It won't be long now

Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion
For I am coming, and I will live among you
Many nations will join with me on that day and will become my people!

(The prophet Zachariah’s words are on
the minds and hearts and lips of the people
as Jesus marches into Jerusalem!)
 
The prince of peace enters Jerusalem, from the east,
on a donkey colt,
just as Zechariah said he would.
The Roman governor enters Jerusalem, from the west, 
with an imperial cav-alry,
 to remind the people who has the power.
 
This dramatic contrast is intentional; the stage is set by Passover.
Passover: the weeklong celebration of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.
Passover marks overthrow of oppression,
when they marked their doors with blood
so Yahweh’s angel would pass over their houses
on a murderous rampage,
the last of the ten plagues of Egypt.
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long.
 
As the Jews enter Jerusalem, preparing for this beloved week
recalling their freedom from hundreds of years of slavery,
they are living under Roman occupation,
they have friends and relatives again in slavery in other parts of the Roman empire,
and the poor peasant class of Jews blames both Rome,
as well as Jewish aristocracy, for their plight.
Pilate, Jesus, and the people in their parades know all of this.
Pilate’s triumphant, militar-ily mighty entrance to the city
            Is a reminder not to try any overthrow this Passover.
 
Jesus’ palm-strewn, colt-ridden entrance is just as intentional:
The prophet Zechariah says, “your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on the colt of a donkey.”
He will banish war from the land. He will be a prince of peace.”
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long.
Jerusalem must be the stage for this passionate Passover play. It is the center of power in the Jewish world – political, economic and religious power.
And they all live in one house – the Temple.

Jerusalem was the Jewish home during the good old days of King David, 1000 years before.
David: the universal hero of the Israelites – a shepherd boy who takes down a giant.
A king who dances naked in the street.
A ruler who brings unity and prosperity to the people.
David’s son Solomon succeeds him, and concentrates wealth and power in Jerusalem.
            It is Solomon who builds the first and most beautiful, most elaborate Temple for the Israelites.

Solomon’s legacy is mixed – he is the king of wealth and wisdom,
but he turns emperor-like and sows conflict among the people.
When he dies the Twelve Tribes of Israel split in civil war,
and 1000 years later, when Jesus and Pilate are marching into Jerusalem
the Jews are still waiting for a messiah to reunite the two kingdoms.
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long.
Solomon’s temple is destroyed a few centuries after his death,
but another takes its place, and it is expanded soon before Jesus’ birth by Herod the Great.

But what began as a place for the God of the Israelites to call home
is now the center of Roman rule over the Jews.
 
The Temple may be filled with a corrupt troop of elite priests
who bleed their people dry to appease Rome and their own pockets
            but this is the home of God, and it is the center of Jewish life.
Jerusalem is the home of Roman imperialism and Jewish colluders
            But it is God’s home, too.
We’ve been journeying with Jesus this Lent, toward Jerusalem.
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long.
Last Sunday we sang and prayed “I want Jesus to walk with me.”

Today we walk with Jesus.

Read More