Loving God, as we journey with Jesus into Jerusalem, help us to see how his priorities are your priorities.  Help us also to be both hearers and doers of your will, empowered by your Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Did any of you notice in today’s gospel that Jesus is riding on two donkeys?...  In case you missed it, “they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them” (Mt. 21:7).  I point this out mainly because it is funny, but also because it points to the uniqueness of each of the four gospels.  Matthew, oddly enough, has misunderstood some Hebrew poetry. The passage that he quotes from Zechariah does not have two donkeys in it, but one (Zech. 9:9).  As the other gospels make clear, Jesus rides a colt, which is a young donkey.

         Another thing that is unique to Matthew is that everything that we heard in today’s gospel happens all in one day.  Jesus enters Jerusalem, drives the money changers out of the temple, heals the blind and the lame, and has an argument with the religious leaders over children crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David” in the temple. Jesus, it seems, has lots to do in the short time that he has left.  In fact, it would be interesting for us to ask the question, “What would we be doing if we knew that we had less than a week to live?”

         In Jesus’ case, he seems to be giving people every opportunity to realize who he is.  By riding into Jerusalem on a colt while people lay down their cloaks and palm branches in front of him, he is well within the tradition of the kings of Israel.  Other kings would have ridden to their coronation, whereas Jesus is riding to his death on the cross.  “Son of David,” which many people shout, would have identified Jesus as a king from David’s line as well as a messiah.  Many must have thought that he would indeed be crowned king and would save them from the Roman oppressors.  However, Jesus ensures that this will not happen by engaging in conflict with the religious leaders.

         In fact, the first thing that he does is to mess with some of their revenue streams.  The Jerusalem Temple had become big business.  It had become a place to exchange your currency and to buy and sell animals for sacrifices.  And so Jesus, exuding the words of the prophets from every pore, drives them all out and turns over their tables.  Not only that, but Jesus invites the blind and the lame into the temple.

         While this might seem like nothing to us, the blind and the lame had been excluded from the temple for many years.  They were not allowed to enter, and they could not come near the altar (cf. 2 Sam. 5:8; Lev. 21:18).  Yet, here is Jesus, not only welcoming them, but healing them.  Jesus makes it clear that God’s house is for prayer and for healing and for welcoming.  And Jesus also makes it clear that it is a place for children.

         The religious leaders, it seems, are horrified when they hear children crying out in the temple “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mt. 21:15).  The children are simply repeating what they had heard earlier when Jesus was entering the city.  Children, who were to be seen and not heard, were considered to be of no account at that time and in that society.  In fact, remember when the disciples tried to keep the children away from Jesus? However, as at that time, Jesus does not reprimand them.

         The religious leaders ask angrily, “Do you hear what these are saying?” (Mt. 21:16).  “Yes,” says Jesus.  “Out of the mouths of babes and infants God has prepared perfect praise” (cf. Ps. 8:2; Mt. 21:16).  In other words, the children have it right.

         One might have expected that Jesus, having ridden into Jerusalem like a king, might go to a palace. However, instead he heads to the Temple. There are echoes of the twelve year-old Jesus saying that he had to be in his Father’s house (Lk. 2:49).  His concern was with fighting corruption and greed, putting prayer ahead of revenue streams, welcoming and healing the blind and the lame, and affirming the wisdom of children.  All of these things are important to Jesus as he enters the final days of his life.

         It is clear that Jesus has a mission to fulfill, and it has not yet been accomplished.  There is so much to do and so little time, and so Jesus makes sure that he gets people’s attention.  As a “man for others,” Jesus spends his last days with both friends and strangers.  He also does a lot of teaching about being ready for the end, which we have heard over the past few weeks.

         It is likely that each of us would have different answers as to how we would spend our last few days on this earth.  It would depend on what is most important to us, and undoubtedly if we were to have unfinished business or an unfulfilled mission, we would pursue it just as doggedly as Jesus does.

         Jesus, as we have seen, shows what is important to him.  Cleansing God’s house, healing outcasts, welcoming children, teaching his disciples, spending time in prayer – all of these things make the list.  But ultimately, so do we.  For Jesus gave himself for our sake, in order that sin and death might no longer have dominion over us.  Jesus gave himself for our forgiveness and salvation, opening the door to eternal life.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Palm Sunday (NL 1)                                    Matthew 21:1-17

April 14, 2019

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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