A king rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. What kind of king is this? Like most of what we are told in the gospels, things are not what people expected!
We read about this
triumphant day among others in Luke 19: 28 – 40.
When this Kind of king
arrives, our expectations and our practices are challenged. We live in an age
of challenged perspectives and expectations.
The biggest challenge is -
do people know who this King really is, or do they act in terms of their own
expectations about him? Do they really understand what kind of King this is?
Do they hear Jesus claiming
that he is King of heaven and earth, of all that exist, that he is the cosmic
King?
Jesus said that if his
disciples did not receive him as the King of all, the stones would call it out.
(verse 40)
He has control over the
stones. Over heaven and earth. Everyone
on this planet will answer to him. Every authority and every person, family, church,
or movement!
He would enter Paradise on
Good Friday and all in heaven would hail him as Redeemer!
He would enter heaven on Ascension
Day and be seated on God’s very throne.
He will return as judge over
everything and those who scorned him would beg the hills and the mountains to
cover them from the sight of the glorious Judge!
Much change is needed, in your
own country, in our continent and in the world. Political, economic, and social
change are demanded. Crime and crime syndicates must be stopped. We can only
stop climate change if we change the way we live. We all know that our children and
grandchildren will live in a completely changed world.
In this narrative the people unleash in praise and thanksgiving for change, in this case, a change of kingship. Luke's gospel is
very clear in making the point; Jesus is coming as a king who will lay claim on
Jerusalem. He enters from the main gate with a procession welcoming him as the
new king. Clothes and palm branches are waved. And he rides into the city like a conquering king, his disciples crying
out;
"Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and
glory in the highest!"
Hosanna to the King of
Kings!
You heard the Pharisees
saying, "Teacher, rebuke your
disciples." They had heard that with
Jesus would come trouble, but now they hear it with their own ears. Jesus’
disciples are proclaiming him king, and not just any king, but the Messiah. They
not only saw political trouble but also a possible religious age.
But Jesus responded, "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the
stones will cry it out."
When will we realize that
big changes are coming?
We who sit on the other side
of this great advent in history, where
Christianity is at best ignored by most, and at worst is run down by some. The
church appears likely to continue its decline over coming decades. Gone is this weighty Christian period which
carried the Gospel of the crucified, risen and ascended Lord throughout the world.
Bringing true faith to our peoples and setting us free from false religion.
And yet I find the irony of this
narrative of the triumphal entry of the Cosmic King of the Universe, the One
who will take upon himself the sins of the world, and redeem not only Israel,
and not only all of humanity, but the whole of creation, that he humbly arrives on a
young donkey, very comforting for our time of being the Church. His humility conquers every sphere of life.
Jesus Christ is that kind of
King for whom piles of stones, all peoples on earth and the very host of heaven
are heard to cry out "Hosanna
to the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest!"
Indeed, everything in the universe and everyone in heaven shall on the Day of the Lord follow the grand procession led by angels to eternally welcome the coming of this glorious Risen Christ who forever walks on wounded feet and with wounded hands proclaims a peace without end, world without end.
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