone remember which story has two donkeys? Matthew! In Matthew, Jesus sends two disciples into a village where they will find the donkey and her colt. If the owner objects, the two disciples are supposed to say, “the Lord needs them” (which is also what they are supposed to tell people in Luke). Matthew also tells us that Jesus did this to fulfill two prophecies, one from Isaiah and one from Zechariah. The Zechariah one has the colt and the mother donkey.

     In Mark, it says Jesus sent two disciples, too. But, there’s only one donkey, a young one this time. And, Jesus tells them to tell anyone who asks why they are taking it that “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” It’s really nice for Jesus to make sure they knew that they’d get the donkey back. Mark, like Matthew and Luke, says that the disciples let Jesus use their cloaks like a saddle for the donkey. All four Gospels say that the people who see Jesus coming get excited and clear the way for him, by doing something to the road. Does anyone remember what they do? Mark and Matthew says they lay down their cloaks and leafy branches. Luke says they just laid down cloaks. John is the only Gospel that says they laid down palm leaves.  That’s where we get the name of the holiday from... today’s reading from John.

     Why was it so important for Jesus to be shown going to Jerusalem that each of the four Gospel writers included it in their accounting of Jesus’ life? Hope. It’s for hope. Because the people have been waiting for a leader for a long time. And, they thought there would be some signs that the leader had come. Jesus was going to be different that they expected. He always had been. This entry into Jerusalem needs to show people that Jesus is the leader the people had been hoping for, but it also had to show clearly that he would be different. This is no Roman governor on a military steed. This is Jesus, on a borrowed donkey, showing that God’s kindom will come through humility, not military might.

     The national and religious history that Jesus was born into assumed that God appointed monarchs for the people. David was an important one. In the wake of generations of traumatic wars, his people had come to understand that God could and would save them through a ruler descended from David. Each of the Gospels describe Jesus as the sovereign the people had been waiting for. In John, it says that the people shouted “Hosanna!” Cheryl Lindsay, in her commentary on this text, reminds us that Hosanna means “save us,” something you might say to a monarch or you might say to God. The people also shouted, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord- the king of Israel!” Even on a borrowed donkey, Jesus is called “king.”

     What kind of king rides into town on a donkey, a sign of humility and peace according to Lindsay Jodrey. The Jesus kind, I guess. Or, maybe the Zechariah kind. And, even though he looked different than any royal they had seen, the crowd knew enough about Jesus to believe that he could save them. Cheryl Lindsay, in her commentary on the text, points out that the crowd who is called “great” in the reading somehow managed to not arouse too much suspicion from the Roman authorities. Remember, Rome was always on the lookout for possible rebellions during Passover, sending extra soldiers there in case the people got too inspired by the liberatory stories of Exodus and tried to throw off the yoke of the empire.

     You’d expect the soldiers to squash a parade by someone claiming to be a rival monarch to Caesar. Jesus is clearly evoking images of a monarch in his entry into Jerusalem. I wonder if the reason this parade doesn’t irritate the Romans is because it is not for them. None of Jesus’ actions are intended to inspire either irritation or hope to the Roman soldiers and politicians. This is a sign for Jesus’ people, not the Empire. The people who had the eyes to see... who knew the stories of the prophets... they were the ones Jesus was doing this for. And the humility of this parade: a donkey, a traveling teacher and his friends, branches quickly gathered... of that is to help his people, and the people who would later follow him, know him better. And, understand how he would wield power differently than Rome, and, frankly, differently than David. 

     The author of John tells us that Jesus’ friends don’t really understand everything that’s going on at the time of the triumphal entry. Their understanding only comes later, after they’ve witnessed Jesus glorified. They will have to go through the fear of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion, before they understand. They will have to experience the awe of the Resurrection in order to look back and see this parade clearly. What I hope what they realized after the Resurrection was that Jesus was not afraid to say who he was to the people who needed him the most. He was not afraid to speak and act in ways that were meaningful mostly to them. While he never hid from Rome, he also knew that Rome ultimately had no real power over him. Even their cruel crucifixion wouldn’t stop him in any way that mattered.

     On Palm Sunday, we remember the way that Jesus would not be stopped by fear of the ones who had greater military power over him. And he wouldn’t be stopped by the fear of his followers who didn’t understand why he had to be so clear in his mission, even in the face of great danger. There is much to fear these days. But, Jesus shows us that we can’t let it stop us from showing up for the people who need his love and justice. Frank Herbert once said, “I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” May we pass through the fear with Christ, and into the Reign of God he is building in this time and this place.
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Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-fear/
Lindsay Jodrey: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/the-crucified-messiah-opt-triumphal-entry/commentary-on-john-1212-27-1916b-22-3