Facing Reality: Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Luke 19: 18-40
As the hymn says, “Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp, ride on to die.” This road from triumphant entry to the suffering of the cross is one we’ve journeyed together for many years. However, now, more than ever this journey speaks to us as both a warning and a symbol of hope for a world that can yet still find itself in the power of and seeking the will of a loving Savior.
How does this happen. Let me start with a story. I was meeting with a fellow pastor the other day for some advice. After listening to my weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, he said to me, “Will, you just need to stop overthinking it.” Okay. I smiled and pretended to be thankful. What I wanted to say is, “Ya know, if I could turn the overthinking off like water from a faucet, I wouldn’t exactly be here seeking advice, dude.” But I held my tongue, and he then offered this great bit of wisdom. He said, “Lord, deliver us from ourselves.” That one thought took deep root in my soul. Lord, deliver us from ourselves.
In our Gospel, we see the old and familiar story of Jesus riding from the towns of Bethany and Bethphage, the home of Lazarus and a place where Jesus was loved, to Jerusalem where prophetic voices like Jesus were silenced and often with death. Jerusalem was a powder keg of power struggles, ethnic conflict between Roman, Jewish, and others who lived there, a place of oppression with a deep undercurrent of political strife, injustice, and barely controlled anger. And I know none of that seems at all relevant in this day and time. Jerusalem was only 30 years away from a full-blown conflict with Rome.
Into this volatile situation, Jesus rode in on the back of a donkey, hailed as the King of Kings. The people there wanted a savior, a deliverer, and a mighty king. This is what they hoped for in Jesus, but their understanding was misplaced. They wanted an earthly king, who would lead a revolt, overthrow Rome, and reestablish David’s throne and the purity of Solomon’s temple. They wanted a new King David who would smash the Roman Goliath in a miraculous way. Instead, they got this poor, humble guy on the back of a donkey, who preached about love, laying down one’s life, and a heavenly kingdom.
Jesus came to Jerusalem not to bring down Pilate, or topple Caesar’s power, or restore the temple religion and recreate a Judean kingdom. Even Jesus’s preaching was not so fiery and tough as what you could possibly hear in the temple and Sanhedrin. Blessed are the peacemakers, love your enemy, love your neighbor, be born again of God and not of worldly things—all of this was a far cry from expectation. But it all has a common theme: O Lord, deliver us from ourselves.
These past couple of years we’ve lost our time, our freedom, our sense of security, too many friends and family to even name, and it could be that hope seems a bit dim while grief weighs heavy. We too want Jesus to ride into our lives and suddenly make all things better, which is certainly possible, but it cannot be done when our faith is clouded by anger, grief, confusion, and the love of doubt.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” But Jesus didn’t come to save Jerusalem from Rome. He came to save humanity, to deliver us from ourselves and from those doubts, the negativity, and those struggles which keep us in a worldly mindset instead of focusing on the hope and redemption that is Christ’s work.
I had someone ask me recently why we have to suffer so much in this world. They were struggling with the loss of a loved one and their own physical illness as well. I could sense the struggle and pain they were feeling. The truth is that there is no good answer. The best I can offer is that the faith I have meets with the faith you have, and together, God’s presence in both of us will see us through. As Isaiah 50 says, “The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced…and I know that I will not be put to shame.”
It begins when we pray, Lord, deliver us from ourselves. In the triumphant entry, Jesus comes into the city with great fanfare and celebration. The people of Bethany and Bethphage travelled with Jesus and the disciples into the heart of Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were overcome and ecstatic. Here was their king and deliverer. But just a few days later, they named him a fraud and called for him to be crucified with murderous rage before Pilate.
Jesus did not come to fix the earthly existence of Jerusalem. He came to restore a broken relationship and give them the hope of eternal life with him. He came to bring faith, not a kingdom; justice, not civil war with Rome; a relationship and not a temple faith. His kingdom was not of this world and Jesus did not come to fix the political mess of Jerusalem. He came to bring life and hope and the Holy Spirit which would equip the people to fix Jerusalem, if they followed him. He came to deliver them from themselves and unto a relationship with a God who loved them and created them.
As the hymn says, “Lord, you have come to the lakeshore, looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones. You only asked me to follow humbly.” Jesus is still calling to this day to follow humbly. It may not fix all your problems here on earth. Jesus didn’t come to make things perfect. He came to deliver us from our worldly lives and return us to God. It is a tough journey from the palms to the cross. In a world that seems to be growing in cruelty, anger, and strife, that journey to the cross seems harder and harder every year—facing that pain and that suffering. But one thing never changes. One the other side of that cross is hope and eternal life. And so, each day, I pray, “Lord, deliver us from ourselves.” Amen.
Service Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/687550229059830