Matthew 21:1-11 

Some time ago I was out in the old Lebanon State Forest keeping my Monday afternoon ‘appointment with God’.  [For those of you who are new to this community, Monday afternoons are a Sabbath time for me that I began to set aside 11 years ago. It’s a time for me to try to do what we were talking about last week from Psalm 63 – to earnestly seek God, to keep a soul thirst for God in this dry and weary land. 

So this is priority time in the beginning of my week set aside to pray for you, for this church, myself and my family, as well as to worship and try and listen to God … and, you know, the Pinelands are a really good place to do that. There is a deep peacefulness in that place as you walk through the pines, and the moss, and the cedar swamps…(until the chiggers hatch!)] 

Anyway, on this particular afternoon I was walking, praying, singing; not paying a lot of attention to the trail… just letting it all pass by me. When suddenly I noticed a sound, an odd sound. I looked up, and stepping out of the woods in front of me and behind me, from my right hand side, was a long line of men in camouflage clothing, carrying shotguns!  Well, I was …surprised… to say the least! 

See, I didn’t realize at the time that hunting was permitted in that area, and even if I had known that, I still wouldn’t have expected to see hunters crossing over the Batona Trail, the most central trail in that entire area. But there they were, driving deer. They seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see them! 

I can’t remember if I pulled out my cell phone right then, or if I waited until I got home, but soon after that, I called my friend Doug Sell. I know Doug is a hunter, who knows about these things, so I asked him, “What’s the hunting schedule in the Lebanon State Forest?” 

Well, Doug says something like, “It depends on what you’re hunting…” And he starts talking about buck season, and doe season, shotguns, and bows, pheasants, and turkeys… and how the season for each vary depending on where you are in the state… and finally he says, “My best advice is just to be aware of what’s around you, and wear bright clothing.” 

That sounded like good advice, so I’ve been trying to do that.

And last December, when we were in Minnesota, I went to a large sporting goods store called “Gander Mountain” and I picked up this hat. Now I put this on, and while I don’t feel invincible, I do feel a bit safer. I know that most hunters are going to be very careful not to shoot something that is not shaped like a deer (if that’s what they’re hunting!), but someone who is really excited to bag their first deer, whose adrenalin is pumping as they hear something big and heavy walking in the woods is likely to see this hat, and even at the last instant, is going to get the message: “‘Don’t shoot’!  It’s not pastor season yet!” 

Now, I’m sharing that with you because I was walking through that same area this past Monday, wearing this hat, and reading today’s Scripture readings, and I remembered that day. And the hat helped me notice something in this passage that seemed to me, important. I’ll get back to that… but let’s take the long way! 

Back in the mid 1960’s a British Scholar named Hugh J. Schonfield published a controversial book called “The Passover Plot”. (I think it was even made into a movie.) The main idea of the book was that Jesus was a deeply religious Jewish man whose zeal, and knowledge of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies made it possible for him to deliberately “turn himself into the Messiah”. I.e., he did everything he could to make his life fit into the prophecies of the coming Messiah.  It was all a set-up, so to speak. It was fake. 

Now, many people responded with scholarly rebuttals, which wasn’t all that difficult, really. One simply needed to look at the impressive list of prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ life and ministry that he couldn’t have possibly maneuvered on his own – like the city where he was born, for example. I have yet to meet anyone who chose where they were going to be born. That would be quite a feat! And, there are many more, from the price paid to his betrayer, to the soldiers gambling for his clothes at the foot of the Cross, to the place of his burial, and so forth. 

But as things often go in the world, the pendulum tends to swing in completely the opposite direction in response to something that is proven wrong. And people in the Christian community, maybe in their reaction against the idea that Jesus was a phony, lost sight of the possibility that there were, in fact, some things that Jesus did choose to do, deliberately, because he knew that he was the Messiah. There was some truth in it. 

There was another book that made a splash shortly after the Passover Plot (this one by a German scholar named William Wrede in 1971). Wrede noticed how in a number of places in the Gospels – particularly Mark’s Gospel – when Jesus would perform a miracle, a healing, or when someone would recognize who he was: “I know that you are the Messiah!” that he would often ‘warn’ the people not to tell anyone about this. Keep it under your hat! Keep quiet about this! His book was called The Messianic Secret. 

Of course, they seldom did keep quiet – if ever. Even the Samaritan woman, as pastor HeyYoung pointed out a couple of weeks ago, shared her ideas. She wasn’t sure about them, but that didn’t stop her from going around saying, “This couldn’t be the Messiah, could it?” Good news is hard to keep quiet! But as Wrede pointed out, for a time, Jesus really did try to keep his identity hidden. He was waiting for his moment. 

In John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks – looking ahead – of ‘his time’ that was coming. He talks about ‘being glorified’ as a coming event. Soon we realize that this was a kind of code word in John’s Gospel for Jesus’ death. The time would come for the Son of Man to ‘be glorified’. 

[Are you tracking with me – everything we’re talking about so far is connected. (Including the hat!) We’re on our way…] 

Most theologians understand that Jesus’ self-awareness (of his identity and his mission) grew gradually; i.e., first, knowing that he was the Messiah, and after that, knowing what that was meant for him, what that would require of him; all this unfolded gradually in the mind and the heart of Jesus. 

Think about it.  After the birth of Jesus, we hardly hear from him. He is essentially silent for about 30 years. Then one day he picks up a scroll in a synagogue worship service and reads a prophecy from Isaiah, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor, to set the captives free, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He reads this, sits down and says, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And he begins his public ministry. 

And in the next three or so years, we see rapid changes taking place in him. Having taken this step, the learning curve becomes very fast paced. So he starts out by trying to keep his works and identity a secret, because his ‘time’ had not come… but soon that turns into Jesus ‘setting his face towards Jerusalem’(Luke 9:51) – because he had come to the realization, he knew that he had to go there. It was time. (Why? because he had to fulfill the prophecies.) He starts speaking of his coming death – a death as a sacrifice, in giving up his life for many. 

And finally, his night of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when the full scope of what it would cost him to “bear the sin of the world” finally hit him. And his knowledge was complete.  And there in the Garden he had to decide whether or not to continue, whether he was willing to finish what he had begun… and he says, “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” And he can see where that’s taking him – because he knows the prophecies. 

As the will of God for Jesus as the ‘Anointed One’ became more and more clear to him, Jesus made some choices that deliberately affirmed that self-knowledge. It wasn’t a “Passover Plot”, but Jesus began identifying himself with the Old Testament prophecies. And the most obvious one of those choices is what we are celebrating here today – the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. 

This day is clearly not accidental!  This wasn’t a ‘by chance’ thing. Jesus, in the weeks before this day arrived was meandering throughout Israel, traveling some 70 – perhaps 90 miles. On foot. Heading to Jerusalem from Galilee. And of course, he walked. A long walk. But then he gets to the little towns of Bethany and Bethphage. Now, Bethany is where Lazarus lived. (Where he lived, died, and lived again!) Jesus was very well known in Bethany. 

Both small towns were also apparently just across the Kidron Valley from the very gate into the old city of Jerusalem; the gate that tradition had affirmed for generations would be the one through which the Messiah would one day enter that city, and begin a reign of peace and prosperity for all the people of Israel. You can see – to this day – the location of that gate from the boarders of Bethany (which still exists). 

So after walking all this way, Jesus pauses in Bethany, and says to his disciples – go to such and such a place and you’ll see a donkey tethered. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks what you’re doing, tell them “the Master has need of it.” 

This is not meant to be some amazing co-incidence or a miracle of foreknowledge. This is simple planning! Jesus had arranged for this donkey to be ready for him. And the phrase “The Master has need of it” was the way for its owner to distinguish a disciple acting for Jesus, from a simple thief!  They bring this animal to Jesus… who, then, after walking all those miles… sits on a donkey that he had arranged for - “hired” if you will – and Jesus rides the last mile, down into the valley and up again, up the long road towards the “Golden Gate”. The gate of the Messiah. 

He rides on a donkey just as the prophet Zechariah foresaw; a prophecy that the people all knew. Why did he do this? And what happened when he did it? 

…Why do I wear this hat in the woods? Because I want to be recognized! I want people to know that I’m out there! 

Why did Jesus make all these preparations? Why did he enter the holy city of Jerusalem in a way that would have been unmistakable to the people who saw him coming? Why did he do this on this very significant day, just as the Feast of Passover was about to take place? Why?

Because he wanted to be noticed!  He wanted everyone to see him, to pay attention. 

And he sure was noticed! Look at the Scripture again, as Matthew reports on something he was there to see: (from verse 8)

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 

Now, they were quoting from Psalm 118 – which is a liturgical call and response Psalm that celebrates the coming of God’s Messiah!! And Jesus is OK with this! 

But there is more:  I think the most telling statement, perhaps the one that best clarifies Jesus’ timing is verse 10: 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

The whole city is stirred up. And everyone is asking, “Who is this?” And it’s not the disciples who are answering, it’s the crowds themselves who respond: “This is Jesus, that prophet from Nazareth.” 

Look what has happened. Jesus knew that something momentous was going to take place in this – his last – visit to Jerusalem. Something so important that people needed to be made aware. It was time to lift the veil. It was time to get the word out: pay attention to this! 

So he does the one thing that he knew would capture the attention of all the people – the whole city.  He does everything but put on a sign saying, “I’m the Messiah”.  And now he has the attention of them all. All eyes are on him… 

Do they understand? No. Their ideas of the mission of the Messiah were mostly…wrong. Even his own disciples didn’t really get it. Not yet.  And these crowds: Will they understand?  Some would, and some would never ‘get it’. 

There was incredible sense of joy in this moment – so much so that Jesus is recorded in another Gospel as telling the religious leaders who were demanding that he stop the people from doing this, stop them from the shouting, stop them from calling you the “Messiah” – Jesus said, “If they were silent, the stones themselves would cry out!” 

The very foundations of the world were beginning to resonate because Jesus understood his purpose in entering that city… because here, he was willingly going into the place where he would pay a humanly incomprehensible price to provide a real and lasting joy for these lost sheep who surrounded him, and others from every corner of the world. 

He knew that many of those voices who were welcoming him, and praising him on this morning would be among those calling for his death in a matter of a few days. He knew that the joy resonating in the very stones under his feet would soon turn to cosmic despair, as on Friday even the sun itself would be hidden from view. But his face was set towards Jerusalem. He would fulfill the prophecies. 

Because of his unwavering obedience, he was ready to demonstrate the full extent of his love for you and me to you and me. No one understood – as yet – what that meant. But they would soon be confronted with it, as they would soon be standing before the Cross, wondering… And they would see it, because they were watching. Now… every eye was upon him. 

And you know, that watching, that attention, is still critical. The events that we will remember once again in this coming week changed the history of the world, they changed eternity. It’s the most important week that ever was. And we need to look, we need to pay attention. 

The question is… will we?