Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
 
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;
 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Why do we admire Jesus?

That’s just one question that occurs to me as I contemplate this familiar story of Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. My reading of this passage is colored, of course, by my memories of the numerous Palm Sunday celebrations of which I’ve been a part, but especially those of my childhood, when we would enter the sanctuary in procession, palms in hand, singing “Crown Him with Many Crowns” or some other victorious hymn on our way in to joyful worship.

In all the sermons I’ve heard – and preached! – at those services, however, I don’t ever remember this question being asked. Why do we admire Jesus?

Some might respond that this is not the right question. We are not called to admire Jesus, but to follow him. Anyone, after all, can admire the man, but few are those who are willing to give their life to him.

Fair enough. Perhaps this is not the best question to ask. Yet I will ask it anyway, for two reasons. First, I think the very fact that many people admire Jesus is important to note. A recent poll of young persons suggested that, indeed, interest in and admiration for Jesus among our youth is at a high point, even as mistrust of the church is also at a high point. And for this reason, I think, we might be interested to wonder about why others admire Jesus but don’t want to join his church, and we might start with our own reasons for admiring him which, I suspect, contribute at least somewhat to our wanting to follow him.

The second reason I ask this question, however, is right in the story itself. Jesus sends the disciples ahead to get everything ready for him. He gives them specific instructions and, indeed, they find everything just as he described. Throughout the years some have assumed this was evidence of his prescience – just as he predicted his death, so also he could predict the means of his entrance into Jerusalem. And that might be one reason to admire Jesus – he knows and can predict the future.

But others have suggested a more mundane explanation for Jesus’ knowledge: he made plans in advance. The reason the donkey and colt are ready is because Jesus arranged this ahead of time. Hence, the man tending these animals offers them to the disciples when they have identified themselves as working with Jesus. Which means that Jesus isn’t predicting the future, but preparing for it. More than that, and given that he has, indeed, anticipated his death, he is meeting his dark and difficult future head on.

From this vantage point, Jesus’ isn’t displaying foreknowledge but courage. And that’s one of the reasons I admire him. He sees what is in front of him – the pain, the sacrifice, the death – and walks toward it for the sake of the disciples, followers, and world he loves so much. Few if any of the people who hailed him that day had any idea what was coming. But he did. And he embraced it for the sake of the world.

This kind of courage is rare, though not unheard of. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr., of the recent century, and certainly others, have seen that their words and actions may lead to death and yet embrace their path for the sake of their cause and faith. And countless persons put themselves at risk each day for the sake of their neighbor, cause, or nation.

Such courage is not unheard of, but it is rare. And it is always worthy of admiration.

Prayer: Dear God, encourage and inspire us by the example of Jesus and others who embrace a difficult future because of their faith in your providence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.