Palm Sunday
March 20, 2005
John 12:20-26

^12:20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.” (NRS).

Serve the Servant.

  This day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem we call Palm Sunday. The crowd was wild with excitement. They went out and cut palm branches which they spread on the road along with some of their clothes. They rolled out the red carpet for Jesus. Then they shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the king of Israel!” Some Jewish leaders didn’t like that, but Jesus did. He told them that if the crowd ceased to cry out the stones would!

  The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, go on to tell us about some things Jesus did to demonstrate that he was the king of Israel. He curses a fig tree that has no fruit and it withers and dies. He goes to the temple, and finds something that resembles the Sunday flea market at the Penhorn Mall. He has a fit and turns over all the tables and chases the sellers out. He has a series of public debates with the Jerusalem authorities over things like John’s baptism, paying foreign taxes, the Law of Moses and the doctrine of the resurrection. He completely humiliates his opponents like no politician we’ve ever seen. Those things were definitely acts of a king. That’s what we expect and we love it!

  But John doesn’t tell us about any of that power and glory stuff. He’s quite aware of it. In fact, he reminds us that Jesus had earlier raised Lazarus from the dead and that part of the reason the crowd was so stirred up was because Lazarus was still alive! Things were so crazy that the Pharisees were beside themselves. They said to one another, You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!

  It seems that most of the people on Palm Sunday had politics, power and glory on their mind. So it is striking that in the midst of this excitement John tells us that Jesus was thinking and saying something quite different. He had come to Jerusalem for two reasons: to suffer and die, and to call people to follow him. More important than the fanfare and cheering crowd, more important than his demonstrations of power in the temple, was his purpose for going to Jerusalem and our understanding that purpose. Many in the crowd didn’t know what to make of Jesus or how to receive him because they didn’t know what he was all about. Likewise today, we sometimes don’t know how to receive Jesus, how to honour him because we don’t know what he’s all about. The truth is, we don’t need to be a crowd of cheering people half as much as we need to hear and respond to Jesus’ call to follow. If we really want to praise and honour Jesus on Palm Sunday, the way to do it is to serve him.

  If Jesus came to Halifax or any major city today, how would he be received? At first, I think he’d be a hero! The crowds and media would swarm him. Everyone would want to see him just like these Greeks John mentions. But in very little time, I think the world would tire of him and drop him like a hot potato. Why? Because he wouldn’t come to affirm and confirm our values and priorities, our aspirations and plans. He wouldn’t come to support one of our political parties. He wouldn’t take up the agenda of one of our special interest groups. He wouldn’t lead the United Nations or be a special envoy to mediate the long feud between Israel and Palestine. He wouldn’t head a coalition to get the United States out of Iraq. Instead, he would come to change us—all of us!—and call us into his service. And that would shock us. Thinking that we were already doing God’s will, we would be confused just like the rich man who came looking for Jesus’ approval. Confident that he had kept the commandments, he asked what he yet needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Mark 10:21-22).

  Some Greeks wanted to see Jesus. No doubt they had heard great things about him and wanted to know more. Unfortunately, John doesn’t say whether they actually met Jesus or not, and if they did, what their reaction to him was. Instead John uses their request to bring us face to face with Jesus’ agenda that Palm Sunday. As all three of our lessons clearly point out, Jesus came as the humble servant of God. Even though he was very much in control, he did not come to lead a political revolt or set up some flashy earthly kingdom. He came to redeem us and to call us into his service.

  In his response to the Greek’s request to see him, Jesus said two things. First, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Do you want to see Jesus? Then see that he went to Jerusalem to die. But his death wasn’t a suicide, it was a sacrifice! It was the biggest power play the world has ever seen. Cursing the fig tree, cleansing the temple, humiliating his opponents in public debate, those things were nothing. He was going to die and physically rise from the dead!

  And that demonstration of power was not for himself but for the crowd, for the Pharisees, for you and me. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus’ death means that the rest of us can live. Our life is the fruit that came out of that one seed. The Jews’ problem then wasn’t really the Romans and today it’s not the Palestinians. Our problem isn’t the Liberal party or the Conservatives or the NDP. The problem has always been sin, death and the devil. Jesus really did go to Jerusalem to lead a revolution but it was a one man coup. By dying in our place he took God’s judgment on himself. He freed us from the guilt of sin. He freed us from the power of death. And he shut the devil’s accusing mouth once for all. That was Jesus’ real demonstration of power. That’s what he wanted his disciples and the whole Jewish nation to see. Yet that’s just what most did not see! I wonder if those Greeks saw it. I wonder if you and I see it.

  His second purpose that day and today was this. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour. He called us to follow and serve him.

  Throughout his Gospel, John recalls the times when Jesus told people that only he knew where we were going and how to get there. He was the only one who had been with God at creation. He was the only one who had ever seen God as he truly is and the only one who had come from heaven. He alone could get back and get us there with him. So it’s not from some egotistical point of view that he tells us to follow and serve him. It’s simply the truth. He’s the only way to get back to God and attain eternal life! No earthly, human cause, party or ideology will get us to heaven. It took Jesus’ death. Therefore we must die—spiritually, existentially and physically—to be with him and reach the goal of eternal life. No social justice, no economic or ecological policy will create utopia. Only by following and serving Christ can we receive the honour of reconciliation with God and the resurrection of the body.

  The issue then today for you and me is how we will respond to Jesus’ word. Will we serve him and do things his way, or do we need something a bit more glorious than that? That may seem like a silly question. But that’s only because we underestimate our craving for glory.

  Martin Luther spoke about a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. Just think of it as a focus on glory and a focus on the cross. In his book The Spirituality of the Cross, Gene Veith explained in like this. Look at the titles in a Christian book store. “Today their shelves too are stocked with ways of using God for one’s own health, happiness, and prosperity. There are Christian diet books, titles on the ‘Management Techniques of Jesus Christ,’ and analyses of Christ as the master salesman. Other books deal with more serious concerns, offering solutions for child-raising problems and improving society. Their covers make vast and excited claims, as if by following certain steps family problems will disappear, our bodies will do what we want, our financial problems will evaporate, we will solve our nation’s problems, grow the church, and live happily ever after. . . .

  “Luther called this kind of self-aggrandizing, success-centered, power spirituality ‘the theology of glory.’ Of course its attraction is understandable. Naturally we want success, victories, and happiness. We will be attracted to any religion that can promise us such things. We want complete and understandable answers, evidence of tangible spiritual power, all conveyed by an impressive, well-run, and effective institution. Instead, God gives us the cross,” (p. 57-58).

  As Veith notes, the Word of God tells us much about how to live a blessed life. God does promise to bless us and provide our every need. But that doesn’t mean that we will have a perfect life with no struggles or disasters of any kind. His goal is not our glory in this world. This is a fallen world. We are not yet in heaven. We live between the time of the cross and Jesus’ return.

  No doubt most of the Passover crowd that hailed Jesus on Palm Sunday was living a theology of glory. We would have done the same. And that’s what makes Jesus’ words so important. We have to change our focus. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

  Again, Veith has a good comment. “This by no means implies that we have to suffer as Jesus did, much less that suffering is some sort of meritorious act or payment for our sins. Jesus did all of that for us. It does mean that the spiritual life has to do with suffering, defeat, and weakness—not simply with the experience of ‘glory’ as we might like,” (p. 60).

  It is good and right to cheer for Jesus. It is good and right to celebrate his acts of power and glory and to look forward to the day when he will return to judge the living and the dead. It is good and right for the church of Jesus Christ to speak up and restrain a mad world. But we cannot do that with human power or wisdom. Rather we must proclaim the news of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. For the power lies in that single grain that died and bore much fruit. Then we must follow and serve the servant. We must turn to God for guidance and commit our lives to his direction and plan. Otherwise, our praise will be noise and our plans will come to naught.

  Sir, we wish to see Jesus, said the Greeks. I wish to see Jesus. You wish to see Jesus. Trust him, follow him, serve him and you will see him.