Mark 11:1-10: Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to
Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples
and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you
enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and
bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has
need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and
found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some
of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought
the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many
spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had
cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were
shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is
the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
Beloved in Christ, our worship
service so far has shown that we Christians are all mixed up. The holidays are
upon us—with only 25 more shopping days left. But we want to have a little
parade. Well, that might be fine, says the world, but not if it is with donkeys
and palm branches, as we read earlier. If we are going to parade, we’re going
to have marching bands, giant balloons, reindeer and mistletoe—and at the end
Santa proclaiming the coming of all our winter holidays.
But, beloved in Christ, what does
the world really know? It has a story, and it wants to make sure that everyone
in the world knows the story. That story says that we are simply material
beings meant to enjoy material pleasures. Is it too dark and dreary out? Turn
on the lights to cheer yourself up. Do you feel unloved? Enjoy a nice feast or
two or buy yourself the latest gadget and you’ll feel so much better. You are
what you own. Now maybe you have to do some nice favors for other people so
that they’ll get you some good stuff, but in the end it’s all about the swag you
can pile up in this life. And while you’re indulging yourself in every kind of
food and enjoying every last creature comfort, go ahead and indulge your entire
body in every pleasure you want. Never say “no” to your wants. After all, life
is only about feeling good.
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That’s the world’s story. That’s the
world’s philosophy. And that outlooks determines the way holidays get
celebrated. It guarantees that the holidays will be about sugar and
shopping—and occasionally a little sharing, at least for the more spiritually
minded. The holidays are all about us trying to make ourselves feel a little
bit better at a time when we might naturally feel a little glum. So crank out
those holiday tunes in early November, light up the lights, and do everything
to cheer yourself up. So says the world.
But today’s gospel reminds us that
we Christians live with a different story and thus by a different philosophy
and so have a different way of handling life, including the holidays. And so
the first thing we need to know is that we have a God who comes into our midst
to reign. And we get a glimpse of what that looks like when we see Jesus Christ
riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
You see, Christ brings the kingdom
of God to us in three different ways. He came, first of all, in humility two
thousand years ago to establish God’s reign over us by His incarnation, birth, death
and resurrection. Now He comes to us in a second way, namely, through His Word;
whoever hears that Word and believes it is made a part of God’s kingdom. And,
finally, He will come again in great glory; at that time all will have to
acknowledge His authority, whether they want to or not.
We see elements of all three in that
triumphal procession into Jerusalem. First of all, we are reminded that this
took place as part of Christ’s first coming. He came in humility and poverty.
He did not come on a warhorse or chariot. He didn’t even own the donkey He
rode, but had to borrow it. And most important of all, He was just a few days
away from His death. He was specifically heading into Jerusalem because there
He would die for the sins of all people. Just half a dozen verses earlier Jesus
had summed up what He was about: “The Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus
elaborated: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be
your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”
Because Jesus was the greatest in the kingdom of God, He took it upon Himself
to be the lowliest of all, to serve all, yes, to die for all.
This is the exact opposite of the
world’s story. The world says, “Mortals, turn yourselves into gods and enjoy
everything.” But Christ, who is God, made Himself mortal and gave up
everything. The world tells us that this is the only life we have and you had
better squeeze everything out of it. But Christ gave up that life. And that is
because He came to offer us something more than this life and all its pleasures
could offer. He came to bring real life, life from its source, life from God.
And that is why He didn’t fiddle around with all of the things we fill our
lives with. He saw that human beings were caught in the vise of sin and all its
selfish manifestations. And so He went down to fight death and the grave, Satan
and hell, and every form of evil and wickedness. He didn’t mind going to the
cross, that shameful and painful form of death, as long as He could go and
throttle our deepest enemies and give us life.
So Christ came in humility two thousand years ago. But He also comes to us today through His Word. By His Word He brings His kingdom into our midst, yes, that kingdom full of life. We get a picture of that also in today’s gospel. There was a colt that was tied up in the village of Bethany. Jesus spoke the word. The disciples passed on that word faithfully to the owner of the colt. And the donkey was untied. All because Jesus had spoken the word. It didn’t matter that the owner of the colt couldn’t see Jesus that moment. All he had to do was hear that word of our Lord, and the matter was settled. So it is with us today. We do not see Christ, even though He is invisibly present in our midst. But He speaks His Word and things change. When He unties the burden of our sins, the burden is removed for good. When He pronounces us holy in His Father’s sight, then we are. When He proclaims that He reigns and is advancing His kingdom, then it is so.
We were not there two thousand years
ago when He was born in Bethlehem and later died and rose near Jerusalem. We
were not there for that triumphant procession. But we can hear His Word no less
than the owner of the colt did. What He calls a sin, let us call wicked. What
He calls holy, let us call blessed. What He says about forgiveness and new
life, let us hear with attentive ears. God has spoken. Reality has changed. His
words may not please everyone, but we are not everyone. We are no stubborn
mules. If a colt that had never been ridden—never broken in—knew enough to yield
to our Lord, should we not listen all the more attentively to what our Savior
claims? If an irrational beast of burden submitted to the Lord, why should we
buck and kick against His Word? No, let us welcome Him as He comes every week
in our midst to proclaim His Word.
As we do so, let us not forget that
He will come in glory. Again, today’s Gospel gives us a sample of the glory
that our Lord will have when He returns. The crowd threw their cloaks in front
of Him and waved palm branches before Him. They pronounced Him blessed. They
called on Him as God to save them. They proclaimed Him king, great David’s
greater Son. When He returns in glory—on some day in the future unknown to
us—palm branches and cloaks will not suffice. We will offer all the treasures
that we can offer, even though there is nothing that we can truly give Him. We
will worship Him even more profoundly, falling flat on our faces and
acknowledging Him to be the Lord. And it will not just be we who are doing so.
No, everyone will do it, including people who had despised Him and rejected Him
in this life. To be sure, they will still not have warmed up to Him, but they
will do obeisance before Him, for they will have no choice. Even Satan himself
will have to bow down before Christ and admit that he has been beaten.
That is the Christian story. It is
quite a different story than that which the world is telling. But if it is
true—and it is—then that means we must live differently than the world around
us does. Life is not all about accumulating pleasure after pleasure. It’s not
that we’re against having a pleasant experience or enjoying the material world;
it’s just that life is about so much more than pleasure. Life isn’t even about
priding oneself for being so “spiritual.” No, life is what happens when Christ
comes. Christ entered this world two thousands year ago, and death has been
running scared ever since. Christ comes to us today, condemning our sins and
offering forgiveness, changing our hearts and giving us new life. And Christ
will come again. At that time the bobbles and trinkets and bright lights of
this season won’t have meant a thing. But Christ—well, He is everything.
