Matthew 21:1-11
One of my favorite actors is Tom Skerritt. In his career, he has appeared in over 40 films and over 200 TV episodes. His best-known movies are “MASH,” “Alien,” “A River Runs Through It,” and “Steel Magnolias.” He is known for his TV appearances in “Picket Fences” and “Cheers,” but also had roles in episodes of “The Virginian,” “Bonanza,” “The Fugitive,” “Gunsmoke,” “Medical Center,” “Cannon,” “Chicago Hope,” “The West Wing,” and “Brothers and Sisters.” He has received two Emmy awards, two Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work, and has received numerous nominations.
My parents traveled to San Diego in 1986 for my brother’s graduation from Navy Boot Camp. He told them that he had arranged for them to all have dinner together with one of his buddies and his family. That buddy was Matt Skerrit, Tom’s son. My mom said she didn’t really know who Tom Skerritt was, which was incredible to me. I knew that she must have seen him in some of those TV westerns. And the movie “Top Gun” had just come out, in which he played a supporting role. But even though she wasn’t sure she knew who he was, she was really nervous and excited about meeting him.
When I talked to her on the phone the next day, she told me all about meeting Tom and his wife Sue and their son Matt. And after going on and on about the meal together, she said, “And you know, he was just like a regular person!” I think I answered her, “He IS a regular person.” But I knew what she meant. Tom Skerritt is not someone who takes himself too seriously or elevates himself above others. He is humble and down to earth. And not all actors with his level of fame and success are like that.
I thought about Tom Skerritt and my mother’s encounter with “an actual Hollywood actor!” when I was looking at the scripture lesson for today. After preaching on Palm Sunday for 36 years, I didn’t think I would find anything to say that was new or different, at least to me, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the story from the perspective of the humility of Jesus that was revealed through it.
Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. Well, them and about 200,000 other travelers, who would flood the city and its normal population of about 40,000 people. He had clearly made arrangements ahead of time for someone to provide him with the donkey and its colt, and his two disciples found them and procured them as he instructed them to do.
Jesus mounted the donkey and/or its colt and set out for the city. As they neared the city gates, people in the crowds began to lay their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus as a sign of honor and respect. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (Notice that this passage never specifically mentions “palm trees.”) Then the people going in front of Jesus and the people coming behind began to shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” When Jesus actually entered Jerusalem, we are told that the whole city was stirred. The word used for “stirred” means “shaken,” and comes from the same root as “seismic,” which relates to earthquakes. When people asked, “Who is this?” the crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
In this brief account of what happened on that day, we see a deliberate contrast being made, an irony being displayed. On the one hand, we are shown Jesus as King. Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that day, from a passage that describes God as the divine warrior-king who processes to Jerusalem in order to take the throne and restore peace and unity to Israel after they had lived under conquest. Zechariah wrote, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation …” The fact that the crowds laid their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus was another way of emphasizing Jesus as king. The crowds also praise Jesus and call him the Son of David, as well as the one who comes in the name of the Lord, both of which are messianic terms.
But the flip side of this is that the passage in Matthew also shows Jesus as a humble king. As the end of the prophecy in Zechariah states, the king comes “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Jesus didn’t ride into Jerusalem on a huge white horse, but on a small donkey. While the world would expect a royal figure to have strength, power, wealth, and influence, Jesus was portrayed in terms of humility and meekness, which are often seen as weakness.
One of the things I most admire about Pope Francis is his humility. He spends time with the common people, with prisoners, and with the sick. In 2015 when Pope Francis visited Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, he chose to ride in a tiny Fiat instead of a limousine or large vehicle of some sort. Instead of opting for something worthy of his position and his dignity, he chose a compact car. It seems like humility and simplicity are the pope’s style of leadership. Just as Pope Francis challenged the status quo by riding in a Fiat, Jesus did the same thing as a king who rode on a beast of burden.
I do want to point out that Jesus the humble king was causing quite a disturbance in Jerusalem. He may have been humble and meek, but there was a huge crowd all around him referring to him as one who came to save them. This was an unmistakable challenge to Caesar and the rule of Rome. Jerusalem was, after all, the capital of the region and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, held office there. And here was Jesus, coming into the city as if he were claiming it as his own. No wonder the city was disturbed!
James O. Duke, a professor at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas, writes that “the Jesus who enters Jerusalem was and always is a challenge to this world’s powers and principalities – not merely a spiritual challenge but a political challenge as well. His cause is not the same as that of the Zealots or any violent insurrectionists, that of some aspiring political party, or that of a legislative or executive agenda … Jesus did not come … in order to leave the ways of the world as they were.”
When seen from this perspective, Jesus threatens the status quo, both in 1st century Jerusalem and in 21st century America. Jesus cannot be manipulated into being on the side of any political party, or any race, or any nationality. Instead, Jesus confronts all political parties and nations and calls them to account for how they do or do not care for the most vulnerable among them, for whether or not the poor are fed and clothed and housed, for how they treat their neighbors and their enemies. Jesus has his own agenda, and it is not reflected in any earthly body that I know of. And those who follow Jesus can never be content to leave the world undisturbed or unchallenged in its pursuit of power, wealth, advantage, and dominance.
Yes, Jesus is humble, but he is also a king. Jesus is meek, but he is not weak. In his humility and simplicity, there is power. And we who follow Jesus are to embrace his example of living in a humble fashion while holding up the way of Christ, which is in contrast to so much of the way of the world. It is not an easy or comfortable task, but it is the one we have been given. The crowd that shouted “Hosanna!” on Sunday also shouted “Crucify!” on Friday. Following Jesus is not safe. But it will change our world; it will change us.
