1. Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard March 20, 2016, Palm Sunday
Two Roads Converged . . .
Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard
March 20, 2016, Palm Sunday

2. Matthew 21: 1-10
1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 

3. Matthew 21: 1-10
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’”

4. Matthew 21: 1-10
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

5. Matthew 21: 1-10
“Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”
10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

6. Followed by The cleansing of the temple The episode with the fig tree
People questioning Jesus’ authority
The parable of the two sons
The parable of the landowner

7. What’s happening?
Thousands arriving for Passover, making their way from the coast to Jerusalem
Jesus enacts the peaceful king prophecy from Zechariah 9; ironically, the Roman Governor led a very different kind of procession at the same time
The people call out various verses from Psalm 118: the climax of the portion called the Hallel—this is their ritualistic cry for the Messiah

8. Contenders (according to N.T. Wright)
Judas Maccabeus, c. 166 BC
Herod the Great, 37 BC
Simon Bar Giora, AD
Simon Bar Kockba, AD
Each had a battle to fight and a dream for the temple

9. Jesus shows a different way
The battle isn’t a physical enemy—it’s sin and fear and death and how we deal with these—we ourselves are the enemy
The temple doesn’t need to be rebuilt or sanctified from paganism without; it needs to be purified from bad motives within
In fact, Jesus goes around healing people and forgiving their sins—He is presenting Himself as the place where heaven and earth meet

10. He also shows . . .
A different sense of holiness and time—He is Lord over the Sabbath
A mastery over matter (through healings and multiplying food and calming the wind and sea)
And, ultimately, a mastery over death in the resurrection

11. But, He will be rejected
The crowds will soon call out for Him to be crucified (in spite of the fact that the Roman governor tried to encourage them to free Him)
Why? What has He done?

12. It’s His message
Who wants a Messiah or King that implies there’s as much of a problem with you and your people as there is with those you hate?
There is still a very strong tendency toward tribalism

13. In fact, it’s close at hand

14. Jesus is offering something new
Non-violence instead of domination
A God of Love instead of a god of will (Brad Jersak)
A humanizing tendency instead of authoritarianism in religion (Erich Fromm)
Grace instead of law
The Father of the Prodigal Son instead of a cold and distant judge

15. Jesus is offering something new
The Holy Spirit’s empowerment to change instead of the need for incredible discipline
A message that is for the poor, not just for those who are privileged
A message that is for all people, not just for the Jews
A message that treats women and slaves and sick people and foreigners with justice and respect

16. Jesus is offering something new
A message that rejects the wisdom of the tribe: “you get what you deserve” and “God is punishing you for your evil” (or, “God is punishing you for your good”)
A message of humility and service, especially for those who will lead, instead of self-serving entitlement

17. Erich Fromm ( )

19. Authoritarianism versus Humanizing Influence
Insights drawn from Hasidic Judaism
Worship of a higher unseen power that is entitled to obedience, or (see Psychoanalysis and Religion, p. 37)
The problem with projection of value on a deity (emptiness and contrition and division)
The problem that is worse: finding comfort in authoritarian leaders and systems of belief

20. Fromm on Jesus
Everything Jesus teaches is in line with the humanizing influence
However, this is in contrast to some parts of the Bible itself
As Brad Jersak would say, this tells us more about the writers of Scripture than it does about God

21. Think of the Father of the Prodigal Son
Think of the call to love everyone
Think of how Jesus modelled this
“Go thou and do likewise”

22. The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth . . .

23. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost