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April 4, 2004; The Sunday of the Passion - Palm Sunday, Year C
    The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector

 Parades can sometimes be disruptive, especially if we are trying to get someplace.  We do not have too many “traditional” parades in Benzie County.  For us, it is the non-traditional parades, like the parades of wild turkeys, ducks, deer, and other animals across the roads that often cause us to slow down or even stop our vehicles in order to let them pass.  It certainly seems to me that when it comes to the turkeys, they more often than not, slow down, turn, and gawk at me as I sit there on the road waiting patiently for them to get out of the way.

The Jesus parades that we have heard about this morning in our readings from Luke’s Gospel were disruptive.  That first Palm Sunday when Jesus paraded into Jerusalem with people cheering “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,”[1] it upset the Pharisees.  Why, they even had the audacity to tell Jesus to silence the crowd.[2]  The Pharisees knew that Jesus was not coming to pat them on the back, and the quicker they let him know he was not welcomed in Jerusalem, the better it would be for everyone.

We know that their vain attempt to roll up the red carpet did not work.  The jubilation of the people could not be silenced.  But what their criticism did do was set the stage for the second parade, a parade that proved to be more disruptive than the first one.  This is the parade that even we don’t want to stop for, or dwell upon to long, because it is so disruptive, so disturbing, to us.  The parade that I am talking about begins with the procession of Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to Caiaphas’ house for the inquisition and ends with Jesus being paraded through the streets of Jerusalem to Calvary.

If we are honest with ourselves, we would rather jump from the Palm Sunday parade to the empty tomb on Easter morning.  We don’t like to talk about death, and we don’t want to dwell on the death of Jesus, because to dwell on the death of Jesus is to be confronted by our own part in his death.

Christianity has debated for centuries about exactly who killed Jesus.  As I pointed out last week many have pointed their fingers at the Jews.  Others at the Romans.  And a few others at the traitor, Judas.  The Passion narratives do not point the finger at anyone.  Caiaphas and the council were hard pressed to come up with any charges to silence Jesus, let alone put him to death.  Pilate and Herod could find no crime that he had committed which deserved the death sentence.  Pilate even tried to release Jesus, but the chief priests and the scribes continued to accuse Jesus for “stirring up the people.”[3]  Finally there was the faceless crowd which passed sentence on Jesus as they shouted, “Crucify, crucify him.”[4]  While none of these people are directly responsible for killing Jesus, they all contributed to his death.

What am I getting at?  The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that Jesus knew, and told his disciples on three different occasions, that he was going to Jerusalem to die.   He did not go to Jerusalem to surrender – to tell Caiaphas, the Pharisees and Scribes, or anyone else that they had won.   To the contrary, Jesus went to Jerusalem to complete, or fulfill, the mission that he had been sent on by God.   

If you know the story, the whole story; then you know Jesus did not die because of the accusations brought against him by Caiaphas and the council.   If you know the story, the whole story, then you know that Jesus did not die because of the verdict by Pilate for him to be crucified.

Jesus was killed, he died on the cross for Peter and the rest of the disciples who scattered when he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.   Even Peter, who denied that he even knew Jesus three times, was worth dying for.      Jesus died on the cross for the daughters of Jerusalem who wept as he passed by.  Jesus died on the cross for the repentant thief who acknowledged him as the Son of God.   And dare I say, Jesus died for Caiaphas, the council, Pilate, Herod, and the crowd.  Jesus died for their sin of rejecting God in Jesus Christ.

We were not there, but are we never-the-less some of the accomplices in his death?  Have we been like Peter and the other disciples – falling away when it really counts to stand up for what we say we believe?  Have we been like Caiaphas and the council – trying to silence Jesus when he challenges the way we practice our religion?  Have we been like Pilate – placing our own self-interest ahead of what we know is right?  Have we been like the crowd – led astray to believe that what we have is better than the offer of God in Jesus Christ?

We paraded in this morning singing, “All glory, laud and honor to thee, Redeemer King!”  We have just heard about the second parade which ended in the kings death. 

Which parade do we find most disturbing?  The parade of Jesus into Jerusalem as the Christ, the Son of God, which strikes at the very core of our need to be saved.  Or the parade of Jesus that leads us to Calvary, where a shameful thing happened - the death of the Son of God for our redemption.

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