God of all things, grant us to follow in the
way of your Son this week, that through his Death, we might receive the riches
of your grace ☩ in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
If you knew that you had one week left to live, how would you begin that week? Jesus has been very clear with the disciples – he will go to Jerusalem and be killed. He knows how this week will end, which makes how he chooses to begin the week all the more interesting. He tells two of his disciples, “Hey, do something for me, go into that village over there and find a donkey that’s never been ridden, and bring it to me.” Probably not how I’d choose to begin my last week. And then Jesus adds, “And if anyone gives you any trouble about it, just tell them ‘The Lord needs it.’” In that explanation of “The Lord needs it” we have a lens through which to view not only Palm Sunday, not only Holy Week, but of our entire lives: the Lord has a purpose for this.
This
week that we are entering into is the most important in our faith, in our
lives, in all of history. And I say “enter into” intentionally. Holy Week is
not a remembrance, it is not a commemoration, it is an event. By paying
attention to the readings, prayers, music, and actions this week, we actually
enter into depths of meaning that this week has for us and for our salvation.
So this is my encouragement to drink deeply from the well of Holy Week. We have
liturgies, both in-person and online, every day this week. All of the sermons
will be recorded and posted to the sermon podcast. These things are for you.
God doesn’t need the liturgies this week and I don’t get paid per sermon. We
know from experience that the more we give ourselves to something, the more we
will be enriched and transformed by it. So give yourself to the story of Holy
Week this week, because it is our story.
Of
all the ways that God could have chosen to have things play out, what we will
see this week is what God thought was needed. On the other side of Easter, when
Jesus walks along two of his followers on the road to Emmaus he says to them “Was
it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter
into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus
interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. Holy Week
was no accident. It was not an unforeseen outcome. But, from the very
beginning, this was how God intended the final week of Incarnate Word’s life to
unfold.
And
it begins with the instruction to go and get a donkey. As many 5 and 8 year-old
girls desire, my daughters want to ride a horse. Well, a unicorn would be
preferable, but a horse will do. They’re a bit young for riding a horse in my
opinion, but if I took them out to a farm and put them on a donkey, I don’t think
it would quite satisfy their desires. A donkey is a beast of burden, not bred
for its looks or its speed, but rather its ability to work. In this morning's
readings from Isaiah and Philippians, we are clued into the godly virtue of
humility. Isaiah speaks of the servant of the Lord
who does not hide his face from insult and spitting. And St. Paul, in
Philippians, quotes from ancient creed or hymn of the earliest church that says
that “Christ Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be
exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave in human form, and humbled
himself and became obedient even to the point of death on a cross.” The donkey
fits this motif of lowliness. Jesus does not begin his final week with a grand
show of power, but with a statement about where true power comes from.
This
humility stands in stark contrast to the world around him. This is start of
Passover – that grand celebration in the Jewish faith of God’s saving acts in
Egypt and at the Red Sea. Passover is a reminder that God has saved Israel in
the past by overthrowing oppressive political regimes, so why not again now?
Why can’t this be the beginning of the end of the Roman occupation of the Holy
Land? But Pontius Pilate knows that this hope for liberation and salvation is
in the air. So, on that first Palm Sunday, as he did at the start of every
Passover, Pilate entered the Holy City of Jerusalem in a military parade
showing the might of the Roman army. There were soldiers clad in armor, valiant
horses, and prisoners dragged along in chains. The statement was clear – we are
stronger than you, so don’t get any crazy ideas this week.
Jesus
showing up on a donkey is a clear counter-protest to this Roman display of
military might. In modern terms, Pilate enters in a tank and Jesus on a
tricycle. It’s comical. And God, of course, gets the last laugh, as we now
understand that Jesus was actually the one with all of the power that day. It ought
to help us to understand that power is not about wealth, strength, numbers, or
political office. God’s power is found in the lowly. We will see that theme
throughout Holy Week and throughout all of history. Isaiah notes that “The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not
been disgraced” and in Philippians, we heard that God has “highly exalted Jesus
and given him the name that is above every name.” Humility and lowliness are where
godly power is derived, and so Jesus needs the donkey to make this commentary.
After
entering Jerusalem, St. Mark tells us that Jesus entered the Temple and looked
around at everything. Then, he went out to Bethany, which was a village just
past the Mount of Olives. Did you catch what Jesus did there? Nothing. He
entered the Temple, took stock of things, and left. Sometimes the better part
of wisdom is patient discernment. We are so quick to act and react. Jesus here
shows us that sometimes just taking it all in is what is needed. Let this be an
example of how we are to spend Holy Week. To be sure, action is needed and it
will come. We can focus on our vocation and duties next week. For now, just pay
attention to what is around you in this week that we call holy.
Then,
as we heard in the next part of the story that was read, Jesus notices a fig
tree with no fruit on it. Even in his final week, he remains a great teacher.
He seizes this opportunity to teach us about the importance of fruitfulness. If
no fruits are growing, the tree is just wasting resources. After the incident
that we call “the cleansing of the Temple,” Jesus’ disciples notice that the
fig tree has withered, just as Jesus said it would. Just as Jesus had need of
the donkey, he had need of fruit, not because he was hungry and was lacking
something, but because he needed to teach us something about the purpose of fruitfulness
in faith.
So
the answer to the question, “Why did Jesus need the donkey” or “Why did Jesus
want there to be fruit on the fig tree” is they were needed for God’s will to
be done. The donkey and the fig tree were about doing, or not doing in the tree’s
case, God’s business. This is how we can interpret all of Holy Week – it is God
doing God’s business. In this holiest of weeks, God is doing something for us
and our salvation, God is teaching us about the power of love, and
demonstrating it to us as an example for us to follow.
When
someone asks us “What are you doing?” or “Why are you doing that?”, we see that
the response of faith is “The Lord needs it.” And if we cannot say that God
needs what we are doing, then, like Jesus, who contemplates what he sees in the
Temple, perhaps we need to spend some time thinking further about how we are
spending our time, our energy, our money, our passion, our lives. Are we up to
the Lord’s business, or our own?
The grace of Holy Week is that we’ll see many people who are not up to God’s business – like Peter, we all will deny Jesus; like Judas, we will all betray him; like the authorities, we will all seek to silence him; like the crowds, we will all shout “Crucify him.” But God will still be up to God’s business, doing what is needed for us and for our salvation so that a week from now, we will taste together the sweet fruits of Resurrection.
