PALM SUNDAY, Year A - Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 118:19-29; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 21:1-11 - 16 March 2008 - A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Humbly Riding With the King

 

INTRODUCTION - B.B. and Eric

 

There was a CD that came out a few years ago, a collaboration between B.B. King and Eric Clapton. It had a picture of the two of them riding together in a convertible Cadillac, I believe. It was called Riding With the King.

 

In past centuries, when there were a lot more kingdoms in the world, I imagine it would been considered a huge privilege to go for an afternoon horseback ride with the king, or for that matter, to be part of the king’s army, and to ride into battle with the king.

 

Today we have an image that is quite different from both of those images. We’re not talking about riding in a fancy Cadillac with B.B. We’re not talking about mounting a powerful war horse and following the king into battle. But we are talking about a king, and the choice we have been given to ride with him.

 

ZECHARIAH AND PHILIPPIANS

 

In Zechariah, we hear, “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.” (Zechariah 9:9) Matthew saw this verse being fulfilled when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, but he confused the parallelism in Hebrew poetry as meaning two different animals, when it really referred to just one. So he has Jesus riding into Jerusalem astride two animals, so eager was he to paint Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies! (Matthew 21:7) But let us not get lost in that.

 

Let us instead consider this: we all know by now that a king, riding on a donkey, demonstrates that his intentions are peaceful. So the words and images that are existing side by side, both in Zechariah and in today’s passage in Matthew, are these: victory... triumph... humility... riding on a donkey... peacefulness. Is it a little bit difficult for you to get your mind around all of those words and images at the same time? I have to confess, it is a little challenging for me. Because in our culture, those images don’t go together at all.

 

When we think victory we tend to think of power and domination and strength. Even in the time of Jesus, if someone said the word “victory” we would probably envision thousands of war horses and armor and spears and swords. Today... well today we envision bombers and tanks and automatic rifles and grenades. Horses? Does anyone go into battle with horses anymore? And what about a king riding into the center of power - the capital city - on a donkey?

 

He forces you to ask yourself the question, “What kind of king is this?”

 

And that is where the word humility comes in. A humble king. A humble ruler. A humble leader. I would suggest to you that in the year 2008, whether you are talking about “the leader of the free world” or just about any leader of any nation, that phrase doesn’t exactly seem apt. A humble leader? The words just don’t seem to go together, in a world that seems to me more and more about which person can thump his chest the loudest.

 

In contrast to that, we read:

 

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

 

If anyone had reason to ride into Jerusalem on a war horse, with thousands and thousands riding alongside of him, Jesus did. Healer... amazing teacher and preacher... long-awaited Messiah...and, oh yes, Son of God. “He was in the form of God,” Paul says. But then he adds, he “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself...”

 

WHAT KIND OF FULLNESS IS THIS?

We have so much, you and I. We’re full. Our schedules are full. Our closets are full. Some of us have so much stuff that we have to put it in separate storage units. Our minds are full and racing with all the information that comes our way, as we try to sort it and make sense of what is important and what isn’t.

 

And yet the One who would be our king, who could have the whole world, does not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but empties himself, and rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. It’s not exactly a red-carpet image. Yes, the people got caught up in the moment and some of them recognized him as a king, as Messiah - for a short while. They spread their cloaks on the road before him, as he approached from the east, from the Mount of Olives - the place where, according to tradition, the Messiah would appear. They cut branches and spread them on the road, too. But you get the impression that Jesus wasn’t overly caught up in the moment. He was still riding on a donkey, after all.

 

For Jesus, it wasn’t about the adulation of the crowd, because he knew that the adulation wouldn’t last. For him, it was about being faithful. He had been saying for quite a while now that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. And this was the next step. For a moment, he could accept all the praises and hosannas that were ringing in his ears. Luke tells us that when some of the Pharisees asked him to order his disciples to stop shouting, he answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke 19:40)

 

Palm Sunday was another sign for the people, one of a number of signs that they were to be given as Jesus entered into the last week of his life.

 

They surely wondered together, “Did you see him riding into the holy city on a donkey? Did you see all the people throwing their cloaks and palm branches in front of him, and shouting “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”, as if he were the Messiah, as if he were our king? What do you make of all this? What do you think? Do you think our Messiah could come to us on a donkey? What do the Scriptures say?”

 

And what do we say, when the victory that is pointed to for us is all wrapped up in emptying one’s self - in humility and donkeys and peacefulness and non-violent resistance and death on a cross? Perhaps whether or not we can bring ourselves to following this Jesus has a lot to do with whether or not we can get our minds around this: Can we follow a king who wins the victory through emptying himself, who wins the victory through suffering and death and humility, and not through conquering and intimidation and violence? Can we follow such a king?

 

A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF KING

 

This is indeed a very different kind of king. He doesn’t always speak like a king. You remember some of what he said.

 

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

A king who says he has come to serve. A king who calls himself gentle and humble, and who promises rest for our souls, if we take on his yoke. A king who rides on a donkey, and takes in the praise for just a short while, and then, just a few days later, goes willingly to the cross.

 

CELEBRATING AND RIDING WITH THE KING

 

Can we follow such a king? Do we find such a king attractive? Perhaps we need to ask ourselves what the other way - the way that is dominant in the culture - gets us. What does all the violence get us? What does the “dominate or be dominated” philosophy, or the “might makes right” philosophy, get us? Where does it lead?

 

I suggest to you that Jesus does offer us something radically different. I suggest to you that the crowd was right at the beginning of the week, when they were shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”, and they were misguided at the end of the week, when they were shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

 

I think, on our days of clarity and wisdom, we realize that Jesus offers us a different way, and a much better way. On our days of clarity and wisdom, we recognize that the way of Christ - the way of humility and suffering and death and ultimately, new life - trumps the ways of the world, which are mostly about domination and hatred and death and more death. On our days of clarity and wisdom, we realize that the victory does belong to the Lord. The One who took the path of self-emptying has been proclaimed the victor and King of kings by our God.

 

“Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

 

The one who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey has become the King of kings and Lord of lords, and that is what we celebrate this day. In addition to that, we celebrate that the path he chose - the path of love and suffering and humility and non-violence - has become the path to ultimate victory.

 

CONCLUSION

 

The question remains: will we forget two weeks from now or six weeks from now that the way of Christ is a much different way than the way of the world? Will we be sucked back in to the world’s teachings, the world’s values, the world’s ways, and forget all about this day, and the amazing image of the Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? Let’s hope not.

 

Perhaps the best way not to forget is to make ourselves available this week, so that we can follow in his ways, and make them our own. Let us learn again the way of humility and self-emptying this week. Whatever else is going on in our lives, and however important those things might seem, let us not miss the opportunity that Holy Week provides for us. Let us walk this week with our humble king. Let us be with him as he offers us the Last Supper and washes our feet. Let us pray with him as he goes through agony and sweats blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. Let us go with him as he is betrayed and arrested and tried and mocked and whipped and spat upon and finally crucified. This is the way - the path - that the world does not tend to travel. We follow a king who not only rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, but who also was crucified as a common criminal.

 

What kind of king is this? Can we ride with this king? Do we find this kind of king attractive? Can we come to the One who calls himself gentle and humble, and find rest for our weary souls? And how will our lives be changes, if we follow this king? These are some of the questions of Holy Week. May we fully enter into the Way of the Cross this week, and wrestle with these questions. May we all ride into Jerusalem with Jesus this week, and see where he takes us.