Mark 11:7-10
Sometimes
the words of songs just float right past your mind when you hear them. Often we
don’t grasp their meaning because of the context in which we hear them. A good
example is the song used in the movie Shrek a
few years ago. If you take a few moments to read the lyrics, you will get a
very different picture of the song from that of the movie portrayal. In the
movie the song simply provides a musical pad upon which the plot flows. The
only word most people heard was the word “Hallelujah.”
So
how did they hide the words? They did it by not connecting the words to any of
the images being portrayed. The movie wasn’t about King David composing music.
It wasn’t about his fall into sin. It wasn’t about his struggle with faith and
love. It turned into a song about loneliness and struggle without any
connection to the sacred narrative.
The
words shouted as Jesus rode into Jerusalem that fateful day might well have
been stripped of their full meaning by a happy crowd. I wonder if they fully
understood what they were saying, or whether they were just singing a “Hallelujah”
like a background song. Could the Hosanna have become a “Yippee” of that day?
Hosanna
means “save us now” or “save us, we pray.” I am reminded of the “PTL” (Praise
the Lord) of previous years, that was put on bumper stickers and wristbands.
Did people who displayed those letters really know what they were saying? Or maybe
the WWJD. Did people really apply those principles to every decision, or were
they just doing what was popular, what other people were doing, without really
evaluating and committing!
The
words recorded in Mark proclaim Jesus as the Promised One who would restore
David’s Kingdom here on earth. David had both civil and religious authority in
his day. Although he wasn’t a priest, he enabled the worship of the LORD
through his support. He threw everything he had into the building of the
Temple, even though Solomon his son would build it after his death.
Now
the people are proclaiming that Jesus is now going to take up where David left
off. Jesus was going to be God’s man of the hour. He would defeat the Romans.
The oppression that had filled their lives for centuries would finally come to
an end because God had sent Jesus to take up the throne and rule as David did.
No enemy could stand against David. No enemy, not even the Romans, could stand
against Jesus.
All
this is true, but not in the way that the people expected, and certainly not in
the timing they wanted. Jesus does defeat all enemies. His power defeated the
greatest enemy of all, death. And one day Jesus will defeat all those that
oppose Him, all the armies of the world will be defeated. All kings and rulers
will submit to His leadership. None will be able to resist. Resistance is
futile!