ROME IMPROVEMENT 03/28/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 11:1-11

With six days left in Lent, we begin to tell our story of shame, despair, and hope. It is Palm Sunday. Hosanna!

In recent years, we have begun to tell the full Passion story on Palm Sunday for many reasons. One of which is that we get to tell the story of the passion in the words of the Gospel for the year, reserving John’s account for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Whatever the reason for the texts chosen for this Sunday, the Church reserves this week to tell our story in a continuous manner. It starts today and proceeds to the events of Easter morning: “He has been raised. He is not here.”

Previously at the end of Chapter 10 in Mark’s Gospel, Bartimaeus has encountered Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. The disciples take Bartimaeus to Jesus where Bartimaeus asks to see again. Receiving his vision, he follows Jesus “on the way”. This joy-filled following concludes the evangelical message of Mark.

But what is the way? For those of you who have read some of my earlier postings, you know that I believe that Mark 11 is the rightful beginning of this Gospel. It tells that the way of faithful following is the way to the cross.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

Leaving Jericho and now approaching Jerusalem, at the house of Unripe Figs (Bethphage) and the House of Sorrows (Bethany), near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples saying, “Go into the village over there, and, immediately, as you enter it, you will find there a colt that has never been ridden. Loose it and bring it. If any says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back immediately.’”

The disciples went and found a colt tied near a door at the crossroads. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said, and the bystanders allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their outer robes on it, and Jesus sat on it. Many people spread their outer robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields.

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and arriving at the temple; he looked all around. Noting that the hour was late, he left to stay at the House of Sorrows.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

There are those who prefer to also make this Passion Sunday, reading the entire text of Jesus’ time at the Last Supper, his time in Gethsemane, and his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. It is my hope that this story is important enough for you who listen to my sermon, you who read this, and others, that you will come on Thursday and Friday for more of the Passion narrative.

I invite you to hear me at 6:00 pm, Thursday and Friday, on our Conference Call number, (425) 436-6376 (not toll-free), pass code 143-7151#. You can also worship with us in person with masks on at those times or listen to the words of your own pastors as we try to make sense of Jesus’ willingness to die in order for us to be justified, made right, put in a relationship of mercy-filled grace with God. How does this narrative continue to have meaning in our lives today?

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

A while back, before COVID, flash mobbing was a big thing. One person would text everyone in their contact list saying, Let’s all meet at ____”. Those who received the message would forward it to their contacts and soon, people, sometimes thousands, would show up at the designated place. It was even done for worship services.

This is not what Jesus and the disciples did. It appears theirs is a carefully choreographed event. Jesus knows he is the one elected to be the king of the parade. He knows to send his disciples to a particular place where the colt is tied. People have had time to cut leafy branches in the fields. Others have brought robes with which they can carpet Jesus’ way from the Mount of Olives to the temple.

This parade into Jerusalem has the earmarks of what we now know as “carnival”. Some scholars believe that his entry into Jerusalem is, subversively, an anti-entry taking place while Pilate and his soldiers entered Jerusalem at another gate, a parade that would have been a Roman law-and-order power display amid the Jewish Passover celebration.

In this parade, the conquering king or king’s representative, often a military general, entered a town with an impressive show of force. The conquering lord might have been riding a horse or may have been riding in a chariot with armor. The army would have followed either riding horses or marching.

Along the way, the new subjects of the king would have been bowing before the conquering lord begging for their lives to be spared. They would have been crying out, “Hosanna, Lord save us!” They would have been praising the works of the conquering lord, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord” while thinking, “May you die a painful death and rot in hell”.

They would have been speaking, “Blessed is the coming reign of the blessed one (David)” which could have been wishing for the good old days and restoration of self-rule. At the same time people would have run ahead of the commander to open the doors of the temple where the conquerors would have claimed the city’s patron god in the name of the victorious nation, perhaps renaming it in the process.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Jerusalem, a very different parade is going on. Not a warhorse or chariot, but an unridden donkey leads the parade. We might expect to see some bucking and more clownish posturing. Raucous laughter and cheering would be expected. Here the cries of hosanna might have less serious fervor. Even the blessing of the one who comes in the name of the Lord might rise to protest Caesar rather than in pious submission to God’s deliverance. 

Today, knowing the result of the parade, we see Jesus as the servant Son of Man, riding to the destiny of the cross.

• But did the people of the time see it that way?
• Might this parade of entry be a political rally in protest of Roman rule?
• Can we see today’s protest rallies in the actions of these people as part of our faith-life journey?

Whether you see the great entry into Jerusalem as political or sacred, it is the opening scene of the story that will change the world.

HANGING THE TRIM

Between the House of Unripe Figs and the House of Sorrows, we see a world that is not yet ready for God’s acts of love and the death of Jesus on the cross. We wait for the door of the tomb to be opened, when our sorrows lead to joy, and the unripe fruit may lead to a harvest of plenty. May you have a blessed Holy Week.