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This past Sunday, being Palm Sunday, Little Flowers Community explored the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, His cleansing of the Temple and His healing of the blind and lame.  For many of us, lost in the familiar pageantry of Easter, we had not as deeply considered the power of this tale and what impact it has on the face of our faith day to day.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, He did so on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy found in Zechariah.  However, it was not simply a detail proving His legitimacy as the promised hope of Israel (though that was indeed significant).  Two powerful truths were demonstrated in this act, truths that seemed to run contrary to each other, yet were reconciled in the One who was Truth.  First, Jesus entered into Jerusalem as a King and He was greeted as such.  There is nothing ambiguous about His intention to be declared true King.  This was an act of political, social and spiritual confidence, sending a clear and dangerous message.

The second truth, however, was on the way He entered.  While His use of a donkey was in fulfillment of the details of the prophecy, it also sent a message about the nature of the King entering and the nature of the Kingdom He was establishing.  Jesus did not enter upon a war horse or drawn in a chariot.  His Kingdom would not be established by the sword or through the use of coercive power nor even claims of legitimacy to David’s throne.  He came as a servant, but a servant King.

As many welcomed Him into the city as King, others did not.  However, Jesus made His way directly to the Temple, clearly indicating that this King would establish His Kingdom around the life-giving worship of God.  In addition to declaring Himself King, He proved Himself the true Priest as well.  Obedience to the King and worship of God were thus inseparable.

When Jesus entered the Temple, He found the courtyard host to money changers and others profiting from the faithful.  Thus far peaceful, Jesus response is very different.  He forcefully drives them out of the Temple, overturning their tables.  Here we must be careful: No where in the Gospels does it say that Jesus was in a rage (or even angry, though I am sure He was rightfully upset).  Neither is there any record that He used violence against the bodies of the men He drove out.  This event is not a justification for so-called “redemptive violence”, but rather the continuation of His life-giving move as King and Priest.  Here, in the face of injustice, Jesus proves Himself Prophet as well.

It is what happens after the sellers have been driven off that the truth of Jesus’ intentions become powerfully clear.  After they were gone, the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple and were healed.  By the traditions and laws of the Temple, these unfortunate people could not enter the Temple.  They could not defile the presence of the Most High with the impurity of the brokenness.  Yet Jesus welcomes them and heals them.

Here is, perhaps, the most powerful message in this story.  For generations the people believed that these infirmities disqualified them from entering the presence of God.  In order to enter the Temple, they would first have to become whole.  Jesus did not simply lower the standards by welcoming them.  Rather, He fulfilled the intentions of the law.  Rather than expecting wholeness as a prerequisite for entering the presence of God, Jesus demonstrated that through Himself we find wholeness in the presence of God.

Consider the implications of these events on our faith.  We are to be unashamed at the King we represent, whose authority is without question, yet it is an authority of humility, service and sacrifice.  Further, we must not place expectations of perfection before we welcome people into the transformational presence of God, embodied in His Church.  We must believe that in Christ, the loving welcome into this holy place will itself transform those who enter in.  After all, to expect anything else is to expect them to earn the merit to deserve His presence, something no one but Christ can claim.

Finally, as we see that these events played significantly into the ultimate trial, suffering and death of Jesus Christ, we must also recognize that living under the power of this Kingdom means that we too will face trials, suffering and even death.  May we live lives worthy of such a blessings as to bear His suffering for His sake.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Gospel, Missional, church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.