Our Cornerstone: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-22; Mark 11: 1-11
In construction and building terms, a cornerstone is the first and primary block of the foundation set in the ground which determines the positioning of all the other stones and indeed the structure itself. For us, as Christians, Jesus is that cornerstone on which our faith is built, our lives are patterned, and our understanding comes from. This Palm Sunday we continue our series, This Faith Is Ours, by looking at Jesus as the cornerstone of our faith. But in doing that we are going to look at the triumphal entry in a new and different way, and how this can change our views on the ways in which we follow Jesus.
In our Gospel lesson for today we Jesus in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is the prelude to all that would happen in the crucifixion and resurrection. This is where the stage was set for the plot to kill him to build momentum. Here we see Jesus borrow a young donkey and use it to ride through the Golden Gate (or Eastern Gate) into the city of Jerusalem. He rode in to praise and triumph through the outlying cities of Bethany and Bethphage, a few miles outside of Jerusalem.
Typically, we have talked about the triumphal entry as part of a foreshadowing of Jesus’s return in glory—once he rode to Jerusalem humbly on a donkey, but then will be coming King of Glory. However, a deeper look at this scripture and the setting shows a deeply rebellious political message directly at Rome and the religious leaders of Jesus’s day. Here’s a little backstory. Every year, the Roman governor of Judea would ride up into the city to be present at Passover. During Passover, the population of Jerusalem would swell from 50,000 to over 200,000 with Jewish pilgrims from all over coming to the city.
New Testament scholars give a strong description of all the pomp and pageantry as the Roman governor paraded in all his glory through the streets of Jerusalem to remind them that Rome was in charge lest anyone dare try to start a rebellion fueled by the religious fervor of Passover. Rome was all-powerful to them, the oppressor, and Caesar was declared to be a deity in and of himself. Rome, through a powerful parade, made sure that no local yokels in the outer regions of the empire would challenge this claim to power.
Thus, you see, Jesus, as a poor son of a carpenter with a ragtag following, was the furthest thing from a powerful emperor you could get. Just imagine how shocking it was to see this teacher on a dumpy little donkey parading into town on a carpet of palm branches and tunics. Make no mistake about it, Jesus triumphal entry was no parade—it was a rebellious protest against the oppression of Rome, and it shocked the people, firing up their rebellious nature. It was a mockery of the Roman parade likely happening close to the same time.
Jesus, once rejected as wrong and unconventional, became the cornerstone for those who were suffering and oppressed under Rome and the religious authorities who found Rome’s power all too convenient for preserving their own power. Perhaps this is what caused most of the trouble? The people saw Jesus’s defiant act against Rome and against the Pharisees with all their oppression. They expected this Son of David, who was the true and legitimate heir to the throne, to return and lead Israel to its historic glory. Jesus now stood in a fighting position of open rebellion—the cornerstone—ready to build his kingdom brick by brick.
But that didn’t happen. Instead of a powerful king, they found a humble teacher and a loving savior. The people wanted a political solution of power and might, but Jesus offered a pathway of grace, redemption, and humility. The people loved the protest, but they weren’t very fond of the truth of Jesus’s kingdom. Jesus didn’t come to establish a kingdom of this world. We are told to be in the world but not of the world, as God’s kingdom is here in the world (in us) but still not a kingdom of this world. Jesus came to flip tables, to protest Rome in the streets of Jerusalem, and to call the Pharisees a brood of vipers. He laid the cornerstone of the kingdom of God, but the rest of the building proved to be much harder for people.
Even as they thought Jesus was ready to fight, he proclaimed instead that we should be peacemakers. He proclaimed that we should love our neighbors. He proclaimed that we should turn the other cheek when it comes to a fight with our enemies. Those things are all well and good, yet the people were ready for a fight first, then all that other stuff Jesus said later. But Jesus had a different kind of kingdom in mind—a kingdom that is still hard for us today.
Jesus shared what he had with all, and in fact, the first church in Acts 2 sold all its possessions and cared for everyone equally from rich to poor. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, interacted with people considered unclean, stood up for the prostitute and the tax collector (and in turn offered them redemption). He proclaimed we should treat the least of these with same dignity as the best of all. Paul extends these teachings to say, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus,” in Galatians 3:28. Even more difficult, when Peter drew his sword to start the fight and defend Jesus at the scene of Jesus’s betrayal, Jesus replied, “Put away your sword…those who use the sword will die by the sword.” (Matt. 26:52, NIV). Jesus’s teachings were difficult. Imagine if Jesus stood in the pulpits of America today in the wake of our killing and violence and said, “Get rid of your gun, for all who use the gun will die by the gun.” Or if Jesus preached publicly against Roman oppression and the rights of the minority people of Judea to vote and speak their mind? The Jesus they wanted in Jerusalem was not the Jesus they got.
The same is true today: laying the cornerstone of belief in Christ is easy, building the rest of the house can be very difficult work. Showing up to the exciting protest on Palm Sunday is easy, embracing what Jesus taught was much harder. For us, believing in Jesus as the Savior of all is easy, but actually following him gets really difficult. And yet Jesus is still the cornerstone on which we build. Jesus knew that the people around Jerusalem would shout hosannah one week. He also knew that just a short time later they would say, “This isn’t what we signed up for. Kill him.” But still Jesus rode on in majesty as a sacrifice, as an example, as the cornerstone of our faith and hope.
Jesus rode to Jerusalem on a donkey in humble protest of the evils of Rome and the Pharisees in the temple. But then he taught the people about this kingdom, God’s kingdom, where love transforms, where souls are saved, where war and violence are over, and where enemies find ways to turn the other cheek and love one another. In our day and time, which is just as faulty as Ancient Rome, we must commit not just to believing in Jesus but to following him as well. So set your faith firmly in the Cornerstone, the Rock of Ages, who has the power transform all that is bad into grace, then. like Jesus, ride on ride on in majesty for in following him, we will never lose our way.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/500740597969577