(A sermon preached at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Oaks, Pa.)
On July 22, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife Kate, had a baby boy--George--and it seemed like everywhere you went people were talking about it. I was doing clinical hours as a chaplain at a nursing home at the time and every room I visited had the television tuned to the news.
On July 22, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife Kate, had a baby boy--George--and it seemed like everywhere you went people were talking about it. I was doing clinical hours as a chaplain at a nursing home at the time and every room I visited had the television tuned to the news.
Why is it that even in
the United States with our proud independence from royal rule, we continue to
be fascinated by royalty? Derek Rishmaway has written a fascinating blog post
on “How the Royal Baby Fever points us to a Royal longing.” Allow me to quote
from that article because I think what he says is pretty insightful,
We love the idea of a true king who will come, take things firmly in hand, reign with righteousness, and bring the shalom of a kingdom at peace. This is why everything in us clapped for joy when we read Aragorn finally crowned king in The Lord of the Rings. It’s also why some of us found ourselves uncomfortably agreeing with Loki in The Avengers film as he lectured the masses on their innate desire to be ruled: “You were made to be ruled …In the end, you will always kneel.” There was something true about it, and yet that truth felt like a dangerous lie coming from Loki’s mouth. Indeed, it’s telling that the film didn’t directly reject the notion, but had the brave old German man say, “Not to men like you.” The implication of course, is that for the right man, we would gladly kneel.
Perhaps nowhere is the
age-old longing for a righteous king more clearly expressed than in the Jewish
hope and expectation of a coming Messiah. God promised King David that he would
raise up a descendent from his line whose kingdom would endure forever. When
the people fell into oppression and exile, that hope became a longing for a
savior.
In the time of Jesus,
the Jewish people were groaning under foreign occupation and a corrupt
religious and political establishment. They clung to God’s promise to redeem them
and place over them a prince, a good shepherd, who would rule with
righteousness and restore their fortunes. It is in this context that Zechariah
proclaimed these words of hope,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, your king is coming to you;righteous and having salvation is he,humble and mounted on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(Zechariah 9:9 ESV)
In today’s Gospel passage Jesus very
self-consciously evokes this prophecy through his actions. We get a glimpse
into Jesus’ own self-understanding. In and through him God was returning to his
people to set them free. He himself is the righteous king, the messiah, the Son
of David spoken of by the prophets.
Earlier, Jesus gave instructions to
his disciples to find a donkey and a colt tied with her. It might seem odd that
Jesus should be so specific in his directions to his disciples, but his
entrance was a carefully calculated message. For Jesus to come riding on a
donkey was a symbolic gesture loaded with meaning. He is the coming king that
Zechariah foretold! The allusion was not lost on the people either. The crowd
spread their cloaks in the road before him and waved branches shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9 ESV)
The one they have been
waiting for has finally arrived and their salvation is at hand, but things are
not going to happen as they expect them to. Jesus is not the king they want,
but he is the king they need.
When Jesus came riding
into Jerusalem on a donkey there is no doubt that the crowd was reminded not only
of Zechariah’s famous prophecy, but of the celebrated rebel Judas Maccabaeus
who, 200 years before, was hailed in Jerusalem in a similar fashion after
defeating Israel’s pagan oppressors and cleansing the temple. The crowds
expected Jesus to be a great warrior like Maccabaeus who would drive out the
pagan oppressors with violence.
They failed to note the
surprising irony of Zechariah’s prophecy. The mighty king comes not on a
magnificent white horse but humble and riding on a donkey. Jesus will turn upside down every expectation
the people have not only of what a king looks like, but of what true power and
victory look like. The enemy that Jesus
is coming to defeat is larger than even the mighty Roman Empire and the
salvation he comes to bring is deeper and more universal than national
liberation. Jesus is coming to rescue
not only the nation of Israel, but all humanity from the power of sin and death
and to reconcile them to God.
Mysteriously, the means of this victory will not be through the violent
death of Israel’s enemies, but his own bloody crucifixion.
As we know, the joy of
Palm Sunday will soon turn to the betrayal of Thursday and the horror of
Friday. Once the crowd realizes that Jesus has no intention of being the king
they want, their cries of “Hosanna” will be changed to cries of “Crucify Him!”
The crowd will choose Jesus Barabbas over Jesus Christ. When presented with
their one true king, the king that every human heart yearns to know, they will
cry, “We have no king but Caesar!”
In the events of Holy
Week we see represented for us the perennial tendency of the human
heart—originating with our parents in the garden—to trade the truth of God for
a lie, God’s way for our way, freedom for slavery, the gospel for law, and life
for death. We reject God as our king and instead give ourselves over to the
tyranny of idols who enslave and oppress us.
The good news is that
our sinfulness and rejection of God’s Kingdom aren’t the only things represented
in the events of Holy Week. We also see represented the radical and
transforming, one-way-love of God in sending Jesus Christ to rescue us from sin
and death. As the scriptures teach us in
Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners Christ died for us.”
Even in the face of our
rebellion God gives us his son Jesus Christ to be our king. The account of
Jesus’ passion over and over again points us to the startling fact that God
declared the very one who was rejected and crucified to be the king of glory! Jesus
was crowned with thorns, wrapped in a scarlet robe, and given a hollow reed as
a royal scepter. His persecutors mockingly bowed before him and paid him
homage.
In the ancient Roman ritual of coronation,
Caesar was similarly garbed, acclaimed by his guard as Lord, and led through
the streets to a high hill followed by a sacrificial bull. Jesus too was led
through the streets to a high hill. He could not carry his own cross so it was
given to Simon of Cyrene who carried it for him. Jesus followed behind in the
place of the sacrifice. Despite the protest of the religious leaders, even the
sign nailed above him on the cross read “King of the Jews.” An early Christian
commentator named Chromatius writes, “These things were done to mock Jesus. But
now we know these things happened through a heavenly mystery.” The events of Jesus’ passion are a kind of
ironic coronation. Jesus is the king enthroned upon the cross!
This is what true kingship looks like. There are many pretenders to the throne who rule with violence and oppression. The scriptures denounce these imposters as wicked shepherds. The Good shepherd—the true righteous king—they say, lays down his life for his sheep.
This is what true kingship looks like. There are many pretenders to the throne who rule with violence and oppression. The scriptures denounce these imposters as wicked shepherds. The Good shepherd—the true righteous king—they say, lays down his life for his sheep.
Jesus Christ is indeed the King that the human heart longs for, who gives his life for
the sins of the world, but we in our blindness and sin reject him.
Even though I confess him with my lips, I bow my knee to a thousand lesser sovereigns.
Even the worship I give him falls so far below his worthiness that it is merely a crown
of thorns and a hollow reed. What thou, my Lord, has suffered
was all for sinners' gain;
mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
vouchsafe to me thy grace.
The surprising grace of
the gospel is that what human beings intended for evil, God intended for
good. Where sin increased, grace
abounded all the more! Christ has taken our rejection of him and made it the
very means of our redemption. Christ has already overcome the most
insurmountable obstacle to peace and healed the greatest hurt, our sinful
enmity with God and estrangement from him. What struggle is there in your life
that is too great for him? What sin so grievous that his grace is not
sufficient? Brothers and sisters, cling to the Gospel, live with faith and
courage.
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Worship the King!
