Where are you headed?

Jesus enters Jerusalem at the Passover. The city is overflowing with religious pilgrims, come for the festival. Josephus, a 1st Century historian writing in the same time as the Gospel writers, tells us that each year more than 2 million Jews would stream into Jerusalem to celebrate and remember the night that God’s Spirit passed over Egypt, killing the first born of every Egyptian family and sparing all of the slave children, the final plague that led to Egypt’s release of God’s people from bondage. The meal is an ordered meal, filled with symbolism and meaning. Four times during the meal, a cup is poured: the first to remember God’s promise of freedom, the second to remember God’s deliverance from slavery, the third in hope of redemption remembering the promised return of Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah – a cup for Elijah is poured and left untouched, and the fourth and final cup is the cup of thanksgiving and hope, proclaiming that the story of God’s redemption is not ended. Passover celebrates what God has done in the history of God’s people, and God’s care for God’s people now, and at the same time proclaims that we still await a new future. All creation still groans and longs for its final redemption. At Passover, God’s people proclaimed faith enough to believe that God would not leave the world the way it is, so they awaited the day of the Messiah’s coming in glory to bring the Kingdom of God in fullness.

Matthew’s Gospel records carefully how Jesus fulfilled every prophesy of the Messiah’s arrival. The prophet Zechariah spoke God’s promise of the coming of a humble king who would ride a donkey and establish a reign of peace, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River of the Garden of Eden to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem in the way the Kings of Israel had ridden to their coronations – on a donkey. Kings rode horses when they were going into battle in war and donkeys when they came in peace. New Testament scholar Stanley Saunders writes about the messages Jesus is embodying, “Ancient ‘entrance processionals’ were of a similar character: an emperor, governor, or victorious military commander would enter a city amidst fanfare and singing, accompanied by soldiers and even prisoners of war, to be met by the leading figures of the city, who would offer speeches of welcome and gifts of tribute, hailing the conqueror’s justice and power.” Religious ceremonies and sacrifices accompanied the political celebration. Only Jesus’ entrance has “no prisoners of war, no military accompaniment, and no leaders from the city coming out to meet their king.” What does this mean? Saunders helps us understand that “By twisting the political rituals associated with Roman and Jewish elite power to his own ends, [Jesus] puts the powers into his parody parade. Jesus’ ‘triumphal entry’ signals the triumph of God’s identification with the weak, the lowly, and the marginal….”

And so, the Gentiles who believe in God and have come for Passover, but will only be allowed as close to the Temple as the farthest outside court, the Court of the Gentiles, come and want to see Jesus. He tries to help them understand what will take place in the coming week. It is time for the Son of Man to be glorified, and even though Jesus’s soul is troubled, he will obediently bear the purpose for his life. “It was for this very reason I came to this hour,” says Jesus, “Father, glorify your name!” The Gentiles are confused, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

“When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself,” says Jesus. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies,” if it is released and planted, it will sprout and grow, and in time it flowers and produces many seeds. “Anyone who loves their life” who holds onto their position and power, who holds onto the ways of this world because they benefit them, refuses to sacrifice, refuses to plant the fruits of the Spirit, seeds of love, seeds of joy, seeds of peace, seeds of forbearance, seeds of kindness, seeds of virtue, seeds of trust, seeds of gentleness, seeds of self-control…and one who holds onto their life the way it is, who holds all of these seeds tightly and does not plant them, that person may be curious about faith, about what life really means, but they will die and their life will not mean anything. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

And so we begin the journey of Holy Week, choosing our destination. Where are you headed? Will you choose to approach life on the back of a horse, riding into battle, or will you come in peace like Jesus, humbly riding a donkey? Will you be lifted up in sacrifice, take up your cross and die to self, allowing the fruits of the Spirit in your life to be scattered and fall where God wills – on the weak, the lowly, the marginalized – so that your life might bear much fruit? There will be times your soul is troubled by the path God lays out for you. The path of discipleship is not easy. This Holy Week, may we truly be able to say as Jesus enters Jerusalem, “I am following him.”