Luke 19: 36-44 nRSV
36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 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 loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." 40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out." 41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."
THE BOTTICELLI
A painting dismissed as an imitation of Sandro Botticelli's Madonna Of The Pomegranate has actually turned out to be the real thing. The more famous and much larger version is displayed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
For years it was thought that the smaller version, painted in 1487, was a copy by an unknown artist. There are details that differ slightly from the larger work and more than a century of yellow varnish concealed the quality of the painting underneath. But the truth about the 15th century masterpiece, which shows Madonna and Christ Child with four angels, was revealed when English Heritage conservators started to clean it.
They stripped off the dirt and varnish and used x-rays, infrared and pigment analysis. Experts at the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum were also consulted and all of the information points to the painting being the original from the famous painter's Florence workshop.
In short, they didn’t know what they had right in front of them. This is the reality of Palm Sunday. The people parade Jesus in as king and messiah, but they didn’t know anything about his actual kingship or messiahship.
Comedian Demetri Martin has a great comic one-liner that carries this further:
“I was walking in the park and this guy waved at me. Then he said, “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. I said, “I am.” This is also Palm Sunday.
The question is should we be celebrating Palm Sunday at all? It looks very Easter-ish, if you know what I mean. Bright colors, a children’s parade, happy Hosannas—am I wrong or are we celebrating Easter a week early? What happened to Lent? Where is that dark self-examination that characterizes the forty days before Easter?
In fact, Palm Sunday is every bit as dark as Good Friday, for it is the account of the people’s failure to recognize Jesus as king and messiah. Yes, they shouted Hosanna, and they proclaimed, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” which was the very patent phrase for the Messiah, but they didn’t know it was actually the Son of God, God in the flesh, returning to his rightful rule. It’s more likely they were just caught up in the holiday’s Messiah Fever.
MESSIAH FEVER
The disciples all parade Jesus into Jerusalem as though he were king and Messiah, but this was not something new. For 400 years, Israel had avoided idolatry and yet awaited a Word from God in the form of a prophet. The much-anticipated Messiah would be a prophet, priest, and king in the image of David—a conquering hero who would rescue Israel from the oppression of other worldly powers and establish an eternal earthly reign.
Many followed Jesus. They saw him heal and believed he was a prophet “like those of old” with a special relationship to God. While these things are true, it’s a bit like saying, “Jeff Bezos has some money.” I have some money—$13.00 in my wallet as I speak—but Jeff Bezos has 160 billion dollars. If each dollar were a grain of sand, it would fill the bed of a large pickup truck.
The Pharisees were wary of Messiah Fever—very much so—so they tell Jesus to shut his disciples up:
"Teacher, order your disciples to stop."
The Pharisees knew their history. They saw that no good can come of calling anyone “Messiah.” Why? Because it had happened before, perhaps many times, but we’ll talk about three.
Simon of Peraea (4 BC)
Jewish historian Josephus writes:
“Simon had been a slave of king Herod, but in other respects an attractive person, of a tall and robust body; he was one that was much superior to others of his order, and had had great things committed to his care. This man was elevated at the disorderly state of things, and was so bold as to put a diadem on his head, while a certain number of the people stood by him, and by them he was declared to be a king, and he thought himself more worthy of that dignity than any one else.
"He burnt down the royal palace at Jericho, and plundered what was left in it. He also set fire to many other of the king's houses in several places of the country, utterly destroyed them, and permitted those that were with him to take what was left in them for a prey. He would have done greater things, but care was taken to repress him immediately. [The commander of Herod's infantry] Gratus joined himself to some Roman soldiers, took the forces he had with him, and met Simon. And after a great and a long fight, no small part of those that had come from Peraea (a disordered body of men, fighting rather in a bold than in a skillful manner) were destroyed. Although Simon had saved himself by flying away through a certain valley, Gratus overtook him, and cut off his head.”
What, never heard of Simon of Peraea? Why not? Because he and all of his followers were killed by the Romans.
Athronges (4-2 BC)
Josephus writes:
“Athronges, a person neither eminent by the dignity of his progenitors, nor for any great wealth he possessed. For he had been a mere shepherd, not known by anybody. But because he was a tall man, and excelled others in the strength of his hands, he was so bold as to set up for king. A thing to do more than ordinary injuries to others, that, although he risked his life, he did not much care if he lost it in so great a design.
“He had four brothers, who were tall men themselves, and were believed to be superior to others in the strength of their hands, and thereby were encouraged to aim at great things, and thought that strength of theirs would support them in retaining the kingdom. Each of these ruled over a band of men of their own (for those that got together to them were very numerous). They were every one of them also commanders; but when they came to fight, they were subordinate to him, and fought for him. After he had put a diadem about his head, he assembled a council to debate about what things should be done, and all things were done according to his pleasure. So, this man retained his power a great while; he was also called king, and had nothing to hinder him from doing what he pleased.
“Together with his brothers, he slew a great many of both of Roman and of the king's forces, and managed matters with the like hatred to each of them. They fell upon the king's soldiers because of the licentious conduct they had been allowed under Herod's government; and they fell upon the Romans, because of the injuries they had so lately received from them. But in process of time they grew more cruel to all sorts of men, nor could anyone escape from one or other of these seditions, since they slew some out of the hopes of gain, and others from a mere custom of slaying men.
“Once, they attacked a Roman company at Emmaus, soldiers who were bringing grain and weapons to the army, and fell upon Arius, the centurion, who commanded the company, and shot forty of the best of his foot soldiers. The other Romans panicked after this slaughter, left their dead behind them, and were saved by Gratus, who came to their assistance with the king's troops that he commanded. Now these four brethren continued the war a long while by such sort of expeditions, and they much grieved the Romans; but they did their own nation also a great deal of mischief.
“Afterwards they were subdued; one of them in a fight with Gratus, another with Ptolemy; Herod Archelaus took the eldest of them prisoner; while the last of them was so dejected at the other's misfortune, and saw so plainly that he had no way now left to save himself, his army being worn away with sickness and continual labors, that he also delivered himself up to Archelaus, upon his promise and oath to God to preserve his life. But these things came to pass a good while afterward."
The rebellion of Athronges against the Roman authorities may have lasted for almost two years. Josephus states how the four brothers met their fate, but he is silent on the end of Athronges himself.
What, never heard of Athronges? Why not? Because he and all of his followers were killed by the Romans.
Judas of Galilee (6 AD)
Judas of Galilee, or Judas of Gamala, was a Jewish leader who led resistance to the census imposed for Roman tax purposes by Quirinius in Judea Province around 6 AD. He encouraged Jews not to register and those that did had their houses burnt and their cattle stolen by his followers. He began the "fourth philosophy" of the Jews which Josephus blames for the disastrous war with the Romans in 66–70 AD. These events are discussed by Josephus in The Jewish War and in Antiquities of the Jews and mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus states that Judas, along with Zadok the Pharisee, founded the "fourth sect" of 1st century Judaism (the first three being the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes). Josephus blamed this fourth sect for the First Jewish–Roman War of 66–73 AD. Judas and Zaddok's group were theocratic nationalists who preached that God alone was the ruler of Israel and urged that no taxes should be paid to Rome. [info from Wikipedia]
What, never heard of Judas of Galillee? Why not? Because he and all of his followers were killed by the Romans.
The Pharisees were wary for good reasons. The people had waited 400 years for a Messiah and the fever was on and on high.
FAILED RECOGNITION
Jesus weeps for Jerusalem like a mother weeps for a murderous son on the way to the gallows. “You could have been so much more!” she cries.
Twice our text uses the word recognize.:
"If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! v.42
…you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God. v.44
The people failed to recognize the true king and true heir of the throne of Jerusalem, the earth, and the cosmos. His disciples called out the correct words, so truth was named even if it were not understood, but it remains the case that Palm Sunday is not a happy day or a positive occasion.
The irony is that they called him Messiah without knowing what kind of messiah to expect. They called him King without a clue as to what his actual kingdom looked like.
The failure to recognize continues anywhere Jesus is reduced to convenient definitions or limited roles. To say, “He was a great teacher,” or “He was a prophet of God,” remain pathetic oversimplifications of the reality. I confess, that even when I say that Jesus is the Son of God, Lord of all, High King of Heaven, perfect Master, and God Almighty—I may be correct, but I call Jesus names I have no way of fully understanding. We too may sing, “God is good!” but what do we know of real goodness? Our best praises are sin-stained and as limited as our earthly sight.
We do our best to embrace humility in every aspect of our life and worship. We are right to humbly worship and to resist all attempts to reduce or simplify our knowledge of God.
Who he is is who he self-reveals to be. He is who he is—it’s just that simple. Demetri Martin has it right:
“I was walking in the park and this guy waved at me. Then he said, “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. I said, “I am.” This is Palm Sunday.†.