Do you remember the Beatles..?
In the 1960’s, John Lennon set off a firestorm in the music industry when he declared that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus.
And with teenage girls that was probably true.
Do you know how the Beatles really became famous though? According to one Internet marketer it didn’t happen by accident or simple good luck – or even because they were talented musicians and songwriters. It seems that their manager designed the whole ‘Beatlemania’ thing.
He hired hundreds of teenage girls and actors to dress up as policemen and paramedics. Then, with rented police cars and ambulances, everything was set for the madness that was about to unfold. With cameras rolling, the girls were instructed to ‘lose their minds’ at the sight of the Beatles. They were to start screaming and going berserk with excitement. When the filming was done, the recordings were then packaged up and sent to every major broadcast studio around the world.
The result? “Beatlemania” stormed across the planet like wildfire. When the Beatles finally arrived in North America, they were met by thousands of real screaming girls who were losing their minds and fainting while the news cameras rolled.
But Jesus in his time and place didn’t do anything like that. In fact, for most of his ministry Jesus did all he could to discourage his disciples from publicizing his work. The last thing Jesus needed or wanted was a marketing genius hyping his ministry. But when you are someone who can heal the sick, raise the dead and feed five thousand at one sitting, it is difficult to keep the word from getting out.
And so, we have today’s dramatic text as it was recorded by Matthew. Jesus and his disciples came to the villages of Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. One afternoon, Jesus sent two of his disciples to where they would find a foal which no one had ever ridden. “Untie it,” he said, “and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
The two disciples did as Jesus instructed. When they brought the foal to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. He was ready to ride into the city.
Then, says Matthew, something extraordinary happened. All the people began throwing their Armani gowns, Nike coats, Nordstrom wraps and Ralph Lauren sweaters on the pathway before Christ. It looked like someone had gone to the clothing district in town and emptied it into the streets. The crowds even ran to the palm trees and cut fronds from them and laid them before Jesus as he approached, shouting, “Yay, Jesus. You’re the messiah. Yay, Jesus. We saw you raise the dead. Yay, Jesus. You’ve come to save us. Hosanna.” “Hosanna!” people were cheering, “Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”…which is to say, “You da man..!”
When the people along the way saw Jesus riding a colt approaching Jerusalem, they immediately thought that Jesus would enter the city to smash, shatter and break up the established order. They thought it would be a showdown between Jesus and the Roman officials. This was what they wanted; this was what they were hoping for. “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” rang out everywhere. It was a scene of great joy and wondrous anticipation.
But we know that all of this was based on fear, euphoria and misguided expectation. Because that was Sunday and nobody knew at the time that Friday was coming.
Folks, on Friday that same group of people would stand and scream, “Crucify him! Crucify him! That same group of people that yelled “Hosanna!” on Sunday would five days later call for his blood. On Friday they would shout to Pilate, “Crucify him!” and watch as he was nailed to a cross.
Does that surprise you? Does that shock you? If you were a disciple like Peter, James, or John or the other nine would you not be surprised – possibly shocked if you knew this was going to happen…? It seems to me that you would at least be embarrassed and more than a little discouraged.
But they should not have been. And neither should we. Because Jesus warned each of them – it was exactly what Jesus taught his disciples through his parables.
Folks, Jesus warned them that this is the way it would be. He told them who he was. He revealed he was the Messiah, the one everyone had been waiting for – the One known as God-With-Us, the Christ through the miracles, parables and during the long walks between villages in the afternoon sun.
But some people were like the hard ground in the pathway of a garden. These people were so hard, so calloused, and so bitter to the truth that it bounced off them. The seed Jesus was trying to plant in their minds just laid there on the surface waiting for Satan to sweep in and steal it away before it germinated, took root, and grew.
In the crowd that formed around Jesus’ triumphant entry there were also Jewish religious leaders, Pharisees, who looked at what was going on, then weaseled their way up to Jesus and said, “Teacher, can you not get get your disciples under control? PLEASE..?” Can’t you just see the Pharisees standing and watching? These men hated him and they knew that if Jesus continued to live he would bring the powers of Rome down on their heads and with that their comfortable lifestyle, power, and prestige would be gone.
And unknown to them all, Satan whispered in their ears with his venomous voice, “Just be patient, my friends. This is just a momentary thing the crowd feels. It maybe Sunday…but Friday’s coming.”
There was another group who stood shouting into the frenzy, “Hosanna, Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday. These were the ones who had watched and listened to Jesus – and were there when Jesus called Lazarus from grave. They watched as the stone was rolled away and the dead man came out, still dressed in his grave clothes. They may also have seen Jesus make dinner for everyone from five loaves and three fish. A few might have attended the wedding where he turned water into wine. So today they too were shouting with great fervency, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
These people though were like the seeds that fell among the rocks. They sprouted quickly. They saw a miracle here and miracle there and believed this was what the ministry of Jesus was all about. They jumped on the bandwagon quickly but once the heat of the hot sun, the pressure of the Pharisees, came upon them – then they withered.
The religious leaders pressed hard upon their congregations. They lobbied, cajoled, and threatened those they thought needed correction. These folks were in the cheering crowd on Sunday but they were getting ready for him to be crucified on Friday.
There was a third group mixed into the crowd. They ran to the streets stripping off their coats, grabbing palms, and throwing them at Jesus’ feet but they were like the seeds that fell among the thorns. The thorns or pressures of life grew up and choked them out. On Sunday they yelled, “Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” And then they fell silent…
But on Monday, the bills for the new Passover outfits for the kids and for transport and food for the trip to Jerusalem would come in the mail. How was the family going to pay them all, and the mortgage too? Then on Tuesday, a Pharisee priest stopped by and said if they continued to follow this Jesus they would be excommunicated and shunned by their beloved fellowship. They would have no friends. They would have no center to their spiritual and social lives. They would be like outcasts. On Wednesday, as they walked through the marketplace to get the things they needed for the Passover meal, they were ridiculed and mocked. They were called Jesus Freaks and people wouldn’t wait on them. Finally, by Thursday when the good lady’s husband came home early from work and said he had lost his job because his wife was at the Palm Sunday rally yelling out “Hosanna, Hosanna!” she lost her cool. She couldn’t take the pressure anymore. She was distraught.
When Friday came she was at the front of the crowd teaching her children a new phrase, no longer was she yelling “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”
Folks, anyone could have heard the leaders in the community whispering behind the cheering crowds as Jesus rode down the street on the back of a donkey, “It’s Sunday…but Friday’s coming.”
In that crowd there were people who heard the word and it transformed their lives. It not only transformed their lives on Sunday when they sincerely yelled, “Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” It transformed their lives on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday too. For on those days, they saw hope and a future. They found relief and salvation in this man who was the Messiah.
But it was still the Sunday of the great procession and of palms in the road. And nobody cared or even knew that Friday was coming. AMEN