In the time of Jesus

Jericho was the lowest continuously inhabited town

on the face of the earth,

and it still is. 258 m below sea level.

So the journey from Jericho  to Jerusalem was not easy.

It was a good 8 or 9 hour journey on foot

climbing all the way~

First through the sandy hills around Jericho

then labouring across the hot, dusty Judean desert

that rarely saw rain.

The sight of the villages of Bethphage and Bethany

nestling on the slopes of the Mount of Olives~

was the welcome sign to any travellers

that their journey was almost over.

Reaching the crest of the mount

travellers would see the desert  left behind them~

replaced on the other side of the Mount

by lush green growth~,

particularly at Passover time,

the height of spring.

There before them

travellers would see

across a narrow, deep valley~

Jerusalem itself~

The Holy City.

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The road to Jerusalem was busy on that day

with pilgrims on their way to celebrate Passover~

Among them Jesus and his disciples~

attended by a crowd,

getting bigger as they approached the city

These were people from all walks of life

who had heard of this wandering teacher~

seen his miraculous healings~

felt the power of his presence among them~

and listened to him speak of the kingdom of God~

already among them~

and yet still yet  to come.

Some were just curious.

#

The Pharisees among them were suspicious

of anything that disturbed the status quo~

But the majority of the crowd gathered around Jesus

on the crest of the Mount of Olives

were convinced he was the promised Messiah~

who, they thought ~

would bring in an earthly kingdom of his own~

rid them of their hated Roman overlords~

and restore their pride and nationhood.

##

Jesus was certainly coming into Jerusalem as a king~

and certainly as their Messiah~

but with intentions

that were beyond their understanding.

His kingdom was not of this earth,

as he had explained to them many times.

It was the Kingdom of God~

Not bound by nationhood,

or distance~

or time.

His kingdom encompassed

both heaven and earth~

and the whole of creation~

All of it to be brought to fulfilment and unity

on the Day of the Lord~

the day of God’s choosing.

.

And Jesus was going to enter Jerusalem

for this ,his last and greatest Passover,

as king~

The king of peace, royal yet humble~

foretold by the prophet Zechariah

500 years before~

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

Righteous, and having salvation,

Gentle, and riding on a donkey~

On a colt, the foal of a donkey.

 

He will proclaim peace to the nations

and his rule will extend from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.’[1]

#

As Jesus passes through the village of Bethphage~

the young donkey prepared for him

(as he had arranged earlier,)

is brought out

and draped in a bystander’s cloak.

Jesus mounts ~

and begins the last part of his journey~

the climb up the Mount of Olives,

and down the other side

through the Kidron Valley.

The crowd, caught up in the moment,

spread their cloaks on the road   in front of him~

cheering~

Pulling branches from the palm trees nearby.

They begin to sing part of psalm 118 of praise ~

The hymn  of praise

that pilgrims always sang on their way to Jerusalem:

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord![2]

A song of victory~

to the God who defeats all his foes

and establishes his kingdom

from heaven itself.

But the grumblers are still around.

Some Pharisees, blending in with the crowd

suddenly become anxious about what might happen

if the authorities in Jerusalem

get the idea that this is some sort of demonstration

in support of yet another would-be Jewish Messiah.

So they tackle Jesus:

“Teacher, tell them to settle down!”

Jesus answers them

with the unspoken knowledge he has ~

of the murderous opposition

waiting for him in Jerusalem~

“I tell you If they keep quiet~

the stones will cry out!”

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For Jesus,

The celebration is totally appropriate

precisely because he is coming as King,

but not of an earthly realm.

He is coming as God’s only son~

bringing salvation ~

the Kingdom of God~

to all people~

through his own Passover sacrifice on the Cross.

#

The exuberant crowd doesn’t see any of this.

They’re intoxicated with the prospect of their coming Kingdom.

They see it as a flawless success story,

with no hint of suffering on the way~

a political event rather than a spiritual one.

They understand it to be a Jewish kingdom,

with no place for Gentiles.

How alone Jesus was

           in the midst of all those cheering people….

Accepting quietly their joyful worship~

yet knowing that they simply didn’t understand.

##

 

On the way down the steep slope to the Kidron Valley,

Jesus pauses~

and his eyes fill with tears

as he gazes out over the city.

that has rejected him.

Time after time

in various ways throughout his ministry~

Jesus had warned

the priests, the scribes, the pharisees

and the teachers of the law~

the power brokers of the nation~

of the consequences of ignoring and perverting their part

in the Jews’ ancient covenant with God.

Jerusalem was the centre of their power.

Jerusalem was doomed~

and Jesus was mourning for his Holy City.

Remember his words earlier in his ministry

as he spoke with another group of Pharisees?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you~

How often have I longed

           to gather your children together,

                   as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings~

           But you were not willing!

 

Look, your house is left to you desolate.

I tell you~

You will not see me again until you say,

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”[3]

#

Now~ almost at the gates of Jerusalem~

with that same blessing echoing round him~

and his face wet with tears~

he foresees the ruin of the nation’s capital

as he pronounces God’s judgement on the city:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

“If you, even you, had had only known on this day what would bring you peace~ but now it is hidden from your eyes.

“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

 They will dash you to the ground, you and your children within

your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”[4]

 

This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter 30 years later.

#

As we listen again to these terrible words of Jesus

we need to remember that they were spoken through his tears.

from a heart of love

that wanted the best for his people

and the best from his people.

Over and over again in the course of his ministry

Jesus had fearlessly called out

the behaviour of powerful men.

In Chapter 23 of his gospel,

Matthew records Jesus’ long indictment against them~

This is just a taste:

Woe to you,

Teachers of the law and pharisees~

You hypocrites!

*You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.

You yourselves do not enter,

Nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

 

Woe to you!

You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,

And when he becomes one,

You make him twice as much

           a son of hell as you are.

 

Woe to you, you hypocrites!

You give a tenth of your spices~

But you have neglected the more important matters of the law~

Justice, mercy and faithfulness.

 

You snakes! You brood of vipers!

How will you escape being condemned to Hell?

Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers.

Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth.[5]

 

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees

did not heed Jesus words~

Either then or at any other time.

Now, here in Jerusalem

he will confront the Jewish leaders

in the very seat of their power~

The temple~.

the holy temple they had polluted

with their greed and hypocrisy.

#

The outward evidence of their sin

was obvious to anyone entering the temple courts.

Buying and selling~

and barefaced profiteering~

with much of the proceeds

adding to the coffers of the temple.

Jesus upends the tables of the hawkers~

causing chaos~

and fearlessly calls out again

the sin and greed of the high priests and officials

who have allowed this happen.

#

“My house will be a house of prayer;[6]

Quoting Isaiah,

You have made it a den of robbers.

The stage is set now for the coming week~

the week that the church calls holy.

#

Luke finishes the chapter with these simple words:

 Every day he was teaching at the temple.

But the chief priests, the teachers of the law

          And the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.

Yet they could not find any way to do it~

Because the people hung on his words.[7]

 

 

Jesus’ friends~ closest of all~

could only watch

in an agony of helplessness and apprehension~

as day after day

he repeatedly challenged the temple authorities.

##

Somehow,

throughout this Holy Week,

we are making a pilgrimage~

a journey with Jesus

that will take us

to a place of deep darkness and suffering for him~

before bringing us

into the joyful light of his resurrection.

For Christians the mind of Jesus,

Emmanuel, God with us,

is a mystery we can’t explore.

It is there for our worship

and our thanksgiving.

But our Christian faith also speaks to us

of the full humanity of Jesus.

So we needn’t hesitate to assume

that he felt as we feel~

feared as we fear,

and suffered as we suffer.

So in our hearts

each of us can walk with him

during the days of this Holy Week

and be blessed on the journey.

##

To help us on our way, we have today’s Psalm 31.

The book of Psalms

was the hymn book that Jesus knew~

the songs he would have sung~

the poems he would have recited as a child~

and known by heart in later life..

I think we all can bring to mind favourite hymns

that touch our spirits deeply whenever we hear them~

or better still~ sing them.

Texts of scripture that we learnt as children perhaps~

or ones that we have committed to memory

because of their significance

at a particular time in our lives.

What a comfort they are!

What a comfort the psalms must have been to Jesus~

as he sat publicly in the Temple day after day,

Rebutting the priests’ arguments designed to trap him.

In referring to himself,

during that final week~

Jesus said, quoting Psalm 118::

The stone the builders rejected

          has become the cap stone.”

At the last supper with his disciples

Jesus was reminded of a betrayal, centuries before~

recorded in Psalm 41

as he looked at Judas, his own betrayer:

          Even my own friend, in whom I trusted~

Who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

And most telling of all,

From our psalm for today ~

Jesus’ last words

before his death on the cross:

 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”.

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We didn’t read Psalm 31 today in its entirety~

but I encourage you to look it up

and use it

as part of your daily time of prayer

through the week.

When I re-read the psalm this morning ~

I could almost hear Jesus praying the words~

before setting out for the Temple

from Bethany ~

where he was staying in the home of Lazarus#

In you Lord, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be put to shame;

Deliver me in your righteousness.

 

Turn your ear to me,

          Come quickly to my rescue;

Be my rock of refuge.

 

Keep me free from the trap that was set for me,

For you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit;

Deliver me Lord, my faithful God.

As we reflect on these words

we see that they are universal~

They were David’s prayers centuries before~

They were the prayers of Jesus.

They are my prayers~

and yours too.

Further on in the psalm we read~

Let me not be put to shame, Lord,

 For I have cried out to you.

The cry of Jesus

And our cry too.

Then a plea for

~ not our justice,

but for the justice of God

on those who treat with contempt the faith of believers.

Let the lying lips of the wicked be silenced

For with pride and contempt

           they speak arrogantly

                    against the righteous.

The psalm ends with thanksgiving for God’s goodness and love~ and encouragement for those who love him.

How abundant are the good things

That you have stored up for those who fear you.

Be strong and take heart,

                   All you who hope in the Lord.

****************

Concluding prayer: Jesus, when you rode into Jerusalem the people waved palms with shouts of acclamation. Grant that, when the shouting dies we may still walk beside you even to a cross      Amen

 

 

[1] Zechariah 9.9.10b

[2] Luke 19.38; Psalm 118.26

[3] Luke 13. 31-35

[4] Luke 19.41-44

[5] Matthew 23

[6] Isaiah 56.7

[7] Luke 19.47-48