Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
I was excited to give a tour of my church to my college friend and her husband. It was my first pastorate, and I was really proud to show off the place as I knew it was nice. As soon as we walked in the door, however, I was shocked to see so many things that I wish weren’t there: ugly furniture, ugly wall hangings, an ugly coat somebody left with us on our coat rack. I was a little embarrassed, actually. The funny thing was that these items had been there ever since I had arrived a year or more before. I simply hadn’t noticed because they became so familiar to me. They were hidden in plain sight.
I’m sure you can appreciate this phenomenon. Maybe for you it happens when you realize you have company coming to your home, and all of a sudden you noticed piles of stuff laying around that you let accumulate over time and now needs to be dealt with. Or perhaps you’re going to go on a date, and you see your car through the eyes of the one with whom you hope to make a good impression: how did it get so filthy? What’s that growing on the back seat floor? How long has that In & Out bite of a Double Double been there? Is it safe to eat now?
The story of Jesus so-called “Triumphal Entry” on what we remember on Palm Sunday is kind of like that. There is stuff hidden in plain sight that needs to be addressed, cleaned up, for us to really appreciate what’s going on. All four gospels remembering Jesus’ life and ministry feature this story with remarkable similarity. This happened five days before the Jewish Feast of the Passover celebrating God’s liberating of the Jews from Egyptian captivity:
The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God's name!
Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:
No fear, Daughter Zion:
See how your king comes,
riding a donkey's colt.
The disciples didn't notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.
The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him." – John 12:12-19 (MSG)
There are a number of things hidden in plain sight that tell us a lot about the complexity of the story’s context. Jesus is going to make his way into the capitol city of Jerusalem where he knows he is unpopular, and also knows he is ready to challenge the leading Jewish authorities. There will be fireworks! When he rolls into the city, his fans showed up and paid homage by laying down palm branches and their cloaks – a tribute that matched their declaration of Jesus as King of Israel. There is a word for the act of declaring a person king when another leader already sits on the throne: insurrection. We witnessed an attempt at insurrection on January 6, 2021, when ardent Trump supporters broached the capitol building to thwart Congress’ affirmation of the Electoral College results declaring Joe Biden the President of the United States. Some who entered muttered murderous threats against key officials including Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. People died that day due to their attempt. Former President Trump has been accused of fomenting the crowd, and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel stated that Trump was morally responsible for the actions that took place on that day for both his action and inaction. Since then, more than 200 arrests have been made. In Jesus’ day, insurrection was not looked on kindly, either. Justice likely moved quite quickly (and perhaps unfairly) as the Roman Empire would simply kill those accused of such acts of treason. Make no mistake: to utter words declaring Jesus “king” and follow it up with acts that back it up would not be missed by anyone. Risky business here.
Jesus, knowing that most Jews (except the ruling Sadducees) hated Rome and were hoping and praying for a God-anointed Messiah to crush Rome with a miracle-powered revolt, made his transportation decision for his grand entrance very carefully. He chose a jackass. How many paintings of US military war heroes can you remember where the hero was riding a donkey? None. Why? Because donkeys are a really stupid choice for battle! They’re not very fast. They are stubborn and don’t always go where you want them to go. And they aren’t very tall compared to a horse. If a horse is akin to a Hummer, a donkey would be a Prius. Jesus chose the vehicle that would communicate anything but war. The donkey communicated peace to his raving fans.
The Jewish leaders who were present cared less about Jesus’ ride and were much more impressed by the size and tenor of the crowd. They realized that even if Jesus’ intent was peace, the crowd perhaps had other ideas. They needed to take care of business.
One thing that has always struck me is that within a few days, this vociferous crowd was nowhere to be found. Even Jesus’ closest followers were mostly hiding in fear, distancing themselves from Jesus. Only a few stayed close enough to him to know what was happening. What happened? Why the shift? It could be that the crowd who called for Jesus’ crucifixion was mostly comprised of Jerusalem Jews who had more to lose if Jesus lived. Yet I believe that as each day passed, those who were cheering him into the city may have realized the Jesus wasn’t flowing along with their undercurrents. He wasn’t interested in being a king or leading a military revolt. Just the opposite – he embodied and modeled non-violent resistance. I wonder how many people simply walked away like they did when he invited people to pick up their crosses and follow him. Undercurrents in people’s lives hold a lot of power – they are the often unseen and unknown forces at work beneath the surface, guiding us to believe and do its bidding. When unchecked, we find ourselves going downstream almost unconsciously, wondering how we got there.
We have been reminded of late about the undercurrents of our culture and their power. Racism is real, as reflected in the mass shooting at a massage parlor in Georgia. The mass shooting reminds us that we also have a violence undercurrent. The shooting reminds us that we have a gun rights undercurrent, which quickly inflames politicians to remind us that we have a binary/partisan divide undercurrent. If that is not enough, the flood of immigrants seeking hope at our southern border reminds us of that undercurrent. Of course, we are still in the fight against COVID-19, which reminds us of other undercurrents which we’re dealing with, such as the question about what is true or not, safe or not, and the balance between personal freedom and the greater good. Lots of undercurrents. Do you know what is flowing beneath your surface? If not, you may be going with the flow – but not necessarily the same flow as Jesus.
The presence of God is still with us, entering into Jerusalem in a Prius every day in all of our hearts, competing with the other currents active within us. Sometimes we don’t know of the other flows until we find ourselves feeling discontented, and maybe at odds with what Jesus is about. When we notice, we must remind ourselves that we are in tension in the invitation to follow the Spirit of God. To follow one means, at times, to not follow the other. To go against our personal undercurrent will create dissonance, which is painful to varying degrees. The question is, when the incongruence comes between the flow of the Spirit and the flow of your undercurrents – and it will come again and again – which flow will you give yourself to?
Jesus said that the flow that he followed – the Spirit – leads to an abundant life for us, for all, for the world itself. He also said that his yoke is easy and his burden light when we give into the flow. When we don’t however, I think it is an incredibly difficult life of tension, with at least two flows in competition with each other. The undercurrents are sometimes hidden in plain sight. Simply taking a fresh look can make them jump out at us like pop-up books.
So, what’s flowing in you? Which flow are you going with? How do you know?