The Triumphal Entry and What Came Next
Matthew 21:1–11
March 16, 2008
University Christian Church, Seattle, WA
Rev. Sandy Messick

• Comedian Billy Crystal struck out at his first and only at-bat with the New York Yankees during spring training last week. He was living out his one-day contract to celebrate his 60 th birthday. When asked what it was like, he reported that “it was surreal. It was great.” I guess it’s now something he can check off of his “bucket-list”.
• A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die; those things you want to do before you…well, kick the bucket. There was a movie by the same name out not too long ago. In it, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman lived out their bucket lists by riding motorcycles on the Great Wall, skydiving and eating caviar.
• Perhaps Billy Crystal would have put playing major-league baseball on his list. Other stars list other things. Morgan Freeman says he has more movies he still wants to make. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres wants to learn Spanish. Beyoncé, a lifelong dancer, used to have ballet on her list, but she crossed it off deciding it was too hard. Instead, she added learning Arabic.
• So what would be on your list? What do you hope to accomplish before you die? What if you only had one week?
• Whatever you might put on your list, it’s probably nothing like what Jesus set out for himself. At least according to Matthew. At least what’s recorded between the Triumphal Entry of Palm Sunday and the betrayal of Good Friday.
• Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, that triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The gospel accounts all record this story, though they vary in details here and there. Only John says they used palm branches. Only Matthew makes it sound like Jesus was riding on both a donkey and a foal of a donkey at the same time. And in Luke, when the religious leaders complain, Jesus tells them that if the crowd was quiet, even the stones would cry out in celebration.
• But in all of the gospels, the entry into Jerusalem marks the beginning of the end. Jesus tells his disciples to go into the city and get a donkey. The crowds come out and lay their clothes on the ground before him, and cut branches and wave them, and in all of the accounts Jesus is hailed, “Hosanna, son of David, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
• I wonder, when Jesus told the disciples to go and get the donkey, did he use his divine intuition and just “know” that the donkey would be there, or did he set it up ahead of time? In any case, he no doubt knew that it would be seen as fulfilling the prophecy from Zechariah, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey.” People would get the message, “Look, here is your Messiah. Coming into your midst.”
• And all of that raises the question: Did Jesus know what would happen next? Did Jesus have that divine knowledge about what would happen once he arrived in Jerusalem, as the gospels imply, or is that something that was written back into the story after the fact?
• The truth is, even if he didn’t have divine knowledge about the future, it wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that going to Jerusalem would be a dangerous thing to do. To put himself in the way of the religious leaders and Roman authorities, when he’d already annoyed them in the past would clearly have been a risky decision.
• And yet he chose to go. And not quietly either. He made a big deal about entering the city, a full out parade complete with animals, banners and streamers and cheering crowds. And once there, he refused to keep a low profile. He refused to spend his remaining days quietly keeping out of sight.
• According to Matthew, here’s what Jesus did during those last days. Or at least, here are the stories that Matthew puts between the triumphal entry and the crucifixion.
• First, Jesus cleansed the temple. He went into the house of worship and in a fit of fury drove out the moneychangers, those who were making a prophet off of those who had come to worship God; those who had made common what was a holy place. He drove them out and so challenged the religious authorities who had welcomed them in.
• Second, Jesus told stories. A whole section of parables is put in here, and not the nice fluffy, feel good ones like the one about the Good Samaritan or the Lost Sheep or the Prodigal Son. He told the stories that challenged, and berated and condemned.
• He told the story about the man with two sons and how he told each of them to go out into the field. The first son said, “Of course I’ll go,” but then didn’t. And the second son said, “I’m not going,” but then did. And according to the story, it was the second son who earned the approval. Actions speaking louder than words. A call to accountability.
• He told the stories about the Wedding Banquet and the 10 Bridesmaids and how the foolish bridesmaids ran out of oil for their lamps before the groom had come, and how because of their foolishness they missed the wedding feast. He called people to readiness and preparation.
• He told the story about the talents, and how the servants were each given talents, but several hid the talents because they were afraid to risk, but the one who risked got the praise, for he had more than doubled his money. And Jesus said those who are willing to risk will be blessed.
• He was asked whether we ought to pay taxes or not, and he replied give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, and people knew he was telling them they had not given to God what belonged to God.
• Jesus challenged people to love. He was asked what’s the greatest commandment, and Jesus said, “It’s love. Love your neighbor and love God most, and on these two laws hang everything else.” And then he told the story about the sheep and the goats and about caring for the least of these, for when you feed and clothe, and visit and love the least of these, you are doing it for Jesus himself.
• Then, as if he hadn’t been bold enough, as if they hadn’t gotten the message clearly enough, he spoke it plainly. He denounced the scribes and the Pharisees, the good church folk as hypocrites, because they had been too concerned with rules and weren’t willing to love.
• And he lamented. He lamented and wept for Jerusalem, because she was so lost. And he longed to gather up God’s children as a mother hen gathers her babies under her wings, but the people wouldn’t let him. The people insisted on turning away from God. All of this is what Jesus was doing during those last days, at least according to Matthew. All of this is what Jesus was doing when he only had a week to live.
• In the background, something else was happening. Even as Jesus was out in front stirring up trouble, things were happening behind the scene. His words were having an effect. The religious leaders were plotting to kill him. Judas was agreeing to betray him. And one day, in Bethany, an unnamed woman knelt at his feet and anointed him with oil and her tears, preparing him for his own death and burial.
• It doesn’t appear that safety or survival or self-preservation were very high on his list of things to do before he died. Nor did he seem interested in playing for the Yankees, or skydiving, or visiting the Great Wall of China. No, for Jesus his bucket list was pretty much what he’d done all his life: living out things like obedience, and witness, and integrity, and authenticity.
• If he’d played it safe, he might’ve made it through that last week. He might have avoided the messiness of the cross, the pain of the crucifixion. Of course, if he’d played it safe, we wouldn’t have remembered him all these years.
• He wouldn’t be the one that could call us, through his own example, to the same kind of witness, and obedience, and integrity.
• So this is Palm Sunday. And for those of us who know the story, the celebration can be overshadowed by the week ahead. But then again, for those of us who know the story, we can celebrate even more this triumphal entry with palms and voices and cheers raised. For Jesus came not as a conquering hero, but as the suffering servant. He came as one who was willing to give it all up, and in giving it up, he gained it all. And so do we.