The Gospel for November 26, 2004
Luke 19:28-40
When he had said this he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Now it happened that when he was near Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives as it is called, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go to the village opposite, and as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has ever yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you are to say this, “The Master needs it.” ’ The messengers went off and found everything just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said, ‘Why are you untying it?’ and they answered, ‘The Master needs it.’ So they took the colt to Jesus and, throwing their cloaks on its back, they lifted Jesus on to it. As he moved off, they spread their cloaks in the road, and now, as he was approaching the downward slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen. They cried out: Blessed is he who is coming as King in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens! Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, reprove your disciples,’ but he answered, ‘I tell you, if these keep silence, the stones will cry out.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
The Hebrew Bible prophet Zechariah had foretold of the messianic king arriving on a young donkey, in great humility. Did Jesus pre-arrange to have an unridden colt ready for him? Or was this something He spoke into being because He needed it, like the wine at Cana?
Jesus' rejoinder to his opponents -- Luke's writers revert here to "Pharisees" -- that the stones would cry out if His disciples were silenced speaks to His recognition that the Moment was near. He was about to deal the ultimate defeat to death.
Coming as it does right before the start of Advent, this text lends a taste of what is to come at the end of Jesus' earthly stay, as we prepare to celebrate the beginning of the earthly stay. His arrival as a disguised king and his human death as a humble king celebrate Him as the King of our hearts won with love, not of our minds, won with raw power.
A Reflection
Jesus was preparing for death, but he was approaching it as a conqueror, not as a victim.
My own reaction to death makes the strongest statement about my faith and belief.
We spend long stretches of our lives building allegiance and relationships with other humans. Some would say that those relationshps are "all we know" about love, and that the relationships end, at death.
That attitude is probably an unintended comment on our lack of building a similar relationship with Jesus, a condition of which I'm egregiously guilty. If we worked at building the same sort of relationship with Jesus as we do with our lovers, how would our appreciation of death change?
And more importantly, how would our appreciation of life change?
A Collect
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
5:31:41 PM 
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