Who Is This?

                                       Matthew 21: 6-11

 

 

          It was Passover. It doesn’t get any bigger than that. If you

were living in the kingdom of Judah during the first century,

you came to Jerusalem three times a year. There was the Feast

of Weeks, the Feast of Booths and there was Passover. You

stopped working at your job. You took your children and your spouse out of school and their normal routine, you packed your bag and you went to Jerusalem. The law required that every adult male who lived within twenty miles of Jerusalem must come to the Passover. In addition, Jews from all over the known world made the journey because of its importance on the Jewish calendar. It was the celebration of the Exodus; the remembrance of God’s deliverance of the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery.

          Those of you who are race fans know that Charlotte Motor Speedway fills up grandstands of more than 180,000 spectators for a major race like the World 600. There are many more in the infield and parking lots. The area just outside Charlotte becomes one of the biggest populations in North Carolina for a few days. A NASCAR race has nothing on Passover. Normally, Jerusalem had a population of about 80,000, but during Passover, it swelled to many times that number. Some thirty years after the death of Jesus, a Roman governor took a census of all the lambs slain during Passover. The number was upwards of a quarter million. Passover regulations required a lamb sacrifice for no more than ten people. Do that math. That equals somewhere around two and a half million people. Passover was the main event!

          It is into this arena that Jesus purposefully came. Matthew is ever faithful to tracing the connections between the Hebrew Scriptures and the story of Jesus. He tells us that Jesus sent his disciples to a nearby village to obtain a donkey and a colt, which they dutifully did. What followed was Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem at a time when it was overrun with a population probably twenty five times the number it normally held. It was like arriving at the State Fair gone turbo and being the main attraction of the grand opening. The crowds were huge, the streets were overrun, the atmosphere was high drama and it was infectious.

          And then here came Jesus, riding on a never before ridden colt accompanied by the colt’s mother.  Matthew tells us that this was done to fulfill Scripture, specifically that of Zechariah 9:9, where the prophet tells Israel that its king shall come humbly, “mounted on a donkey, and on a colt…” Jesus sat on the cloaks of his disciples and the large crowd became larger. Many spread their cloaks on the ground. Others cut palm branches to spread in his path. The crowds went ahead of him, proclaiming him and celebrating.

           The scene is not unique. At least a dozen such scenes had happened in Jerusalem’s recorded history, from Alexander the Great to Marcus Agrippa. So the scene is not so unusual. The thing is, such a reception is one reserved for a king or a conquering hero or a ruler. What has Jesus to do with this?

The crowds were shouting. They called Jesus the “Son of David.” They said he came in the name of the Lord.  They called him the prophet. Matthew says that the whole city was stirred up.

Well, if the “what” part of this breaking news has happened before, and many times before, then it must be the “who” that’s important, and indeed it is. It was then and it is now. Son of David? A reference to Scripture and prophecy?  Prophet? A reference to another of God’s heralds?  The Lord’s ambassador? Such language was the language of pilgrims. Hosanna? The term means Save Now. Hosanna in the highest might have meant that some saw Jesus as able to save them.

Was he the Savior? And if he was, what did that mean? Savior of what? Savior of whom?  “Who is this?” they asked. The crowd received Jesus like a king. Of course, he knew this was coming and he knew it would be the key to his earthly downfall.  This made no difference to Jesus, because he was the one person in Jerusalem who knew who he was.

When the religious rulers heard of all the ruckus over this man, they fretted. They were under the thumb of Rome and Rome did not tolerate sedition. Jesus was a major threat to the status quo. Jesus was more than a thorn in their side. He threatened to disrupt a delicate balance precariously struck between religious and political leaders.

“Who is this,” they asked. Caiaphas the high priest asked Jesus if he were the Son of God, and Jesus answered in a riddle. He said that “from now on you will see the Son of Man seated on the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” To Pilate, the Roman governor, he responded as he had to Caiaphas; that is, he said only to their questions: “You have said so.”

Who is this? No one got it right. No one got it right on Palm Sunday, when they called him Son of David and Prophet. No one got it right in the Sanhedrin, when they accused him of blasphemy. No one got it right at his appearance before Pilate, when a government official played the political card rather than exercise fundamental judgment and fairness. No one got it right in the crowd that formed on the morning of Good Friday when they chose to free Barabbas over Jesus. Not even the disciples got it right. We have Peter’s example to remind us of our mortality and weakness.

Who is this? Nobody got it right that first Easter, but that’s okay. God planned it that way. That’s why Jesus came. Because we don’t get it right, at least not without the grace of God that surpasses all understanding, even unto a cross.

Nevertheless, and unbelievably, the question remains to this day. Who is this? Is he the Son of Man? Is he the Son of God? Is he Messiah? Is he Savior of all? There are billions of people walking the face of the earth right now who think they have the answer, and they are wrong.

Who is this? Prophet, priest, king? Yes, and so much more! He is us and greater than us. He is the least and the most of us. He is the bridge to God and God himself.  Who is this?

He is my Savior. Make him be yours too. That’s who he is.