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I had to think of what it must have been like when the Maccabean brothers led our people against the Syrians and that beast Antiochus Epiphanes almost two centuries ago. That terrible man thought he could humiliate us, profaning the temple with his sacrifice of pigs and with the immorality he brought into it. But he learned his lesson, and so did his descendants. When Simon Maccabaeus finally finished the task of throwing off the Syrian yoke, the people met him almost like they welcomed Jesus today. Our fathers speak about it often. It sits in our memory as though it happened yesterday. What a day that must have been!
When God puts the kibosh on our enemies, then we've got reason to praise. What a feeling! Have you ever heard a crowd of hundreds of thousands shout, "Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!"? They kept it up the whole distance in from Bethany to the temple mount. What noise! Ah, that was thrilling. People even threw their coats on the road. I've been to some exciting sporting events--crowds can get carried away by the feeling there too--but they were nothing compared to what we experienced today.
What you have to understand is that people have been saying the most amazing things about this Galilean. Everyone is talking about him. Why, not long ago, he raised a man from the dead. I've met people who claim to have been there. Others had their sight restored. They say he teaches like no one else.
And he fears no one. That's what impresses me most about him. I've watched him when some of our "spiritual leaders" tried to trip him up. He turned the tables on them so badly he could easily have turned the people against them too. Those hypocrites in the temple quake in their boots when they see him coming. They don't dare touch him.
And the Romans! Well, they know how to keep their distance. They've learned not to mess with our people when a good leader shows up. They know he could rally the people in an instant.
But there are some things happening here today that I can't figure out. Why did he choose a donkey to ride into town on? If you want to impress the Romans and tell people that you are coming to be king, by all means ride into town, but ride a horse not a donkey. Does he really think this defenceless animal will impress the Romans or bring the people to his side? It communicates weakness, not strength. That's why our fathers chose it to signify you were coming in peace.
What's he thinking of? I wish I knew. In this world, you've got to show you are strong. You can't let others think you are weak. He frustrates me so. He must have got some bad advice from somewhere.
But suppose a way of peace is what he really meant? I don't know what to think.
He seems to prefer talking that way. His followers obviously have picked up some of his language. I heard some Pharisees demanding that Jesus tell his followers to stop crying out. "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"--that's what they are chanting. But he told them, "If they were silent, the stones themselves would shout out." Now here's a contradiction. He comes in peace, yet he insists on being heard. Nothing will drown his words. Nature itself will trumpet it. This man confuses me. How can someone be so weak on the one hand and so strong on the other? How can he have such assurance? Where does he get it from? If I didn't know better, I would think the Messiah had finally come. But then what kind of Messiah is this?
Even stranger, our teachers of the law heard children shouting out their enthusiasm for the Galilean too. They were saying, "Long live the son of David." They knew the children were saying more than they understood. The teachers knew very well, and they wanted it stopped. But Jesus threw the Scriptures at them. I must confess, that for a moment, it felt delicious. "Have you never read, `From the lips of children and infants, You have ordained praise'?" It was as though children could have insight that adults don't have.
I think, though, my sympathies are with the teachers. Certainly, if you are going to lead a country out of the morass in which we find ourselves, children aren't going to give us much advice. What do they know? What can they contribute to the politics of our situation? I wish he wouldn't say things like that. It makes you think he's living in a different world altogether, a kingdom not of this world.
It's like that pitiful scene just before he entered the city. He was on the height overlooking the city. He just stopped. The crowd would have swept on, but he didn't move. So they stopped too. And then he wept. People watched and listened in quiet wonder. In a way, it was really quite moving. He said, "If you had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." And then he predicted terrible disasters. Not from his hand, mind you. Finally he ended with these strange and haunting words: "You did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."
This man has a gift for talking in riddles. You've got to hand that to him. I have friends who've kept close tabs on him these past few weeks. They talked with his followers as recently as earlier this evening. They tell me that as night fell, some Greeks had spotted a disciple of the Galilean and asked for a chance to meet him privately. The disciple passed the message on to Jesus. He responded in a most remarkable fashion. Maybe it was just nightfall and he was tired, but there was none of the celebration of the ride into the city. He looked very sad, and he used some very strange language: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I'll tell you the truth, a grain of wheat does no good unless it falls into the ground and dies. If it doesn't go into the ground, that's all it is, a single grain. But if it falls into the ground and dies, it bears a great deal of fruit." That's exactly how he spoke! What does one make of that?
What are we missing?
What am I missing?
Oh yes, I should mention that he ended the parade into the city by going to the temple and overturning the tables of those changing money and the benches of those selling doves. I really didn't see the need for that. People come here from all parts of the world. There has to be a place to change currency. And if people haven't thought ahead enough to bring a dove, why shouldn't they pay a bit more inside?
I know, I know, there are always those who abuse the situation, inspectors who reject animals bought outside, currency traders who charge more than they ought, and the family of the high priest Annas have cornered most of the space for stalls for themselves. But for most people, none of this detracts from their sacrifices and worship. They don't know the difference. Why should Jesus make an issue of these things? He's inviting trouble for the wrong reasons.
If Jesus is the one we've been waiting for, why doesn't he make it easier for us to understand him? What does he think we need--or want? Life is so complicated. We need security. We need a country with the strength to protect itself against every outsider. We need teachers of the law who can show us how we can please a righteous God, and authorities back of them with enough clout to scare those who want to flout our spiritual leaders. We need symbols that will inspire loyalty to our people and our nation. We need the rituals to be restored as they once were.
I don't know where this Jesus is going. He talks about peace, about laying down arms, about turning the other cheek, about suffering, even about dying so others can live. He talks about sin, forgiveness and righteousness in ways that are so different from our teachers of the law. He talks about other sheep. He makes it sound as though people of every race would be as acceptable to him as we, the chosen people. He talks about becoming as little children, actually starting all over again as if you were born again. His judgement sounds as though it might be turned on us too. He talks about bringing into being a new people, a new Israel, as it were.
It's too confusing. I can't understand how this Jesus can possibly help us through the dark time we are in. Can you? We need help, and we need it fast. Do you know where we can find someone who can save us?
Harold Jantz, a former editor of the MB Herald and ChristianWeek, is a member of River East MB Church in Winnipeg, where this article was presented as a sermon on March 23, 1997
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