Apr. 5, 2009 - Muerto Cristo - Mark 11:1-11
This morning, we come to the final Sunday of Lent, celebration of Palm Sunday – and we read the story of the triumphant entry of Jesus into
Jesus has stayed away from
The common folk – those who have heard of his exploits and look forward to their liberation - welcome Jesus with open arms, waves of palm branches and even throw their cloaks onto the path where Jesus’ donkey will tread.
They joyfully welcome Jesus as their king – but not as the kind of king that Jesus is destined to be. As they wave their branches to welcome him, most are no doubt remembering other kingly processions into the city. They remember Jehu’s revolution against the evil rulers Ahaziah and Jezebel and his coronation when people placed their garments on the steps and declared him king. They remember the time only 200 years ago that Simon Maccabeus entered
They will look to Jesus as he rides into the city and shout ‘Hosanna, Save Us’, and hope that Jesus, like Jehu and Simon Maccabeus before him will rout the idolaters and the oppressors from the land and restore peace. They shout for a conqueror who comes with might, who strikes with force, who conquers with the sword – and as they do, they miss the very deliberate clues that Jesus is leaving for them – hoping that they will understand.
What clue is that? Jesus comes riding in not on the back of the graceful steed of a famous general, but on the back of a colt. Jesus comes not with trappings of power, but with the attitude of humility. He comes not to force his will upon the people, but to offer them freedom. He comes not to force his own lordship upon the people, but to be chosen by them for a kind of lordship that cannot be won by the sword, nor imposed by the whip.
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And so Jesus rides into town on the back of a colt accepting the adulation of the crowds who still mistake his intent: they want a general who will get rid of the Romans. Through the crowds who still misinterpret his identity: they cry out, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord – not blessed is the Lord – not blessed are you our Lord, but blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. They cry out for the return of the kingdom of their ancestor David when kings reigned in Israel and one’s faith was shown by one’s obedience and one’s lineage - instead of welcoming in a new age when Christ will reign in the human heart and one’s faith was shown by one’s love.
Even the disciples, his closest friends, his traveling companions, his students, think they are there for all the wrong reasons. They know Jesus will not come with military power, but having seen his miracles – his power from above, they expect to see him sweep away the unbelievers with the wave of a hand and some tremendous miracle of God.
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The chief priests in the temple see this morning’s joyful procession in quite another light. They have been watching the ministry of Jesus for some time. They have tolerated his increasing popularity as long as he remained just another obscure Jewish prophet in the countryside – but this: to come right into Jerusalem, into their territory and challenge the ruling classes of the country is the height of boldness – and to come now: when the streets are filled with worshippers whose hearts are filled with messianic hope and whose purses are filled with coins is sure to unsettle their tenuous situation with the Romans.
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The Roman guards are also keeping a close eye on this morning’s procession. They see it for what it is – a protest march – a possible spark of rebellion into an already volatile situation. These are the high holy days in this little back water country so far from their home. The population of the town is swollen with pilgrims – the danger of riots is everywhere – and they have not been all that uncommon in the past. They are pledged to keep the peace no matter what, and this little protest march cannot be the start of something good.
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The journey of Jesus into
But like most protest marches, the people of this city in this time turned out to be all too willing to help the authorities dispose of a savior that did not measure up to all their expectations. Like most protest marches, this one has a vision that is too narrow, too nationalistic and too short-sighted. It welcomes a messiah, but only the kind of messiah who will give them what they want and let them keep all that they have – they long for a messiah who will bring back the ‘good old days’ without requiring them to move into a responsible future. They want all the trappings of freedom but they are unwilling to pay its price…………. And it sounds a lot like the church in the 21st century.
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But like the crowds who lined the road to
We welcome a messiah, but only the kind of messiah who will answer our prayers, shower us with blessings and stay neatly tucked inside the Bible gathering dust on our shelves.
Like the Jews of the 1st century, we long for a messiah who will bring back the ‘good old days’ but who won’t make us move into a responsible future. We want the church to stay just the way it was in the 1950’s or 1960’s while the world outside our doors struggles with issues of abortion, euthanasia and infidelity – We want to sing about ‘old-time’ religion while the world is being torn apart by injustice and hatred and war. We too want all the trappings of Christian freedom but we are unwilling to pay its price by being responsible workers in creating God’s new order – we want the security of the past to carry us into an uncertain future.
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Soon the crowds will realize that Jesus is not the messiah they expect or want. Soon the religious authorities will realize that this troublesome prophet from
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When I lived in
It is a phrase repeated over the centuries as a rationale for persecuting the Jews - as a means of blaming them for the death of Christ. Muerto cristo.
It is a phrase that springs forth from a mistaken idea that Jesus did not have to die, but that the Jews killed him and that every Jew who has lived since them is also responsible for his death. It was even an idea adopted for a time by the Catholic Church and more recently refuted when the Catholic church declared that is was not the Jews per se who killed Jesus, but the people living at that time.
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Both ideas seem to let us off the hook a little too easily. It’s easier to think that it was those Christ Killers who were responsible for the death of Jesus. It’s even a comfort to think that it was the people living at that time who put Jesus to death. But both of these ideas make it seem that the death of Jesus was a mistake – it wasn’t – or that Jesus couldn’t have saved himself – he could have – and that we ourselves are not responsible – we are.
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Surprisingly, the Bible gives us no single reason given why the death of Jesus was necessary. Many reasons are hinted at, but none is stated with authority. But this we know, all we like sheep have gone astray, there is none righteous, no not one. God gave his only begotten son. That the world through him might be saved. And by grace are we saved through faith. The Lord is patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Whatever the necessity of the crucifixion, this is certain: as Jesus rode into town that day on that little colt and listened to the adulation of the crowd, as he understood their misconceptions about his identity, as he looked into the eyes of the same people who in just a few days would cry out not Hosanna, but Crucify him, he loved them. As the colt made its way through the palm branch strewn path to Jerusalem, Jesus looked forward in time to see every one of us, to see each one who would be reached by the gospel, to see into the heart of each one who would make all the same mistakes as the crowds that surrounded him along the dusty road.
Fred Craddock writes, ‘The final Sunday of Lent is therefore marked by a celebratory parade, which was also a protest march. Only Jesus knew that the same event was also a funeral procession.’[1]
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But he went anyway. It was not the Jews who really killed Jesus. It was not the people of that time who were responsible for his death – it was every one of us – it was for our sake and for love of us that he went. And we crucify hum anew every time we turn the love of God into an occasion for intolerance – each time we return an eye for an eye – whenever we seek our own good over the good of brothers or sisters.
The good news for us as we go forth this week, is that Jesus sees us as we are – and went to the cross for us anyway.
The good news for us is that God loves us so much that he came and suffered and died so that we can be reconciled with the Holy.
The good news for us this week is that, filled with thelove, forgiveness and redemption of Christ, we rise to new lives of love and grace and filled with that grace we can go and share it with a world in pain who has never known this loving, liberating, living truth.
Amen.
