We have a whole load of things that we would call routine… some are the routines for our day: you get up at 7, you have breakfast at 8 you go to school at 8.30, you have lunch at 12.30, school finishes at 3.30. You do your homework, you watch TV; you have tea at 5.30; you go to bed at 8. Others are things we call normal. It rains, the sun shines. The electricity works. Mum does the cooking. Your friends all turn up for school. But what if something breaks the routine: you wake up late and don’t have breakfast before school. School finishes at dinner time; the electricity doesn’t work, it rains all week, your best friend stops coming to school… Or you move to a new house, maybe a new house in a different town. Routine gets challenged and changed.
Jesus disrupts the routine….
Suddenly the whole city of Jerusalem is in an uproar… people shouting, celebrating, vandalising the palm trees…. I guess for some of the local employers, it would be a matter of shouting “get back to work!” For people carrying on their business, “Hey, coming through, you’re blocking the street here! We have to get these sheep and these doves up to the Temple” For some of the ordinary people, “Get out of the way, I want to see what’s happening!” For the authorities, Do you hear what those kids are saying?” (Matthew 21. 16 I love the New testament in Scots translational: “Do you hear what thir loons is saying?”
Jesus Declares the Kingdom
As he rides into Jerusalem, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy (Zechariah 9. 9) and generally behaving like a celebrity. Welcomed like a loved King he lays claim to be just that: a King. The promised, coming king. The one who comes in the name of the Lord. The beginning of an age of salvation is recognised by the crowd who shout out “Hosanna! Lord Save!” It’s a quote from Ps 118. 25, and was used in both the Passover and Tabernacles festivals. The people are beginning to get hold of the idea that Jesus is the rescuer, the saviour who will bring them out of “captivity” and through the “desert” into a new and better time.
And the more Jesus does, the more people are asking, what right does he have to do this? The next day, as Jesus enters Jerusalem again, he passes a fig tree growing by the roadside, comes looking for fruit on a fig tree , finds none, and curses the tree “May nobody ever eat fruit from you again!” It seems kind of peevish and immature. But we are missing the point. It isn’t the time of year for figs, and Jesus starts pushing the leaves aside, peering into the tree, as though searching for fruit: his disciples are watching; it’s an acted parable. Jesus co0mes as “Lord “ of the fig tree, with the right to look for fruit on it; just as he comes as “Lord” of Jerusalem, with the right to rule.
Then he goes straight to the Temple, and drives out the people who are selling animals and birds (for sacrifice) and changing Roman money into Jewish money (that would be acceptable as offerings to God. He quotes the Old Testament as he refers to the Temple as “My house” (Isaiah 56. 7; Jeremiah 7. 11). God’s house, but his house. No wonder people the next day after that, are saying “What right do you have to do these things?” So Jesus declares that the Kingdom has come. HE declares that He is King.
Jesus defines normality.
As he rides into Jerusalem, Jesus is taking himself nearer than ever to the day of reckoning, when he will die on he Cross. As he rides in to Jerusalem, he makes some enemies. The next day as he clears all the traders out of the temple, he makes even more enemies. HE says “you have made this temple a den of thieves.” He doesn’t mean pickpockets – he means armed robbers. “You have made this temple hang-out for the mob.” It’s all intentionally moving towards the cross. And through the Cross, he redefines reality and reconciles people to God.
This king is humble, riding on a donkey. No longer is greatness and kingship a matter of some propel throwing their weight around. No longer is humiliation and suffering something to be avoided – it is his way to victory. He clears the temple so it can be “A house of prayer for all nations”, not just for Israel. The Kingdom is an upside down kingdom where victory comes through sacrifice, where small people are important, where life comes from death.
Jesus has made miracles almost a matter of routine. There’s a hint of the miraculous even in the provision of the donkey. No longer must the blind and disabled beggars sit and beg. No longer must the demonised live in torment.
And all of that demands faith.
Remember the fig tree Jesus cursed. The next day it had withered to the roots. We already learned that Jesus was bothered about something more important than simply getting a few figs to eat. The point becomes clear: ‘if you believe, you can say to this mountain, “be thrown into the sea”… When we are pursuing the purposes of the Kingdom, our faith is a powerful thing.
Even at this stage, as he moves his ministry into the lion's den that was Jerusalem, as he disrupts the routines of the city, as he declares the Kingdom, and defines reality by the upside down values of the Kingdom, as he faces the Cross… he wants to point out the powerful effects of faith. He demands faith from his followers. It takes faith to go with the disruptive flow of Jesus ministry. It takes faith to welcome his Kingdom. It takes faith to follow the upside down realities that the kingdom defines as normal: to be humble instead of pushy; to give instead of grabbing; to know that on the Cross Jesus has carried your sin so you don’t have to; to move mountains emotionally, physically or spiritually. Palm Sunday demands faith.
Conclusion
So Jesus comes to us to disrupt our routines. The little things that we are comfortable with. Going to work; going to the shops… watching TV or spending time on social media… going to temple, making your sacrifice, ignoring the gentiles who can’t pray because their place in the temple is full of market stalls. Going to Church and having everything just the way we want it…
Do we need to allow Jesus to disrupt our routines? How about fasting a day a week – from food, from chocolate, from tea or coffee, from social media? What about stopping and thinking – just thinking – before buying things like clothes? What about spending an hour a week doing something kind for other people (maybe for someone difficult to like), or intentionally getting to know one or two people better so you can encourage people in the Church, or getting to know someone who doesn’t know Jesus?
He defines "normal" Sacrifice becomes normal. Co-operation instead of competition becomes normal. Humility becomes normal. Trust becomes normal. Dependency on God instead of an “I can do it” attitude becomes normal. The supernatural becomes normal. Caring for others rather than our own group becomes normal.
He declares the Kingdom – and declares himself King. Why should we allow Jesus to disrupt our routine? Who does he think he is?” He is King. He has the right to our obedience, our service and our worship.
He demands faith! Faith to accept who he is; faith to accept his forgiveness and grace. Faith that the king's new “normality” is possible. Faith that he can bring you through. Faith that his Kingdom will triumph in the end. I want to offer you some faith prayers. Say the one that is most appropriate for you today.
- Lord Jesus, by faith I receive you as King. I receive your gift of forgiveness and new life.
- Lord, increase my faith.
- Lord, I acknowledge you as my King, and I dare to believe that the norms of your Kingdom can work in my life.
- Lord, you are welcome to disrupt my routines and define “normality” in my life.
- Lord, I need to see some mountains moved.
© Gilmour Lilly April 2017
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