Will You Go?
“When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
March 29, 2015
Mark 11:1-11, Will You Go?
Pastor Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
Audio only[powerpress]
Can you think of a family story or experience that has grown over the years as it has been told and shared? The size of the fish we caught grows as the years go by, as do the dollars we made, the audience before which we performed, the snow that fell or the distance we walked to school. Can you believe some of us actually walked to school unaccompanied by parents? Events tend to grow grander as time passes and not just because of exaggeration or a fading memory, but often because we only recognize how significant some moments are with the perspective of time and subsequent events that color our memory of the past.
There is a sense in which this is true of what we call Palm Sunday. If you look at this event in each of the gospels, according to the order in which we believe they were written, we see a progression in how the episode is remembered. The significance of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is understood differently in each of the four gospels. Mark, the earliest of the gospels, has the simplest account of what happened. Jesus does not speak during the entry, or during his silent scouting of the Temple. Jesus’ followers shout a traditional verse of praise from Psalm 118. Unlike the accounts in Matthew and in Luke, the crowd in Mark does not call Jesus either “King” or “Son of David.” In Mark, Jesus is connected with the coming kingdom of “our father David.” Mark shows a remarkable reticence with regard to Jesus. No crowds come out of the city to meet him; no critics respond to his arrival; the only people present are those who have accompanied Jesus on the way to Jerusalem.
In Matthew (21:1-11, 15) the crowd on Palm Sunday and the children in the temple refer to Jesus directly as “the Son of David.” Matthew suggests the whole city is aware of and shaken by the coming of Jesus asking (21:10), “Who is this?” The Gospel of Luke (19:28-46) was written near the year 70 when the Romans virtually leveled the temple. Luke depicts Jesus as the prophet who predicts the destruction of the city and weeps over it. In Matthew and Luke’s accounts Jesus is not silent as in Mark, but he speaks to answer his critics and then proceeds immediately to drive out the moneychangers and those who were selling things in the temple.
In Mark, there are no critics, no Pharisees, nobody seems to notice Jesus coming into Jerusalem or his silently surveying the scene in the temple before he returns the next day and then clears out the temple. In John (12:12-19) which was composed near the end of the first century, the tone is altogether triumphant, John is the only gospel to mention branches of palm trees, and the helpless opponents of Jesus complain as crowds go out of Jerusalem to meet Jesus as he enters (12:19), “Look, the world has gone after him.”
The significance of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is understood differently in each of the four gospels. This may be in part because events tend to grow grander as time passes, but also because, as John notes (12:16), the disciples came to recognize how significant some events were with the perspective of time and subsequent events such as the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit. If we’re to understand the particular significance of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for each gospel writer as well as for ourselves then it is helpful to stay within their telling of the story.
Mark, the first of the gospels to be written down, reveals the humblest, lowliest picture of Jesus on Palm Sunday. Jesus is only a hero to the little band that follows him to Jerusalem. Mark wants our attention on the silent rider of the colt as Jesus dramatizes his offer of himself as the Messiah, putting the emphasis on his humility.
T.S. Eliot wrote, “Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself.” Tom Brokaw relates an experience he had while wandering through Bloomingdale’s in New York City, shortly after he was promoted to co-host The Today Show. The Today Show was a pinnacle of sorts for Brokaw after years of hard work, first in Omaha, then for NBC in Los Angeles and Washington, and he was feeling good about himself. He noticed a man watching him closely. The man kept staring at him and finally, when the man approached him, Brokaw was sure he was about to reap the first fruits of being a New York television celebrity. The man pointed his finger and said, “Tom Brokaw, right?” “Right,” said Brokaw. “You used to do the morning news on KMTV in Omaha, right?” “That’s right,” said Brokaw, getting set for the accolades to follow. “I knew it the minute I spotted you,” the man said. Then he paused and added, “Whatever happened to you?”
Richard Foster writes in his book, Freedom of Simplicity, “Of all the theological virtues, humility is one of the most coveted. No one enjoys people who are consumed with themselves. Smug arrogance is always distasteful. Genuine humility, on the other hand, has a gentleness about it that is delightful. There is an unpretentiousness in true humility that all people appreciate. But humility is as elusive as it is desirable. We all know that it can never be gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is sure evidence that we don’t.”
Psalm 25:9, says, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” Dallas Willard defined humility as an “openness to God’s direction even when it is contrary to our wants and assumptions.” One could argue that the two greatest spiritual figures in the Bible are Jesus and Moses and both were known for their humility. Moses spent long periods in conversation with God, but rather than make him think he was someone great, he was humbled. Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Paul says in the passage we heard earlier from (Philippians 2:7-8), “Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
Humility is our proper attitude toward God and other people. The early Christians known as The Desert Fathers told the story of an old man who endured 70 weeks of fasting, eating only once a week. He asked God about certain words in the Holy Scripture, but God did not answer him. Then he said to himself, ‘Look, I have put in this much effort, but I haven’t made any progress. So now I will go to see my brother, and ask him.’ And when he had gone out, closed the door and started off, an angel of the Lord was sent to him, and said: “Seventy weeks of fasting have not brought you near to God. But now that you are humbled enough to go to your brother, I have been sent to you to reveal the meaning of the words.” Then the angel explained the meaning which the old man was seeking, and went away.
The power of humble obedience and the willingness to suffer displayed by Jesus in entering Jerusalem as he did is not easily understood or comprehended, then or now. The irony of Palm Sunday is the rag-tag group following Jesus is wrong in their expectation that Jesus is about to immediately restore the fortunes and freedom of Jerusalem, and yet they are right in their hope that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is not about to unleash legions of angels to kill the Romans, to destroy all that represents Rome, and to restore the kingdom of Israel.
Lowliness and humility are seen throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, but here its quiet dignity and hidden majesty are displayed. The silence of Jesus in the midst of the shouting and singing crowd is striking. Mark hopes we will stay with Jesus long enough, until his silent presence, his offer of himself, becomes compelling. Like the first crowd, some of us will go and follow him, recognizing that we only know him in part. Like the first crowd, we also will know failure. But by the grace of a humble and crucified and risen Lord, those of us who are willing to go with Jesus may also come to share in some measure, his lowliness and his quiet strength.
Philippians 2:5-11 could not state more strongly the fact that the central event in the cosmic drama of salvation is an act of humble service. Jesus gave up all claim to title, rights, privilege, recognition, and personal glory, and sought simply to be obedient without fanfare, without applause, without glorifying himself and without promise of reward. Paul says, this is the central defining act of the Christian faith and it is the attitude, the approach that Christ followers are to demonstrate. That’s what it’s all about. Are we willing to go forward in life, following Jesus in the way of humility?
Thomas Kelly wrote in his classic book, A Testament of Devotion, “Humility rests upon a Holy blindness, like the blindness of him who looks steadily into the sun. For wherever he turns his eyes on earth, there he sees only the sun. The God-blinded soul sees naught of self, naught of personal degradation or of personal eminence, but only the Holy Will.” The more steadily we look at the Son of God, then when we turn our eyes to others, we will see the Jesus in them.
Again in The Desert Fathers we hear this exchange:
A brother asked an old man: “What is humility?”
And the old man said: “To do good to those who hurt you.”
The brother said: “If you cannot go that far, what should you do?”
The old man replied: “Get away from them and keep your mouth shut.” Good advice.
John Woolman (October 19, 1720 – October 7, 1772) was a North American merchant, tailor, journalist, and itinerant Quaker preacher, and an early abolitionist in the colonial era. Based in Mount Holly, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he traveled through frontier areas of British North America to preach Quaker beliefs, and advocate against slavery and the slave trade, cruelty to animals, economic injustices and oppression, and conscription. In 1772, Woolman traveled to England, where he urged Quakers to support abolition of slavery. He kept a journal throughout his life; it was published posthumously, entitled The Journal of John Woolman (1774). Included in Volume I of the Harvard Classics since 1909, it’s considered a prominent American spiritual work. Here is one story about John Woolman’s humble faith. One November evening in 1758, Woolman was being hosted in the home of Thomas Woodward after preaching powerfully against slavery at a Quaker meeting. Woolman was a humble and gracious man who didn’t share his opinion unless he felt divinely compelled to do so. When he did speak, it was respectfully, quietly, never confrontationally. Because of his humble and loving manner, he exerted an unusually powerful influence on others.
When John Woolman entered the Woodward home, tired and hungry, he noticed servants and asked about their status. When he learned they were slaves he didn’t say a word. Later that night, however, he quietly got out of bed, wrote a note to his host explaining why he couldn’t receive his hospitality, went to the slave quarters and paid them for their day’s work, and walked out into the night. His silent testimony pierced conventional attitudes and behavior like a carefully aimed arrow of the Spirit. When the household stirred to life in the morning, Thomas Woodward – over his wife’s vehement objections – freed all of their slaves.1 Woolman was a humble doer of the word, so different sadly, from what we see so much of in our culture today.
Humility is not me thinking less of myself. It’s me thinking of myself less. In his wonderful book, The Gift of Peace, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin reflected on his life goal, which was a prayer to God– “to let go of self and trust in you.” This is precisely what Jesus did and what we are supposed to do. The central event that creates, nourishes, and matures the community of faith is an act of humble, obedient service by Jesus. God sent Jesus, the gift of love, to earth in a lowly and humble way when he was born in a manger and grew up like every child. The Gospel of Mark says on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus the Messiah came silently, humbly, and courageously into Jerusalem on a colt, offering to those who would receive him
Love that is stronger than death,
Forgiveness greater than all our sin, and
Hope and peace greater than all our fear and pain.
Questions for Discussion or Reflection
- Can you think of a personal or family story that has “grown” over the years as it has been told and shared?
- What do you notice about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in Mark’s Gospel? Is there anything you were expecting or anticipating that is missing?
- Sometimes in life we may not truly understand the importance or significance of an event until after the passing of time gives us some perspective. Can you think of a moment like that for yourself? (For example, it could be when you met the person who became one of you best friends)
- Mark presents the humblest view of Jesus entering Jerusalem. T.S. Eliot wrote, “Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself.” What do you think of Eliot’s assertion?
- Dallas Willard defined humility as an “openness to God’s direction even when it is contrary to our wants and assumptions.” Discuss how Jesus embodied this definition of humility in his life and ministry, especially during Holy Week.
- Philippians 2:5-11 states that the central event in the cosmic drama of salvation is an act of humble service. Paul says, this is the central defining act of the Christian faith and it is the attitude, the approach that Christ followers are to demonstrate. How can we go forward in life, following Jesus in the way of humility?