On 22nd February 1954, Queen Elizabeth II, attended the Opening of Parliament in Hobart. Some here may remember that day. Elizabeth II was the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on Australian soil. The Royal Tour was the biggest single event ever organised in Australia. Queen Elizabeth undertook a journey which involved travelling 10,000 miles [= 16,000 kilometers] by air, making approximately 33 flights, 2000 miles by road (130 hours in cars in 207 trips), visiting all capitals except Darwin and 70 country towns, many by special “royal trains.” It has been estimated that 75% of the Australian population turned out to catch a glimpse of their Queen.
Today’s second reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, is also about a royal visit. The journey was shorter, and the crowd was smaller—but probably just as enthusiastic! And they believed a monarch greater than Elizabeth II—or any other queen or king—had come to visit. I should add that Queen Elizabeth also believed that a greater monarch than herself had come to visit.
- THE COMING OF THE KING
There are two questions we need to answer this morning. The FIRST QUESTION is: Why did the crowd think a man on a donkey was God’s “king,” even though many of the religious rulers didn’t agree? The SECOND QUESTION is: Why did Luke, who wrote this event down for us, think that this event symbolised the end of Christmas? We will come back to this question in a few moments.
We have a proverb: “a picture speaks a thousand words.” Well, the picture the people saw on the path down from the Mount of Olives into the city of Jerusalem spoke a thousand words to them. In fact, Jesus riding on a donkey spoke more powerfully than any words could have done about his claim to be their king. Jesus had walked all over the hills of Israel for years. Would he suddenly need to ride into the city? No. After all it would only have taken about 20 minutes to walk down into the city. This was a symbolic action. But what was it symbolic of? The clue is in our first reading from the book of the prophet Zechariah. In chapter 9, verse 9, Zechariah says to the city of Jerusalem built on Mount Zion:
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (NRSVue, modified)
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The Mount of Olives from the Old City of Jerusalem (Photo: © Bill Stewart 2018). For a helpful introduction to the history of the Mount of Olives and its significance in the Bible and church history, read Peter Walker, In the Steps of Jesus: An Illustrated Guide to the Places of the Holy Land, Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2007, pages 116-130. |
We can see that many in the crowd understood this because we’re told that “people kept spreading their cloaks on the road” in front of him. Luke’s Gospel doesn’t mention it but in Matthew’s Gospel we’re told that “others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road” (Matthew, chapter 21, verse 8). They were honouring Jesus as a royal visitor. Both before and after Jesus entered Jerusalem branches were used to recognise kings of Israel (read 1 Maccabees chapter 13, verse 51; 2 Maccabees 10:7; and they are also on the coins of the revolutionary “prince” Simon ben Kosiba, AD 132-135). We might not recognise this symbolism today. But we can’t miss the point in the words of the crowds (in verse 38 of today’s second Bible reading):
38 “Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
Of course, not everyone was pleased about that the crowd were calling Jesus their God-given King. The Pharisees, who were some of the religious readers, said to Jesus (in verse 39): “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” Perhaps the Pharisees were worried that this would attract the attention of the Roman soldiers who controlled the city? Probably. Both the historian Josephus ( Judaean War, book 2, 261-263) and the New Testament book of Acts (Acts 21:38) tell us about a man who 25 years after Jesus (around AD 55) gathered thousands of followers on the Mount of Olives to enter Jerusalem and defeat the Romans and then to set himself up as the ruler (although Josephus says he would have been a “tyrant”). The Roman Governor sent his soldiers against them and many of his followers died. Of course, there was a clue that Jesus had a different approach to being king in mind—his re-enactment of the prophecy of Zechariah: “humble and riding on a donkey …” It seems likely that the Pharisees would have been worried about upsetting the Romans; but they were probably also rejecting what was being said about Jesus. He wasn’t their king! Jesus’ answer makes it clear he thought otherwise (in verse 40): “I tell you, if these [people] were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Biblical scholar Peter Walker, an expert on the history and geography of Jerusalem (who I had the privilege of meeting in Jerusalem a few years ago), helps us understand Jesus’s message here. He says:
… by his choice of a donkey, Jesus wanted people to see not only the ‘gentleness’ of his reign, but also that he was both the true king over Jerusalem and the true ruler of the world. If the mode of his ruling was not by military might, yet the extent of his rule was vast. …
And yet there is also a deeper, more mysterious, layer to this event. For in biblical thought there was a particular sense in which the true ‘king of Zion’ was none other than God himself. Jerusalem was, as Jesus himself had called it, the city of the Great King’ (Matthew 5:35), the city over which Israel’s God alone was truly king. … Could it be that Jesus was hinting – simply through sitting on a donkey as ‘Zion’s king’ – that this was the moment when the Lord himself [that is, God] was returning to Zion? (In the Steps of Jesus, page 120)
- THE END OF CHRISTMAS
Now let’s ask the SECOND QUESTION we need to answer this morning: Why did Luke, who wrote this event down for us, think that it symbolised the end of Christmas (although, of course he didn’t use that word)? The answer is found in the words of the crowd in verse 38: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Do these words remind you of anything? Perhaps they remind you of some Christmas carols? Carols like “Once in Royal David’s City,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Joy to the World!” Those carols are based on the events surrounding Jesus’ birth which we celebrate every Christmas. Many of you will remember what Luke says happened after Jesus was born. He says:
8 In that region [around Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem, like going to Kingston from Hobart] there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah [a word which refers to someone chosen by God to be the “king” or “ruler”—for this idea, read Luke, chapter 1, verses 32-33; and for Old Testament examples, 2 Samuel 7:9-16; Psalm 132:11-12; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 37.15-28; Micah 5:1-6], the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!”
What the crowd of angels said sounds a lot like what the crowd of people said when Jesus came to Jerusalem, doesn’t it? We can see this clearly when we put the two sayings side by side:
Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!”
Luke 19:38: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
The similarity is meant to draw our attention to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem being the final fulfilment of the Christmas promise. God’s King has come to save God’s people. Many people thought Jesus was a king when he entered Jerusalem, but lots them had disowned him before the week was over. However, if the events of Easter week really happened—Jesus being put to death but then raised to life by God—then they had disowned God’s King.
When Queen Elizabeth II came to Australia an estimated 75% of the population turned out to catch a glimpse of their Queen. Surely—and this is the question today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke asks of every person—surely everyone, 100% of the population, would want to look at what Jesus said and did in case there’s a chance that he is the King sent by God, or even the Gret King and the true God who has come to visit?
This week Christians will have special celebrations of the coming of the king. On Good Friday there will be sadness as we remember the way Jesus went on to sacrifice his life for us. But this sadness will turn to joy on Easter Sunday as we are reminded that God raised him to new life to fulfil all the promises of Christmas. So, the words of the Christmas Carol “Joy to the World!” also apply to the Easter celebrations which begin today:
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
let earth receive her king;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Amen.
Isaac Watts 1674-1748 (The Australian Hymn Book Public Domain Hymns ebook © Broughton Publishing, 2012, www.broughtonpublishing.com)