"The Triumphal Entry"
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:1-6
Sermon Transcript for March 20, 2005
By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
Reading from the Gospel of Matthew from Chapter 21, “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.”
The video that you will eventually see is a short video that is from the recent trip that many of us made to Israel. And it is a chance for you to see the journey that Jesus actually made on His triumphal entry. It is the route of his entry, which began on the Mount of Olives. Let me just go ahead and we’ll pick that up whenever it happens. Now, as Jesus makes this triumphal entry, there is a sense of the inevitableness of a climax. There is a belief, or a feeling as we read that story that Jesus knows and maybe even His followers know that something is coming to a head. Jesus has been to Jerusalem many times, but this is different. He seems to know that there is danger. He seems to know that this may be His last chance to make His plea with the people of Jerusalem. He’s wept over Jerusalem. There is a church on the side of the Mount of Olives about halfway through the journey that Jesus made on that triumphal entry that commemorates the tears of Jesus weeping for Jerusalem.
There is a sense that the Apostles are going along with this low-key entry into the city as though they think that perhaps Jesus is planning to call down an army, maybe an army of angels, to take control and to make that victory that they have all been looking for happen that day. But we know that that is not the case. And we have to wonder if the Apostles knew or should have known that that wasn’t Jesus’ way. After all, who would know better what Jesus’ pattern was than those who had been with Him for those years? There is much debate among the scholars of the Gospels about the triumphal entry. But one thing that they all agree on is that Jesus had taken great pains to make it clear that He was not leading a movement of fanatical nationalist. That he was not organizing some sort of armed revolt. Jesus had chosen another way. And it is so obvious to Matthew after the fact that he has included a prophetic saying from Zechariah, Chapter 9, Verse 9 where he reminds us that this is exactly as it had been predicted, that our king would come in as a quiet, meek victor.
Christ is a new kind of king. He is not like King Saul who was tall in the saddle and was a great military leader. He wasn’t like King Solomon with his wealth and wisdom and his attention to beautiful things. Jesus wasn’t like the kings of the era that He came to us in. There were no jeweled thrones like those in Byzantium; there were no Mogul thrones with peacock feathers showing their greatness and their prowess and pride. And Jesus is not like those many kings or dictators who have followed through the centuries who waded through other people’s blood to their place of power. All Jesus needed was a lowly donkey that He had to borrow from a friend and a few children gathered around Him to make His triumphal entry. He came into the city, not surrounded by shouting soldiers with their spears held high, but by children waving palm branches and laying them at His feet. He rode on an animal that was the very symbol of quietness—not on a warhorse like so many victor kings.
But know this--in every word and deed recorded about Jesus, He was kingly. There is no mistake about that. There was command in everything He said and did. And did you know that the root meaning of the word used in Scripture for “king” is “the one who is able”. Christ is able to take life and lift it to a higher place nearer to the heart of God. He is able to redeem the dross or the useless metal that is atop the gold refinement and turn that into something of great value. He is able to take iron, like the iron that was the nails of His cross, and turn it into a victory sign. Like Rudyard Kipling said in his poem, “Cold Iron”: “With his own hands he served them, and presently he said: ‘See! These hands they pierced with nails, outside my city wall, Show iron, cold iron, to be master of men all!’” He has taken a symbol of defeat and turned it into a symbol of victory. But by week’s end, this victory entrance that He makes into the city will leave Him with a reed for a scepter and a crown made of thorns.
“ORDINARY BREAD”
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:47-56
Did you ever wonder why Jesus chose bread for what we call “the Lord’s Supper” or “Holy Communion”? If you have been part of one of those “Christ in the Passover” presentations done by the “Jews for Jesus” organization, then you know that they were celebrating the Passover meal at that last supper and that each piece of the setting, each food item had a special meaning. And so understanding that makes us wonder then what Jesus was thinking. Why the bread?
A favorite teacher of mine, Dr. Bill Cooper, has taught me to believe that there was a very symbolic choice in what Jesus did with the bread. And that through this, His disciples understood exactly what Jesus was saying. Now Jesus could have chosen from a whole array of foods that were present on that Passover meal, at the Seder meal. He could have chosen the meat or the shank, for example, which is, in Passover, a symbol of God’s mercy as His angel of death passed over them because of the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. Jesus could have chosen the charoseth, which is a mixture that is roughly the consistency of mortar. And my guess is it probably taste like it too. But that’s exactly what it symbolized, was mortar, because it reminded them of God’s grace as He delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt and the making of bricks for Pharaoh. Jesus could have chosen the bitter herbs as a symbol of God’s love for them as God had removed the Israelites from their bitterness and their bondage in Egypt. Jesus could have chosen the salt water on the Seder plate which was a symbol of God’s might and power because it reminds us that God had parted the Red Sea, that sea water had been split and allowed the people to escape from the Egyptian army and saw the destruction of the Egyptian army. Jesus could have chosen the boiled egg, which was the symbol of the hardened heart of Pharaoh who did ten rounds with Jehovah and lost. There were green vegetables and parsley that Jesus could have chosen as a sign that God has a future for His people and that it is a bright future for a new nation.
Jesus could have chosen any one of these symbolic foods in the Passover meal but He chose the bread. Oh, I wish you could smell this. Laura made this and I know it is good! He chose this bread during that last Passover meal with the disciples because they always broke unleavened bread to remind them of the swiftness in which they had to leave Egypt. They didn’t even have time to let the bread rise. And they drank wine together giving thanks for the bounty that God had given them. The bread reminded them of the victor’s meal which Melchizadek served to Abraham as he returned from releasing his nephew Lot, and brought back all the goods that the Eastern alliance of kings had taken from Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jewish people use a lot of symbolism and it was the same in Jesus’ day; it’s the same now among the Orthodox. But there is one more meaning to the bread and it is most likely the meaning that Jesus actually attached to it during that meal with the disciples. For the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, there were a few ways that were customary for showing forgiveness. One was a “kiss of forgiveness”. You will hear that mentioned in the story of the Prodigal Son. Another is the sharing of salt. Salt was a valuable commodity in that day and to give it to someone was a great act of self-sacrifice. And salt was also considered to have purifying qualities. Another way was for a Jewish person to invite someone that they were not friends with to come to their house and to give them some hospitality. But the greatest meaning and the greatest symbol of forgiveness was to break bread together. And this is no doubt what Jesus meant to say to His disciples on that evening when He broke bread with them. The triumphal entry had already occurred. They must have felt left down because this big army of angels or whatever it was they expected didn’t happen. They must have been disappointed with themselves because even now they “just didn’t get it!” Yet Jesus takes time during that last Passover meal to break bread with His disciples and to say to them that this is a new kind of Passover meal. It is a new covenant.
You see, when in their culture people were at odds with one another, if I invite you over to come and eat with me and in particular to break bread with me, I am inviting you to a table of peace and forgiveness. And you, by accepting my invitation and breaking bread with me, are also accepting peace and forgiveness. And if you’ve wronged me, then you are admitting your fault and we are both putting it behind us and moving ahead. In those days they didn’t use utensils like we use at their dinner table. Actually, the first thing that happened was to break the bread and the bread then was used as the utensil for eating the food. And so what could be more personal, what could be more intimate than to invite someone into your home and break bread with them as a sign of peace and forgiveness.
And so when Jesus took that loaf of bread and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and He said, “By this your sins will be forgiven”, He wasn’t kidding around. And they understood exactly what it meant. And then He described it as His body which would soon be broken in the same way and that He would be the bread that made peace between God and all of us who are sinners. Through Jesus God has invited us to His table to break bread and to be forgiven and to move ahead in a new covenant of peace through the bread. You see, just like when Jesus saw Zaccheus up in the tree and he said, “Zaccheus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5) He was saying to that publican, that tax collector, extortionist, “All is forgiven.” It’s not like Jesus needed a place to stay or needed to eat there. He did it because it said to everybody in terms that they all understood, “This is a sign that this man is forgiven.” And when Zaccheus set a feast for Jesus, he was repenting, turning a new leaf and beginning a new life.
And so when Jesus breaks the bread with us, as we will celebrate this coming Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Price Hall, He will say, “This is my body broken for you. And by it you are forgiven.” But He also says that this will be a new beginning just like when Laban and Jacob had a bit of a row over this miscommunication that led to Jacob marrying the woman that he didn’t want to marry. And afterwards Jacob said, “That’s no way to talk to your elders. But I forgive you, let us break bread together and made a new covenant.” And the new covenant led to the marriage that Jacob wanted. Jesus and His followers knew exactly what this meant. That this would be the sign of a new covenant, a new mercy, a new grace that would ultimately symbolize the breaking of Jesus’ body and the spilling of His blood, which is the blood of forgiveness.
Reverend Mike comes now to share Scripture with us. As followers of Jesus Christ, one of the most important words for us is the word preparation. As the bells played so beautifully this morning, were you in communion with God preparing your heart to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords or was your mind in a hundred other places? Throughout the worship service today, through the reading of the Word, through music, through preaching, through visual images, we are seeking to help you prepare on this Palm Sunday to truly come and celebrate a week from today. Let me encourage you this week in the spirit of preparation to spend some extra time in the Word and in prayer. Let me encourage you to share, as you are able, in a day of fasting. Let me encourage you to gather with the family of God in Price Hall on Thursday to share in the breaking of bread and to gather in the sanctuary on Friday to focus again on the cross. Only as we prepare can we truly celebrate the greatest event in all of history that gives us hope for eternal life. Many of you will be away next Sunday sharing your time with vacation, with your family. But let me urge you, wherever you might be next Sunday morning, take an hour to seek out a church and come and celebrate the fact that the tomb is empty.
But I invite you now in a spirit of preparation to stand for the hearing of God’s Word. “It was later in what we call Holy Week following what we refer to as the “Last Supper”. And while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowed armed with swords and clubs sent from the Chief Priest and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged for a signal with them. The one I kiss is the man; arrest him. And going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings Rabbi’. And he kissed him. And Jesus replied, ‘Friend, do what you came for.’ And then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested Him. And with that one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out, and struck the servant of the High Priest cutting off his ear. ‘Put your sword back in its place’, Jesus said to him, ‘For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’ Do you think that I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then, if I did that, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way. And at that time Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat at the temple courts teaching. You did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” And then I want you to visualize in your mind this final verse. See it. It’s one of the saddest versus in Scripture. “Then all of the disciples who had heard His teachings, seen His miracles, deserted Him and fled.” This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. You may be seated.
“Father, there is a very real sense in which we were there as you were nailed to the cross on Calvary’s Hill for my sins, the sins of each person gathered, indeed the sins of everyone who has ever lived were there on that cross with Jesus. In fact, let us reflect, Lord, that it was not the nails or the thorns that hurt you the most. The pain was greatest because the One who knew no sin in that moment bore the sin of the whole world. We pray that this final week of Lent will be a time for reflection, a time for repentance, a time to remember, a time to be reconciled where relationships have been broken, a time, Lord, that you might use us to restore one who is a part of the fellowship of Grace Church, who through carelessness without even being aware of it, has drifted away from those who loved them so deeply. Maybe you want to use us this week as an instrument of reaching out with your love to them. And, Lord, we are reminded at the empty tomb the disciples weren’t there. They had fled, scared for their lives. But we know the rest or the story. You offered to them forgiveness. You filled them with the power of the Holy Spirit and they went out in that hour and transformed the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the same thing be true for us as we pray that prayer you taught to your disciples. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
“THE WAY OF THE CROSS”
And now we want to consider the way of the cross. And let me remind you that we will be worshiping together here in the sanctuary on Friday at 7:00 p.m. where we will commemorate and consider even more deeply the way of the cross. When Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse. And so he tried to take the thirty pieces of silver back to the leaders of the Sanhedrin; and then he went and killed himself. Have you ever wondered why thirty pieces of silver? The phrase “Thirty pieces of silver” only occurs five times in the Bible and three of those times are in the Gospels in the New Testament in which they refer to Jesus and the arrangement that Judas made for His betrayal. So when people read this passage that includes the “Thirty pieces of silver”, I wonder if there is a temptation to think that it is just a number that they arrived at? I doubt it because it is interesting that the “thirty pieces of silver” was the price for Jesus’ betrayal. It was a number that was well known to the people in that culture because among the Jews it was considered the going rate for the purchase of a slave. I’ll tell you why—because in the book of Exodus in Chapter 21 in verse 32, the Jewish people were taught that that was the acceptable price for a slave. And all good practicing Jews would know that. Certainly the leaders of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish governing council knew it. And so the price for Jesus’ betrayal was intentionally, I believe, in a sort of cunning irony meant to be equal to the price of a slave. Jesus was sold out for the mere cost of a slave.
So after Jesus’ arrest while the Sanhedrin debated about the fate of Jesus, he was most likely kept in a pit in Caiaphas’ house or palace. A pit that would have most likely served as a cistern during the dry season so that it was a dark, deep hole in the ground maybe 25 feet deep with only one opening about the size of a water jar at the top. And with remnants of water and creatures that had stumbled into the hole. It was a damp, hopeless place. And the only way out was a rope that was at the whim of the jailer. When Jesus was given over to Pilot while he was deliberating about Jesus’ fate, once again he was most likely kept in a pit, a cistern, a hole in the ground where some people were left to rot and die.
Eventually, Jesus was withdrawn from the pit and he was set to the Pretoriaum. This was the place where the Roman soldiers had their recreation. Their games are still carved in the stones of the Pretoriaum to this day. And they certainly had some fun with Jesus. Scripture tells us that they mocked Him; they abused Him. And eventually He was flogged with a weapon so vicious that it tore the flesh right off of Him so that he was wracked with pain. And after all of that Jesus was presented with His robe of royalty and His crown of thorns to the people who would condemn Him. And as if that wasn’t enough, when the people were given a choice between sparing Jesus or sparing a known criminal, they chose to spare the criminal so that his sham of a conviction was complicated by the sham of a sentence.
Crucifixion was quite common in Jesus’ day. The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion. In fact it had been around for a long time before the Romans. They just had the sickening historical record of being the ones who perfected it. The upright beams of the cross were probably permanently mounted in a place outside the city walls where routine executions were performed. It was designed to be a painful and slow death. And on special occasions it was even known by history to be a mass form of execution so that an uprising, say like that of Sparticus and the slaves, led to roads being lined for miles with crosses. When you were condemned by the Roman authorities you were forced to carry the cross beam that weighed probably a hundred pounds or so through the city streets to the place of execution. Most likely a banner was carried before you with your sentence and your crime. And then when you got to the place of execution, you would be thrown to the ground, your back across the beam you carried, and they would have driven long metal iron spikes through your wrists. Now we’re not trying to argue with popular Christian culture, but in all likelihood it would have been far more painful and far more efficient to put a nail through your wrist where the two bones come together. And so He was probably nailed that way to that beam. And then hoisted up we think about seven feet because Scripture tells us that they had to use a spear later to check to see if He was dead. Then His feet were nailed to the bottom of the upright beam in a very diabolical method so that His legs were bent slightly. This was done because it inhibited breathing so that the person who was on the cross had to stand on the nail to their feet to breathe. So this wicked sickening process would last for hours and even days.
So Jesus walked the streets of the city carrying the cross of His own execution. And it was such an ordinary occurrence that people may have taken notice at least when He was near by them. You know, sort of like we do when we see a terrible accident on the highway. But then we sort of shake our heads and thank God that it’s not us or someone we love. This was a common occurrence. And up to this point everything that has happened to Jesus is not all that unusual. Then Jesus was left on the cross to die and then something that will never be understood; he didn’t linger. He died actually very quickly for that kind of execution. Some scholars and medical experts believe that when His side was pierced, and there was an issue of water, that this is probably an indication that the pericardium or the sac that your heart is in had already burst. And so there is evidence in Scripture that Jesus didn’t die from the crucifixion but in fact died from a broken heart. Which doesn’t make any sense considering His overall health and His youth. So we are left to wonder what really happened on that cross.
Now I’ve created another video from that experience that a few of us had going to the Holy Land just several weeks ago. I took my camera and walked the Via Dolorosa, The Way of the Cross, the city streets of Jerusalem so that I could remember what this walk was like. And what struck me, and I hope will strike you, is that while it is modern and there are people in cars, if you watch carefully you will even see Israeli soldiers with guns just like Roman soldiers in the old days, you will see that while it is modern it is really not that different. Life goes on. The shops keep doing their business. People keep coming and going from their homes. In this video you’ll even see that the garbage collectors are working the Via Dolorosa that day. And I hope as you watch you will realize that this is the way it was the day that Jesus died. It was an ordinary event on an ordinary day and Jesus was being driven to the place of His execution. So now I invite you to watch and reflect.
VIDEO
As you go through this week ahead, as you read the paper or watch the news, as you see those traffic crashes along the way and hear about the house fires and murders and maybe even about executions, remember what you’ve heard today. And then come back to church next week, any church, for the Holy Week services, for Easter Sunday services, which next week will include a 7:30 a.m. service on Sunday and no Saturday evening service. Come back because up to this point what you’ve seen is an ordinary execution. Come back to be astonished and amazed at the Jesus who rose from the grave and did for us the thing that only He could do.
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