The atmosphere in Jerusalem was electric. Flooded with tourists and pilgrims, the city hummed with rumors about the itinerant rabbi who had raised a man from the dead, and was now headed their way. The people were excited and intrigued, while the Pharisees were more and more concerned about this destabilizing force.
The anticipation reached a crescendo as Jesus neared the eastern gate, riding on a borrowed donkey. Crowds rushed from the gate, shaking palm branches pulled off the trees lining the road to the Mount of Olives, a symbol of Israel’s righteousness and joy.
The people were attracted to the power of Jesus, to raise the dead and, presumably, overthrow the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of David. Their cry “hosanna” means “save now,” a call for immediate action and salvation. The people believed that the coming messiah was a political creature, leveraging physical power to ring in the new physical kingdom.
Jesus rode a donkey, in fulfillment of prophecy, rather than a warhorse, but the donkey was still a common mount for royalty in the Near East. Note also that Jesus never rejects the praise and worship of the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Pharisees were already plotting to deal with this troublemaker. Any destabilization of the tenuous political situation threatened their power and the little empire they had carved out.
Jesus’ entire life was a threat to the Empires of the world, beginning with his birth and the paranoia of Herod. He threatened not just political empires, but religious and cultural empires, as well as the personal empires within every human heart.
Today, we live in the midst of a mighty empire, politically, militarily, culturally – and of course, personal. That homeless rabbi is coming for our empires. In Jerusalem, he went from the Triumphal Entry directly to kicking over tables in the Temple. As he marches towards your soul, what is at the heart of your personal empire that Jesus needs you kick over? Racism, greed, anger?
We build walls of justification around these personal empires, much of it bolstered by lies and assumptions from the cultural empires we live in the midst of. As in Jerusalem, Jesus is coming to upend things we have believed our entire lives. How will you welcome him?
– Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, March 25, 2018
John 12:12-19
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