Terry Paul Choyce
April 9, 2006, Brunswick Street United Church
Today is Palm Sunday, a day when we commemorate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Jesus planned this joyous procession for several reasons. One was to bring to pass the prophecy that Hazel read to you today from Zechariah (9:9-12). Another was to raise the excitement of the people of Jerusalem about his arrival. Another was to raise people's awareness of the miracles he had performed in other places, and to have people start talking about who he was, what he had done, and about his message of love and compassion for all. And another, and this is my opinion and may not be one agreed upon by many people, is that Jesus wanted to make a grand entrance to worry and alarm the Jewish leaders. Jesus had a plan, because he knew his time as a human was limited. It may not be popular to say this, but Jesus was planning his own demise. He wanted to anger the Jewish leaders.
My theory about this is confirmed, in my eyes, by what he did in the Temple. Now this just wasn't any place of worship. This was the centre of the Jewish faith. This was like the Vatican is to Catholics. According to Matthew 21: 12-15:
"12Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"
14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant."
Mark 11:18 says: "The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching."
The next day, when he had the attention of so many people, he delivered his most powerful message to us all. Matthew 22:34- 40 says:
"34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
It took tremendous courage for Jesus to enter Jerusalem that Sunday. In our lives, we all, at some time or another, do courageous things as well. Most of us here have at some time or other, stood up for the rights of others who were being treated unfairly. Perhaps one of your children was not being treated well by a teacher, or a neighbour, or even one of your relatives. I doubt if any of us here would just sit quietly and let our child be hurt, even if it meant alienating people and upsetting things. Or if you see a dog being kicked by its owner, or see kids throwing stones at a cat, most of us would intervene on behalf of the animal. And there are many here who have worked to improve life for people in poverty. I know that Shazza and Scott have. And those of you who have had the courage to rebuild Camp Brunswick when it seemed like a financially impossible task, are to be commended. And most of you have done something to keep this church alive, when, truthfully, it would have at times been easier just to let it be closed. Throughout our lives there are times when each of us must put aside our fears and stand up for what we believe is right. As Christians, we have a powerful role model in Christ for doing what is not easy or always safe.
Two men in recent times who refused to be quiet were Father Daniel Berrigan and his brother, Father Philip Berrigan. These two men protested against the Vietnam War during the 60's and early 70's. They wrote, lectured, and took forceful action to make a statement to the American politicians, and the people, that the war was wrong and must be stopped. One of the actions that Philip did was to pour blood into draft record files as a symbolic shedding of Christ's blood , which represented a love of life and the sacredness of life, to cover the records of those who were going to be forced to go to Vietnam and kill people. Of course Philip was arrested and convicted of mutilating and destroying government records. He knew this would happen, but he was so firm in his convictions that he was willing to pay the penalty. In Nov. 1968 Philip delivered the following speech to a judge and jury just prior to sentencing: (p.68, IN SEARCH OF MAN ALIVE)
I do not agree with all of the tactics and actions the Berrigan brothers used, but I admire their courage to stand up for their strong convictions. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, and countless other people have put their regular lives on hold, or put themselves in danger, by refusing to ignore the pain, suffering, and injustices imposed on people. They are following the example of Jesus in doing what is not easy, but is right. Fortunately, few of us have to make the ultimate sacrifice of our lives, as Jesus did. But we are all called to be true to our convictions and our beliefs. We are all called to love our neighbour as our self.
©Terry Paul Choyce. Used with permission from the author.
