We should try never to take it for granted that everyone knows the stories we tell in church, so whether you are newer to Knox, or have been coming here all your life, let’s start by reminding each other that, but today’s story is one of the most important ones of our faith. It is a story which ushers in this most important week in our faith. Jesus rides into Jerusalem one week before Easter; we call it Palm Sunday because in some accounts, the people pull branches from the tree and wave them as he passes by; and we teach our children the story by handing out the palms and doing our own little march, and we teach the children the words the first disciples sang: “Hosanna” which means “Save us, Lord.” And we love teaching our children the story this way because, well…it’s cute.
For our youngest children, learning the story is enough. Many of you, especially if you’ve heard me preach on this story will also know that for adults, it was never supposed to be cute. Ironic, yes; dripping with sarcasm, maybe; but not just cute. There is an element of this story that is subversive, and disruptive, and powerful, and for those reasons, when it comes to Jesus life on earth, this story is the beginning of the end; it was actions like this one Jesus takes as he rides into Jerusalem that will cause the authorities to put him to death.
A parade, or a march, had a meaning in the ancient world, certainly in the Roman world that included Jerusalem. Kings marched their armies through town to remind the common people who was in charge—they wore armor, and rode horses and in chariots, and blasted their trumpets—and they reminded the local people to stay in line.
Jesus, as we know, was a different kind of a king, different than many people wanted him to be. He brought not an army, but peace; he gathered people to himself not through coercion or intimidation but because he offered healing and hope; and he knew that the kings of the world, as dominant as they may seem at any moment, are here but for a short time. The kingdom of which Jesus spoke is the only one that has the power of eternity.
…So in a way some see as a deadly serious protest march, and others may see as more of a joke or a satire on the marches of the Romans, Jesus does this: One day Jesus sends his disciples to find a humble donkey, they throw a few cloaks upon it as a saddle and Jesus, who some have been calling a king, Jesus rides into town. As he rides, his beloved followers cry “Hosanna” which translates, “Save us, Lord!” Save us from the violence of this world, from its lies that are killing us a little at a time, from the kings that rule only for the sake of their own power. Save us, Lord. Show us something better. Several days later, Pilate, who does not understand Jesus but is very much afraid of him will ask, “Are you a king?” And Jesus, who wishes to help Pilate see just how little he understands, simply answers, “you say that I am.”
The days after the entry into Jerusalem will be the most important days of Jesus’ life, and this morning I want to suggest that Jesus prepares for this. I want to remind you of some other stories about Jesus, stories that help us understand how Jesus grounds himself in wisdom and prepares himself for hard times as he makes his way through human life. Because he does this, when important days come, Jesus is ready.
In the early days of Jesus ministry there’s a story about him taking a journey into the wilderness, we read it at the start of Lent. For 40 days, Jesus goes out into the wilderness for a time of quiet and grounding and testing. An adversary tempts him to abandon his goodness and his values, with promises of power and wealth and comfort, but Jesus is practicing for the challenges that will face him as he seeks to love and serve others, so he prays his way through it. Jesus prays.
There’s another story that shows the wisdom and the creativity of Jesus, one of the more well-known stories that people seem to love, we call it the story of the woman caught in adultery. An angry little mob approaches Jesus one day, they are dragging with them a woman who they claim they have caught in an act of adultery. Hostile to the woman, and also hostile to Jesus, they wish to draw Jesus into their judgment and violence, so they remind him that the law says she should be stoned to death, and they ask him what they should do. Jesus kneels and begins to write with his finger in the dust. And when they ask again for his judgment, he wisely replies, “whoever among you is without sin, let him throw the first stone. When Jesus looks up to find the woman standing there alone, he asks “where are your accusers? Go in peace, and sin no more.” When Jesus kneels and begins to write in the sand, caught by the accusers between a rock and hard place…he is praying.
One more story: After the Palm Sunday march into Jerusalem, the Romans begin to get anxious. The palm parade gets the common people energized; they are drawn further into activism when he turns over the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple. Jesus hates abuses of the common people by the powerful, and Jesus knows the authorities hate him, and have begun conspiring to put him to death. So he takes two of his disciples to a garden, called Gethsemane. Jesus is human, and understandably he has his moments of fear and uncertainty, so he prays: “O God…let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want, but what you want” (Mt 26:39)” As for the disciples, who Jesus brought with him to the garden, saying to them, stay here and pray with me…they don’t pray, they fall asleep. And when the time of trial comes, Jesus is able to follow God all the way to the point of death, a death that changed the world forever. But the disciples who did not pray, they abandon him in his hour of deepest need. When Jesus needs wisdom and courage, Jesus prays.
If you’ve wondered if there’s any ancient wisdom about how to be strong in hard times, the Bible suggests that Jesus prays. In case that sounds naïve or strange, let’s talk for a moment about what it is that he might have been praying about. What is prayer?
Some of the first and wisest pray-ers among the followers of Jesus were known as the desert fathers and mothers—they were ascetics who shed the material distractions of the world, and like Jesus, went to the wilderness to pray. Richard Rohr likens them to Zen Buddhists in the wisdom and insight they drew from their time in prayer. Through prayers of quiet, they sought calm and contentment; through their meditations, they were ‘going [as Jesus says] to their inner room’ to connect with the voice of God. As Rohr says it, “For these early mystics, “prayer’ didn’t refer to some kind of problem-solving transaction between humans and God, nor was it about saying words to God… “…but as a transformation of the consciousness of the one who was doing the praying… “…In simple words, prayer is not about changing God’s mind about us or about anything else, but allowing God to change our mind about the reality right in front of us…” (Rohr, CAC, Monday April 7, 2025)
In these days in which we are living, and in all kinds of times, I hear many of you wondering, “how do I meet this moment of stress or fear or need in the world around me and in my own life?” For some, that question gets asked around activism around a global issue or the political unrest in our own country,…for others it looks more like how to meet our own neighbors or coworkers or family in the midst of the disagreements that seem to be tearing us apart. For still others it may mean something more personal: How do I meet this addiction in my life with patience and hope? How do I control my temper when my kids make me crazy? How do I find wisdom when I do not know what to do? How do I meet this moment with courage and love?
Jesus meets the important moments in his own life by grounding himself in prayer—not with words or making bargains, but listening for the voice of God. When we do not know what to do, I believe that the way to ready ourselves for the challenges that will come is to pray, maybe not in the wordy, deal-making kind of way that so many of us have been taught, but listening to transform our consciousness, to allow God to ground us to meet the moments that will come.
Let us go to God in prayer, and embrace the freedom we find when God shapes our lives. Let us pray:
O God, silence in us any voice but yours. For the challenges that are beyond my control, let us listen for your wisdom. By learning to hear your voice, let us prepare ourselves to meet the moments that will come. When we are lost, let us find our grounding in you. When it is time for us to speak and act, help us to know it. Show us your way of courage and love, God. Amen.