“… I
DID NOT TURN BACKWARD.”
Rev. James Clubine
Palm Sunday, March 16, 2008
Isaiah
50:4-9
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Matthew 21:1-11
Text: Isaiah 50:4-5 The Lord God has given me the tongue
of a teacher, that I may know
how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning
by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God
has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
Introduction
Late one night a mugger wearing a ski mask jumped
into a path of a well-dressed man, stuck a gun in his ribs, “Give me your money,”
he demanded. Indignant the affluent appearing
man replied, “You can’t do this – I am a Member of the Canadian Parliament! “In that case,” replied the mugger,
“give me MY money.”
We are in that interesting
season of the year that Canadians call ‘tax time’.
It is the time when we experience the rather illuminating juxtaposition of
the future we imagined in the promises of elected officials as we cast our votes with the
reality of what those promises actually mean as we pay our income taxes. It has ever been this way between governments and
the people governed, has it not? Great
expectations get stirred with a new regime and disappointment follows in the wake of unmet
expectations. Perhaps you know that song
by ‘The Who’ entitled ‘Won’t get
fooled again’. It begins with the
cheering on of rebellion believing that the new constitution will mean great things. It
ends with the line – Met the new boss today, Same as the old boss.
The crowds that day can hear
the words of that loud and raucous song “Won’t get fooled again” coursing
through their beings as they cheer Jesus on his entry to Jerusalem, the words are little different - Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and
mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
But the sentiment in how they sing the song is the same. ‘Hosanna’ to the Son of David, they
shout, meaning save now son of David. It is
going to be different this time – not like all those other guys who come pompously
with a display of military power. This guy
comes humbly for the common people - he will deliver the new regime that will put us on
top!
But by the end of the week
these same people cheering with great expectations are calling out to get rid of him
– the new boss is a rather pathetic nobody when compared with the old boss. What do we want Jesus to do for us as we cheer him
into Jerusalem this day? Is it much different
than the kinds of things these people hoped would emerge for their lives – to live
their lives in peace free of the yoke of Roman occupation?
We want to live our lives in peace with the roadblocks to achieving
our life aspirations removed. After all, that
is what kings and governments are for – isn’t it?
And if not them then surely this ought to be God’s chief
responsibility!
I invite you to shift your
attention with me for a few moments to consider what is going on in Jesus’ heart and
mind as he arranges for this ride into Jerusalem. He
knows the song ringing in the hearts of the cheering crowds as well – and with
deliberateness he acts it out as if to say – ‘I am your king coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey.’ What
does Jesus think is unfolding as he makes his way to Jerusalem?
During Lent I led a study of
the older testament book of the prophet Isaiah. A
special focus of that study was to explore how Jesus read the book. The dominance of Isaiah in the Jesus’
quotations of older testament prophets is really quite amazing, a pattern the Apostles
follow in their writings too. Almost half of all quotes by Jesus and the Apostles are from
the prophetic literature of the Old Testament come from the prophet Isaiah. The importance of how the prophet Isaiah informs
Jesus in understanding his own ministry is seen, for example, on the day he stood in a
synagogue and read from what we call Isaiah 61 claiming it as a kind of mission statement
– “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus would know our lesson
from Isaiah 50 – a scripture that was understood in his day as speaking of the coming
Messiah. As Jesus reads it he is confronted
with the vision that the Messiah would suffer; ‘The Lord God has opened my ear, and I
was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who
struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my
face from insult and spitting.’ Jesus is
also acquainted with the Messianic vision of Isaiah 52 and 53; part of which says - But he
was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
So as this king takes up his
ride into Jerusalem in his heart is the foreboding of these texts of scripture informing
him that things would not go well. Meeting the
expectations of what these people are hoping the king will do is the least of his worries
– what they think they need and what Jesus knows they need are poles apart.
When you stand on top of the
Mount of Olives looking west, there right in front of you on a higher mount just across a
valley is the city of Jerusalem. If you are
travelling the road to the city that Jesus and his disciples are on, along with many
pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, when you get to the
top of the Mount of Olives and can finally see over the crest this is where you first see Jerusalem. You can picture what a moment this is for pilgrims
who have been travelling for days and finally you see the city. It really is a great moment of spiritual wonder to
stand in this place and see the city.
I suggest to that when Jesus
breaks the crest of the Mount of Olives that day he does not share the elation that his
disciples feel. This is a moment of decision
– will he continue on his way to the city with the weight of the suffering suggested
in these texts from Isaiah flooding his heart. To
be sure, he wants to celebrate this Passover with his disciples – as he would tell
them on Thursday evening in that upper room. But
once he gets on that donkey he sets in motion a series of events that will not end
pleasantly.
So when Jesus turns to his
disciples and says - “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find
a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me – you know what
he has decided to do. It may even be this text
from Isaiah, among others, is one he reaches for to find fresh courage to continue his
journey; The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was
not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
You can readily see that when
you put what these people wanted the Messiah to do, a mirror image of the essence of what
we humans typically expect God should do for us – fix life so everything goes smooth
for me, and some peace and good stuff for others too - over against what it is that God
knows he must do for us, that they are miles apart. We
humans are a little like the guy sitting at the kitchen table in the burning house
wondering why dinner isn’t being served.
The astonishing thing is that
this is all for us. Our rejection of him is
the very thing that God uses to bring about what we need.
And Jesus knows this as well. In
this same Isaiah text, the purpose of the Messiah’s mission is beautifully expressed. The picture is of one who comes to bring help to a
sin-wearied world. ‘4The
Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the
weary with a word. Morning by morning he
wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.’ The vision in this text is of the Messiah as a
disciple of God – the phrase ‘tongue of the teacher’ expresses the idea of
one who has been taught for the sake of others - that I may know how to sustain the weary
with a word.
Are you weary today – look
to him, for he has the word to sustain us. It
is true that his giving all for me calls me to give all of me for him. Yet somehow that does not feel like an onerous
thing. The mystery of this giving all for him
is that I find that his yoke is easy and burden light.
Which burden would I rather carry, the guilt of my sin or the responsibility
of following him? I have to say that his burden is much lighter, I find myself strangely
sustained. Do you not find his perseverance a
compelling power that sustains us to persevere in our following of him?
It is for our sakes that Jesus
will not turn backward – the events of the week that is before him – that we
again rehearse in the worship of Holy Week – this is all for us. Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and
mounted on a donkey. Let us go with him into
the city.
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