CALLING FOR RESCUE
Luke 19:28-40
Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday, Year C
Analysis by Eli Seitz
28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why
are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As 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, 38saying,
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He
answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
From Wkimedia Commons
“We are assured of an ultimate victory so we no longer need to seek to control our own destiny, to plot revenge on our enemies, or plan escape from any of the things that can go wrong in this world.”
DIAGNOSIS: Who will save us?
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Blessed is the “King”
If we read this “Processional Gospel” without any context or knowledge of the rest of the story, we might notice anything troubling in it. It appears, on the surface, like a delightful little parade that breaks the solemness of our long weeks of Lent. Except that, we do know the rest of the story. And these same people who are now yelling “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” will soon be yelling “Crucify him!” just as loudly. Their idea of the kind of king that Jesus might be is assuredly quite different than the kind of king Jesus plans to be. As he parades into Jerusalem on a colt over fine cloaks draped on the ground, with many followers, in a way that mimics the “triumphs” of the Roman Emperors entering the city of Rome, it is easy to root on the triumphant king. We all want to be on the winning team. And, we all want someone to save us from our trials and tribulations. The more difficult our struggles, the more desperate we are for a savior. Those who followed Jesus into Jerusalem that day were looking for exactly the kind of leader, victorious in battle over their oppressors, that they supposed Jesus would be. But once Pilate brings the prisoner Jesus in front of the crowd, it’s clear he’s not the one who is going to save them. Forget this guy, send him off to be executed like the criminal he most certainly is. We’ve moved on to our next hero, and this one certainly will be who we’re looking for
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Come in the name of the Lord, but do as we say
There are many things in the world from which we need rescued. Systemic injustice. Natural disasters and illness. People who have their minds set on doing evil. And, of course, our own sins, which play a bigger part in all this brokenness in the world around us than we would like to admit. The problem is not that we are longing for (and, indeed, know that we need) a savior. The problem is that we want that savior now, and we want them to be answerable to our own agenda. We already have a job description for that savior, and it includes things like rescuing us immediately and with as little trouble for us as possible, in includes making sure we are saved but giving our enemies what we presume to be their just due. Our hearts are set on exactly how we want our savior to look and behave. Even when we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, we still want to be in control of our own salvation. An arrested Jesus, standing before Pilate, ready and willing to die on behalf of us and our enemies, isn’t what we had in mind. We have all our hosannas ready when Jesus does what we want, hates all the people we hate, and appears ready to save us from trouble. But we are just as fickle and likely to abandon that for other options as those in Jesus’ day were – when things are required of us, when Jesus saves people we don’t think deserve it, and when Jesus and his path to the cross begin to show evidence of involving grief, suffering, pain, or, worst of all, death. We may be willing to allow Jesus to save us – but it is going to be done on our terms. But our terms means that we do not trust Jesus’ saving direction … nor God.
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – Crucify…ourselves?
Our terms do not lead to salvation, for us or anyone else. Jesus’ way of submission to death on a cross is the only way that we can be saved. There is no other more, suitable, victorious, triumphant king still to come, there is no salvation for us if there is no salvation for our enemies, and nothing or no one else that we latch onto instead will rescue us. When we see that Jesus’ way is going to lead to the cross of crucifixion, when we turn aside and begin to yell “Crucify him!” we are calling for our own deaths, too. If we insist that our salvation happen on our own terms, then we are choosing to die rather than allow ourselves to be saved. We seek to avoid the painful and humble way of the cross in an effort to preserve our lives – and that attempt at self- preservation brings us directly to that death we were trying so hard to avoid. We are like a lost hiker, who, upon seeing the rescue helicopter finally appear, refuses to get on board because he is determined to get out of this wilderness on his own two feet. We would rather die than look weak, until the helicopter is gone and we realize, alone in the wilderness once again, that death is truly what we have chosen… and abandonment as final judgment.
PROGNOSIS: Saved From Death by Dying
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) –All paths lead to death…and life
But lucky for us, even as we send our rescuer away, even as we call for Christ’s death, Jesus refuses to abandon us. Through the very crucifixion that we yell for, Jesus brings about the salvation we were seeking. He takes us along for that death on the cross even as we’re trying frantically to climb down from it. We may try to follow Barrabas instead, we may try to run away and say we have never known this man Jesus, we aren’t associated with him! We may succumb to the despair of feeling that we will never be rescued. And still, all our paths lead to death and it is through that death that Jesus brings us the empty tomb, and life. We are saved, not on our own terms, but on Jesus’ terms, and it turns out that his victory over death itself is a
salvation that reaches beyond the end of our mortal lives, that gives forgiveness and grace far beyond what we deserve, it is a salvation that includes the entire created world; in short, it is a salvation that is far greater than the salvation we imagined for ourselves when we were trying to dictate how it should go.
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Throwing away the rescue plans
Saved from any trial of this life and even death itself, we no longer need to search for someone to save us by destroying our enemies or removing our struggles. We are assured of an ultimate victory so we no longer need to seek to control our own destiny, to plot revenge on our enemies, or plan escape from any of the things that can go wrong in this world. We are no longer desperate for someone to save us, because we trust that has already been accomplished. Our hearts are no longer occupied with our own plans and terms and instructions to get us out of this mess. Instead, we trust God’s plan in Christ and his cross to be our rescue.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Resurrected already (but not yet)
Which means that we are more free, even open to the possibility that we can be in this mess of our world quite literally for good… good news. People who are desperate for a savior are easily swayed this way and that by all the things that can supposedly save us. Knowing that we have been saved, we are no longer swayed from the path of the cross to search on our own. Instead, we can follow Jesus willingly to the cross, knowing that it, and only it, is what brings life. This means we are able to live as humble servants who look for reconciliation with enemies instead of triumphant victory parades after their defeat, who are rooted in this life and its struggles without looking for escape from it, which gives us compassion for others and willingness to remain with one another on our journeys instead of running from times of trouble. And, without an agenda already laid out for God, we are more open to the ways that God might be at work saving us and bringing life out of death. We are more able to notice God and be surprised by grace. We are more likely to allow God to use us as vessels of that grace. When we are no longer dictating instructions for God, we can better hear God’s call to us to live as saved and resurrected people even on our way to the cross.
