If They Keep Quiet
Luke 19:28-40
Linden Heights Baptist Church
March 24th, 2013
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a] “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
INTRODUCTION
Much of the world of sport enthusiasts have been captivated by the college basketball tournament. As many of you know I am a sports fan. I enjoy a variety of sports. This annual college tournament is something I especially enjoy each year. One element to this basketball tournament that is always exciting to watch for is that every year there is at least a team that nobody expects to win will beat a heavily favored powerhouse team. It is fun to pull for an underdog. In fact though I have never attended the tournament in person you can hear how when an underdog plays well and pushes a more experienced team the neutral crowds are quick to become ardent fans of these lesser known programs. There is from time to time reflection on why the underdog teams are so quickly adopted. There is something about seeing a team that no one thinks can win to topple a strong program unless of course it happens to be your team. Strength seems to be something that we can readily identify. It seems as if the nature of what makes strong is something that can be described and calculated and it is usually something that in some measure escapes us. It is reassuring to be reminded that what seems to be weak may in fact have a strength not otherwise recognized. Maybe we are not as weak as others think. Maybe we are not as weak as we think. The success of the underdog is empowering unless of course you are backing the favorite.
We have many Easter traditions. It may be dying Easter Eggs. It may be looking forward to the special services. It may be special dramas. These events are reminders of Jesus’ life. There are many things around Easter that we remember and observe. Like any tradition it is easy to allow the traditions to over shadow the message. It can be that we find ourselves gathering to celebrate the traditions rather than to celebrate and recognize Jesus. As we look at Jesus entry into Jerusalem we can be reminded of a group who recognized the claims Jesus’ was making without actually having these claims change his life. A reason that our confidence in the claims of which we speak and sing is that our understanding of power can be misplaced.
THOSE WHO WERE SENT FOUND IT JUST AS HE HAD TOLD THEM VV 28-34
In verse 30 we find the directions Jesus gave to the disciples. This is a detail that at first glance seems kind of odd. We do not think it immediately acceptable to enter a strange town and take something that is not yours. I am reminded of the early exploits of Joseph Stalin. He and his comrades described their attacks on these banks as requisitioning exploits. They were using the money after all for their revolution which would in turn support the people. Some interpreters of this passage have suggested that there is more to the story that we do not have information about. It may have been that there was some prearranged signal. While this might be interesting to consider there is no evidence to support this idea. I think we are meant to be reminded of something. Throughout Jesus’ life he lived in poverty. By any of our standards Jesus would have been considered to be poor. But Jesus wasn’t poor because he had to be. He chose to be. Everything belongs to Jesus. He did not take it. The message was conveyed that the Lord had need and it was given. There is nothing that would that could be withheld should the Lord have need. Do we see all that we have in this way?
Jesus sent two disciples to bring the colt to him. We know that his disciples will prove less than steadfast in their steadfastness and their courage in the coming days. And yet he does not go about doing his ministry without them. He includes them. He gives them responsibilities. There are tasks to be done and they are meant to be a part of this work. Sometimes I myself can find serving in the ministry that Jesus has assigned to this specific people to the congregation as an imposition and obligation. In such moments I hope to be challenged by my brothers and sisters in Christ to remember that this work is a great gift. We are only participants in the work of the Lord by the invitation of the Lord. May we see this for the gift that it is. This applies to every work in the church whether in song, in caring for the weak, in cultivating relationships and friendships may we see this work for what it is.
Jesus sent two disciples. Sometimes we imagine that all that really matters is our relationship with God as if this is something that can be lived in isolation. This is not to say that you must be a part of this particular congregation. However the Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation from others. In fact if one thinks that one is living faithfully to the Lord without fellow believers I think it is very likely that one is allowing oneself to misled. This doesn’t mean that life with other Christians is all sugar and spice. Our fellow believers sometimes impose upon us…sometimes respond in ways that are hurtful and discouraging…and sometimes we are even the ones doing this. No I don’t think we begin our understanding of community by looking at all the positive aspects of community. We begin with community because Jesus has called us in this way.
THEY PLACED THEIR CLOAKS BEFORE HIM VV 35-38
Jesus rides into town on this colt he is making the claim that he is the messiah. He is the one who the people expected to throw off the Roman oppression. We have four different kinds of Jews who were pursuing this kingdom in slightly different ways. There were Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots. The Zealots believed that God would act when the people of Israel demonstrated their trust in God by taking a stand and violently facing off against the Romans. One can see how people might have developed such a conviction when one looks through scripture. We find a number of examples in the Bible how when the people of God displayed courage and trust in God they were vindicated. One clear example of this might be when Saul responded to the threatening behavior of Nahash. He demanded that the tribes come together and they were vindicated. For the Zealots it didn’t matter how strong the Romans were they believed God would give them victory. The Sadducees had a different approach. They were convinced that the problem with the present situation was that the people of Israel were not properly attending to their sacrifices. If they people did their sacrifices correctly then God would deliver them. You may have heard about the ancient scrolls found in the caves of Qumran. These scrolls reveal a community that broke off from the Sadducees because they believed the priestly leadership had become corrupt. Proper worship in this thinking would return God’s favor. A third group the Pharisees believed the messiah would come when the people followed the law. Their focus was on the teaching and encouragement of their fellow Judeans to attend scrupulously to the law.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt word spread that a claim was being made. In Galilee Peter had made the confession that Jesus was the anointed one of God the Messiah. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish the crowd clamored to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. In this bustling crowd of people. This is why they cry out Hosanna which simply means Yahew saves us. Jesus means YHWH saves. This is why the teachers of Israel recognized that this claim was dangerous. This could lead to great pain for the people of Israel. What kind of danger are you putting all these people in by letting them make this claim? We may miss the significance of this passage because we miss the significance of this claim. We do not see any consequence of placing a palm branch down or saying Hosanna we can go through these motions feeling like we are people who rightly recognize who Jesus is. This assumption might need to be troubled. We might with our lips affirm orthodox statements about Jesus and yet we fail to recognize the power of Jesus.
My mother worked near the White House on September 11th. She had to walk all the way to Arlington to get home. In the aftermath of September 11th there was a lot of hysteria about other problems happening. There was for example the anthrax poisoning at one of the congressional office buildings. For months our mail was discolored because it had to go through machines. Everyone in my mother’s office was tasked with special duty stations should there be another crises. My mother was tasked with the responsibility of making sure everyone was out of the building. There was a co-worker who was disabled. My mother asked one of her coworkers if she would be sure to be tasked with making sure this woman in a wheel chair was able to get out of the building. This woman was very comfortable using language that outwardly praised God. This woman told my mother if there was a crisis she would be the first out of the building. This kind of radical selfishness is not always so readily acknowledged. Sometimes it is not recognized until there is pressure applied.
IF THEY WERE TO REMAIN SILENT VV 39-40
The Pharisees urged him to rebuke his disciples. What does it mean to rebuke? Basically they were telling Jesus to quiet this crowd. Let them know that they are jumping to the wrong assessment of who he is. No doubt there were some in the crowd who would be disappointed. Jesus was not the king they expected. There were some who may even have stayed around for the crucifixion. Jesus response is quite interesting. If these be quiet, the stones themselves will cry out. There were a number of inanimate objections around that Jesus might have pointed to. If these disciples be silent the colt I am riding will cry out. If the crowds were quite the trees would cry out. But the stones….offer a very Biblical contrast. You see in the prophet Ezekiel we read of the following promise. Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
There is going to be a day when there is no question that the king is on the throne. However in this present age when we like the crowds may find ourselves with conflicting claims there are three virtues that we need to be accurately recognizing the King of Kings. The first virtue I want to bring to your attention is the virtue of faith. When I was in Israel there was a security guard that befriended me. The security guard was very winsome. He one time invited me to go with him. I didn’t really think about it immediately at the time, but I got in the car. As we drove around I realized, I am in a strange country, with someone I don’t know, who has a gun. This could be very bad. I was a teenager…in hindsight I realize the danger I placed myself in. Getting in this car I had placed my trust in this person. Everyone places their trust in something, but in what? What does it mean to place your trust in Jesus? Faith is placing our trust in Jesus. It is not simply the assent to some statement that will not affect your life. It is getting in the car with someone else who is driving.
The second virtue is hope. We need hope because we are not there. Our hope is anchored to Jesus Christ. Everybody lives with hope…but where is this hope placed. This gives us the ability to enjoy the limitations of the present. We need not fear losing that which we enjoy. The present experiences of joy and meaning are for us but foretastes of a future. This means that we do not need to experience the feeling of despair. The final virtue is that of love. When we love the other the one who doesn’t love us we experience the power of God at work. This is not something that can be approached by reason. When you are confronted with doubt in this world the best satisfaction for doubt is in acts of love.
Our victory is seen by the world as weakness. It is the victory of a crucified savior God grant it.
CELEBRATION
In the novel Don Quixote we find the story of a man who has read to many stories about knights and damsels in distress such that he has gone crazy. The actual world around him is not what he sees. There are windmills on the hillside and he sees not windmills but great Giants. Great Giants who I might add he attacks. He thinks he has vanquished them. But all that he does is not real. For some people the claims of Christianity are not really the most important aspect of the faith. For some people the assumption is that so long as one lives in a certain way if the claims of the faith encourage one then this is all that really matters.
I want to suggest that if you are approaching the Christian claims in this way you are not adequately engaging the claims made by Jesus. What does it really matter?
Reflections 