Dr. J. Lawrence Cuthill

March 28, 2010

Winter Park Presbyterian Church

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a cold that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.”

So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.

As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

They said, “The Lord needs it.”

Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they sat Jesus on it.

As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a oud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”

He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

~ ~ ~

We’ve all seen the familiar pictures on television of the President of the United States walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board the Marine One helicopter. He usually waves to the press, and then is spirited off to Andrews Air Force Base where he embarks on Air Force One for any number of national or international destinations. The scene is usually a 30 second clip on the 6:00 o’clock news.

What we don’t see is the incredible amount of energy and expense needed to make it happen. Getting the President from place to place is a bit like planning the Normandy Invasion… requiring hundreds of man (and woman) hours. If he were visiting us; long before he arrived Secret Service Agents would be here screening people and doing background checks, planning routes and alternate routes for motorcades, and performing a myriad of tasks. By the way, Air Force One, the flying White House, is a marvel. It has 80 phones, 238 miles of communications cable, a medical suite staffed with a full-time surgeon, a pharmacy, x-ray machine and an operating table. It has two galleys with five chefs. President Bush even had a treadmill installed for his workouts. There are actually two AF-1’s -- just in case.

All of that about the coming and going of the President of the U.S. is just to paint a bold and contrasting picture of what it took to get the King of Kings into Jerusalem. Forget security, logistics and equipment. He entered the Holy City knowing full well what awaited Him. As for a plan, there was one, but no one knew or comprehended it until well after His death. The plan, to be sure, was not conceived weeks or months ahead, but from eternity; it was a very deliberately orchestrated act. He entered Jerusalem. His face set, for it was there that the divinely generated plan would come to a climax, there that his destiny as Savior would become complete … fulfilled.

Clearly Jesus’ entry parade was not a random or impulsive move. To the two disciples, the advance party charged with preparing for this high-level visit, He said “Go and fetch the donkey … and if challenged simply say ‘the Lord has need of it’.” And it happened exactly as He described. Nothing was left to chance. The disciples returned with a rather befuddled donkey, (perhaps befuddled themselves), and put their garments on the steed as a saddle and the procession began. The crowd built quickly. Excitement grew. Others threw their cloaks down on the roadway before this one man parade.

Those who had experienced His miracles were probably the first to begin to praise jubilantly; jubilation is contagious you know! In short order, there was a major public celebration underway as they crested the Mount of Olives, and proceeded down toward Jerusalem’s Eastern Gate.

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Still, there was something incongruous about what was happening. Jesus cut a figure that the rich and powerful would sniff at, a charade of a parade. In the First Century Roman world, emperors and conquering generals made their arrivals in a city with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. Elite troops carried Roman standards. The emperor entered on a warhorse or mounted in a chariot, accompanied by marching legions of soldiers. All the trappings, the grandeur, were carefully staged.

Who would have expected this procession headed by a Galilean rabbi bouncing on the back of a donkey? He was neither greeted by dignitaries nor given a key to the city; He had no entourage save a ragtag group of disciples and an excited crowd of common folk, almost all of whom probably had no idea of the significance of the occasion. Who could have predicted that this was a final approach, as it were, to the site where salvation would be secured, the ultimate act of grace to reconcile a broken world populated by lost yet prideful people?

Not everyone in the crowd was convinced of that truth or pleased by the furor. Some were disturbed for political reasons. This Galilean preacher was being hailed as King, which would certainly draw the attention of the Romans who would be merciless in putting down any act perceived as a threat to their sovereignty. Since their occupation of Palestine, more than fifty rebellious acts and uprisings that had been cruelly crushed in a very cruel way intended to illustrate the Romans power over life and death. It was called CRUXIFIXION.

In addition to the Romans others in the Jewish establishment objected to it on the grounds that rolling out the red carpet for this itinerant, would-be Messiah was a stunning, if nauseatingly blasphemous statement. And they spoke out, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” They have such impressionable and small minds, this rabble. “Stop it before there is serious trouble!” pleaded the Pharisees.

And His response: “Can’t be done. If these become silent, this event is so momentous, so significant, that if they were silent even the stones would shout!” If God’s creatures won’t respond, creation will. The heavens are telling the glory of God … and earth joins in the chorus.

Time is short so let me make three observations:

First, God will have a witness, regardless of the unresponsive nature of humans; even among those who should, of all people, recognize the Messiah. Often that witness comes from unexpected directions: tax gatherers, poor folk, prostitutes, rough fisherman, children (whom the disciples wanted to hustle away from His presence), the downtrodden … even rocks along the roadway.

William H. Willimon tells this story:

A few years ago, while on a vacation in Paris, we arrived on Sunday morning and that evening we were walking down one of the streets of the Left Bank. It didn’t feel like Sunday to us. The streets were thronged with tourists and weekend merrymakers. There, on one of the side streets, we encountered an ancient church. We were astounded to read that the church was nearly 1,000 years old. It was a beautiful example of late Gothic French architecture. As we stood before those venerable, moss-covered, ancient stones, admiring their antique beauty, we heard singing coming from within the church.

Here, in supposedly secular France there was a Sunday church service. They were having Mass. We went up to the church, pushed the door open, and we were surprised to be greeted by a wave of songs coming from a packed interior. The congregation was made up of many different colors of people and a higher percentage of young people than I had seen in most of the churches I had visited in the United States in the couple of months before. “It’s hard to believe we’re in France,” said my friend. We had heard that there was nobody in the French churches but a few old people. That evening, I found that was a lie. The church was full; full of praise, a living, breathing testimony to the continuing vitality of the church.

So when I hear Jesus say that He can teach even stones to shout, I think of that evening and of that church…

On this day, as the new king intrudes among us and challenges our settled arrangements with unrighteousness, here’s what I hear the stones saying: “Follow him!” Join the parade of those who, through the ages, have looked at this carpenter’s son bouncing in on the back of a donkey and have seen their Lord and their Savior. Jesus Christ is Lord! Let’s go after him. Let’s walk behind him.” That’s the first point.

Second point: Anyone who is moved to make a change should expect opposition. When it comes, don’t be surprised. Don’t react, retaliate or resent. It is the nature of a broken world that resists fixing. It may even be an indication you’re onto something significant. Be sure it is consistent with God’s character and teaching or you could be a crabby crank.

And third point: God is sovereign. There is a plan, a destiny if you will. To say minimal would be a gross understatement when everything appears headed toward chaos, disintegration, collapse … God’s plan is at work and in God’s timing. When it appears that the world and forces beyond our control are calling all the shots, be assured, take comfort … there is a greater power, a divinely directed drama that supersedes.

Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.

AMEN