“A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”

Matthew 21:1-11

Liturgically speaking this Sunday has somewhat of a split personality. Today is Palm Sunday. It is also Passion Sunday. It is a Sunday that celebrates our Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, a Sunday that also begins our remembrance of the final week of Jesus’ earthly life. What should we emphasize? The former? The latter? Both? Neither?

It’s not that simple. It’s real easy to focus on the celebratory aspects of the day: the palm branches, hosannas, and whatnot. The third verse of “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” one of my favorite childhood Palm Sunday hymns does exactly that: “Into the city I’d follow the children’s band. Waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand. One of his heralds, yes, I would sing loudest hosannas, Jesus is King!”

Those words definitely describe part of what was happening that day. There were crowds, probably including children. This was the week leading up to Passover. By some estimations there were two and a half million people gathered in and around Jerusalem. It was a time of religious fervor, a time when dreams of a Messiah were very much on the people’s minds.

The way Jesus entered Jerusalem was filled with royal symbolism. By riding in on a donkey colt that had never been ridden Jesus was letting people know that this was a sacred moment. He was also living out the words of Zechariah’s prophecy: “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey…” He was publicly proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, God’s anointed king.

Obviously the people were picking up on it. “Hosanna” was much more than a simple greeting of an important personage. It was an oppressed people’s prayer for deliverance directed toward God’s anointed. Essentially they were asking Jesus to be their Savior, the one who would lift the yoke of Roman oppression off their necks.

But Jesus’ entrance also made it clear that he was not coming to take up arms against Rome. He wasn’t that kind of King. In the words of Robert Obach and Albert Kirk, “The style of [his] entry [into Jerusalem declared] Jesus’ understanding of his Messiahship.” According to George Buttrick: “[Jesus] rode in on an animal that was symbolic of quietness, not on a war horse; palm branches, not spears, were his escort; the songs of children, not the shouts of soldiers, were his welcome.” Traditionally kings rode donkeys when they were coming in peace. The words of Zechariah had emphasized that realty when they described the coming Messiah as “humble, mounted on a donkey…”

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king, but as a different kind of king. He came in humility and peace, riding on an animal that symbolized quietness. And even in the midst of the celebration he came knowing what awaited him that week. Weeks before he had turned his face toward Jerusalem; he had intentionally chosen the way of the cross.

As he entered Jerusalem he also came in sadness. He was driven to tears by his heartache over Jerusalem. Today’s text doesn’t mention that but Luke’s account of Palm Sunday does. Hear Luke 19:41 & 42: “As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had recognized this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’.”

Most of Jerusalem had been blind to the reality of who Jesus was. This was especially true of the city’s religious elite. Their attitude toward Jesus was very well summed up in these words, again from George Buttrick: “Some believed Jesus to be an imposter and a trouble breeder.” They were even at that moment working to discredit and destroy Jesus. In a few days their influence would help turn the joyous cries of “hosanna” into that hateful phrase: “Crucify him!” They would turn the people’s hope of Jesus being their King to a belief that he was a criminal.

They truly knew not what they were doing! Hear Reginald Fuller’s description of Jesus: “He was the last emissary from God, bringing with him God’s final a decisive word to his people.” With reference to that Dr. Fuller wrote some other words: “… the events of Jesus’ earthly life [including his entry into Jerusalem] were the execution of God’s saving purpose, fulfilling the promises contained in the Old Testament history of [God’s] mightiest acts toward Israel.”

Imposter and trouble breeder indeed! The religious leaders of Jerusalem weren’t just blind when it came to understanding who and what Jesus was. They were utterly deaf, dumb, hardheaded and hard hearted. Jesus had come as their savior; they saw him as an intrusive trouble maker. Jesus came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God; they were afraid that he might disturb the theological and political status quo they so much enjoyed. Jesus came offering peace, real peace, the very Shalom of God that would bring wholeness to all of creation; they simply saw him as a disturber of the peace.

That’s why the happy celebration of Palm Sunday quickly turned into a week from hell. Sunday’s King was arrested on Thursday and crucified on Friday. Sunday’s Messiah would soon become the target of torture, abuse, and humiliation. The one of whom the people sang, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” truly became the Suffering Servant of God. Thus it was that Palm Sunday was a prelude to what we call Passion Week, the week during which our Lord suffered and died.

Back to Palm Sunday. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was dramatic, heightening an awareness of his message. It was courageous. He did not slip into Jerusalem under the cover of darkness. He entered the city in broad daylight, boldly announcing his presence to those who sought to do him harm. Just as his birth in Bethlehem thirty-three years earlier had caused a great uproar in Jerusalem, so did his Palm Sunday ride into town. “When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil…” So says Matthew 21:10.

Jesus’ birth shook things up. His ministry shook things up. His entrance into Jerusalem shook things up. His crucifixion shook things up in a very literal way. When he died, according to Matthew 27:51, “The earth shook, and the rocks were split.” There was resurrection, and boy did that shake things up. Human history was changed forever.

Not wanting to be glib, I can’t help but think that the whole Jesus event – his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection – can be summed up in the words of that old Jerry Lee Lewis song, “There’s a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” In my mind I can visualize that song playing in the background as Jesus entered Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday. Its words as written and sung were obviously done so in a totally different context, but what a down-to- earth way of summarizing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus shook things up, and if his Body, the Church, is being faithful to him, he is still shaking things up. Where the church is truly being the church, a whole lot of shakin’ really is going on: ecclesiastically, spiritually, socially, and culturally.

Millions of people over the last twenty centuries have experienced this shaking in a very Palm Sunday kind of way. They have accepted and celebrated Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They have boldly ventured out into world sharing the truth of Jesus, even when they knew that doing so was going to rock society’s boat and greatly disturb the cultural status quo. There are many numbered among the Communion of Saints who suffered and even died in Jesus’ name, many who picked up the cross and followed him to their own Calvary experience. But they followed knowing that there would be resurrection and life everlasting, knowing that on the other side of death they would participate in a celebration of God’s realized Kingdom, a celebration that, unlike that of Palm Sunday, will never end.

I realize that I’m segueing into the Easter message, but why not? Just as Palm Sunday was followed by Good Friday, so is Good Friday followed by Easter morning. Every Sunday is a celebration of Easter. Every Sunday is a reminder of the entire Jesus event: from his incarnation as the Word made Flesh - to his atoning death on the cross - to his resurrection - to his coming again. That mighty act of God named Jesus that began in eternity, came down to earth in Bethlehem, showed forth God’s glory by way of word and deed, modeled true righteousness, died an atoning death on a cross, and rose again; all of that is what we celebrate today and every Sunday.

So let’s wave our palm branches and sing our hosannas - we really do have something to celebrate today. This is, after all, Palm Sunday. But as we celebrate let us be aware of the shadow of the cross that will confront us on Thursday and Friday, for this is also Passion Sunday. In the midst of our celebration let us weep for those whose hearts are hardened against Jesus. And when today’s celebration is over let’s go from this place determined to shake up the world in Jesus’ name. Amen.