Jesus’ followers spread their
cloaks and palm branches along his path, creating a “red carpet effect” as he
rides into Jerusalem on the donkey. The
shouts and singing of Jesus’ followers begin to draw an even larger crowd of
spectators, who come out to see what is going on. The celebration goes viral, as more and more
people come out and join the parade. By
the time Jesus enters the city walls of Jerusalem, a mass of people are
processing with him, singing and shouting.
When the city residents come out into the streets to see what is going
on, they are told: “This is the prophet
Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Events occur in rapid succession
during the days immediately following Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. Jesus stirs things up, by
going into the Temple and driving out the money changers who had turned a
sacred place into a commercial enterprise.
Jesus celebrates the Jewish Passover Feast with his disciples in the
Upper Room. And, later that night, he is
betrayed by one of his own, Judas Iscariot.
Jesus is arrested. By Friday
morning, Jesus finds himself standing in front of the Roman ruler, Pilate,
accused of insurrection.
The story continues in Matthew 27: 11-23:
Pilate was not stupid. He realized that the Jewish leaders were
accusing Jesus out of jealousy because of Jesus’ popularity. So, Pilate sought
a compromise that would appease the Jewish leaders but also allow him to
release Jesus. On Friday morning, he
brought Jesus out in front of the Jewish leaders. By now, a huge crowd of people had amassed to
see what would happen to Jesus.
At the Passover Feast in Jerusalem,
there was a custom that the Roman ruler would pardon one Jewish prisoner and
set him free. So, Pilate gives the
amassed Jewish crowd a choice: He could
release Jesus or a hardened criminal named Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a notoriously evil man, so
the choice should have been clear—or, so Pilate thought. The crowd should have clearly chosen to have
Jesus released. Yet, out of their
jealousy, the Jewish leaders stirred up the crowd to ask for the release of
Barabbas. Pilate is stunned. When he asks the crowd what he should do with
Jesus, they all shout, “Crucify him!”
The juxtaposition of these two
stories from Holy Week raise a profound question. It is almost certain that some of the same
people who joined in the parade during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
were also in the crowd standing before Pilate.
It is almost certain that some of the same people who shouted, “Hosanna!”
also shouted, “Crucify him!” Why was
that? How could the same people be part
of both stories?
In our service this weekend, we will
explore this question. And, rather, than
looking back in judgment upon the residents of Jerusalem, we will also explore
an even deeper question: Would we have
acted any differently, had we been in the place of those people? Might we have also shouted both “Hosanna!”
and “Crucify him”? In our exploration, I
will suggest that we can know religious truths with our intellect, but not always
live that religious truth with our hearts. Part of faithful Christian discipleship is to
grow spiritually, so that our faith becomes something that we live as well as
something that we intellectually know.
Come, worship with us this weekend.
Our church is located at the corner of Main and Dawson Streets in
Meriden, Kansas. We have two worship
services each weekend:
Ø Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on
Saturday evenings. This Saturday, my
message is on the topic of this blog, “From ‘Hosanna!’ to “Crucify him.’”
Ø Our classic service starts on at 10 am on
Sunday mornings. Rather than
preaching this Sunday, our Choir will be presenting their Easter cantata, “The
Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”
Everyone is welcome and accepted at both services because God loves us
all.
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