SERMON-Blessings at the Cross-roads
Sultan Muhammad Ibn Daud was the second Sultan of the Seljuq Empire from 1063 until he died from a wound in battle in 1072. He is better known as ‘Alp Arslan’ which is Turkish for ‘heroic Lion.’ His political and military exploits led to a rapid expansion of the Turkish Empire, accumulating great wealth in the process. His most notable achievement was victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, which paved the way for Turkish settlement and presented a significant challenge to Christianity as the rise of Islam quickly spread throughout the Empire.
The Sultan’s reign has been referred to as ‘Iran’s Golden Age’. He was revered by the people so much that, even after he died and was laid to rest, his memory was embellished with myth and legend. It was said that he would one day rise from his tomb, mount his horse and lead his subjects to new conquests and glory. The people so strongly believed this, that, throughout the centuries a thoroughbred charger—complete with saddle and groom—has been kept, standing in readiness before his tomb, waiting for the day when the Sultan will emerge, to ride on and bring blessings to his people by winning new victories and accumulating even greater riches.[1]
Centuries before Jesus, the people in Israel were also looking for a mighty leader to usher in a golden era for their country. The Israelites had lost everything and were exiled to Babylon, when God brought judgement upon his people for turning away from him. When the people looked at the surrounding nations, they looked so much more prosperous. They faltered in their confidence in God. Maybe what their neighbours were doing was right, because it seemed to be working. And so God’s own people sought guidance from mediums and idols rather than the prophets. They became obsessed with following the gods of their neighbours, calling on their names instead of God. They put their trust in princes, looking to the leaders of pagan nations for deliverance rather than God. They had forgotten how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, and how he had never forsaken his promise to save, care for and provide for them. They had turned aside from God’s instruction, repeatedly, and refused to listen to his warnings. That’s the human way.
And so, by the waters of Babylon, they suddenly realised what they had done. There they wept, when they remembered Zion—where God had been present in their very midst, in the Temple, to meet with them, and to hear their prayers and bring them blessings from heaven.
But God remembered his promises to gather a people to himself. He brought his people back to their own land. He used the Persian King, Cyrus the Great, to conquer Babylon. Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return to their land, in 537BC. Yet despite their joyful return, injustice and oppression, loss and affliction seemed to always overshadow national life. They were back in their land, but when the Romans occupied the Empire, it was as if they were still in exile.
When Jesus was born, it was like a light had been shone in the darkness. His birth fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 9:
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2).
Jesus gave them hope. They had heard his teaching with authority. They had seen his miracles. News about him spread throughout the region. They had hoped for long-awaited freedom, prosperity and political independence for their nation. He had proclaimed: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). Was this the Messiah; the one whom God would use, like Cyrus of Persia, to bring freedom for the nation? They thought so!
They were hoping Jesus would usher in a golden age of strength, wealth and independence. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people lined the streets, so expectant, so hopeful, so joyful as they waved the only flags they had—palm branches—and threw their cloaks onto the road so that Jesus had a royal carpet to ride on. They recall Psalm 118 and, like we sang this morning, they cheer ‘Hosanna’—”Save now!”—and “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
What if Jesus had have only come to meet their expectations, and bring blessing in the way they were hoping for? What if Jesus had only come to bless THEM?
Jesus didn’t come to set up a free nation on earth. He came to light up the way to the true homeland God has for his people—our homeland in heaven. So, in the nation’s capital, God was again present to bring divine blessing—not in the temple, but now, in the person of Jesus. Through Jesus the Kingdom of Heaven reigns on earth. In him God would bring salvation from foes worse than political tyrants: the dark rule of sin, death and Satan, freeing people to share in his own life—abundant life, fullness of life.
Yet later that week the cheers changed from ‘hosanna’ to ‘crucify!’ Barrabas would be their man—at least he had a crack at the Romans, when he caused a murderous uprising in the city. And so the onlookers hurled insults at Jesus rather than cloaks before him. They shook their fists which days before held Palm Branches. Jesus wasn’t what they expected. And when he was mocked, ridiculed, beaten, spat on, and suffered and died—well how could they have ever thought Jesus would free them!? He was weak—not a strong leader. Whatever salvation Jesus had promised to bring looked an impossibility to human eyes when Jesus was crucified later that week. That’s why the message of the Cross is still foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Like Israel of old, exiled to Babylon, human eyes look to human things for where it is thought blessing is found: the strong, the big, the numerous, the successful, the prosperous. That might be the way to win worldly battles. But as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).
That’s why Paul says in that very same passage: “…be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10). For Jesus had not come to simply deliver one nation from political oppression, but save all of us from sin, evil and death itself. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey—a symbol of peace—to bring peace between God and us by his precious blood. He would lose to win the victory. He would die to bring us life. He would be captive, pinned to a cross, to free us from the dark prison of death and hell. His weakness is our strength. His humility is our exaltation.
The myth and legend surrounding Sultan Muhammad Daud, of course, remains just myth and legend: he has not risen from his grave. The calendars have kept turning over. The centuries have rolled on. And decade after decade, the horses awaiting their rider have perished too. But what makes Jesus the world’s one and only Saviour is that three days after his crucifixion and lifeless body was placed in the tomb, he rose from the dead.
That is why true blessing is at the Cross-roads—for Jesus rode in on a donkey, a sign of the peace he was bringing between us and God. God fulfilled his promise of salvation, that in Christ our transgressions have been removed; our sins have been erased.
2,000 years later, we live in times that are just as turbulent as then. We are squeezed with global economic pressures that impact us at the local, daily level, destroying the hopes and dreams of many young families, and the peace and security of senior ones. As the election draws closer, we wonder whether whatever party that wins will make a meaningful difference, and whether we will ever be able to climb out of this blackhole, back into a land of opportunity. We live in times of international political instability. We live in times where the sultans of today impose taxes and tariffs and stockpile long range weapons that can obliterate cities with the push of a button, with large militaries growing larger, and trampling over the vulnerable and weaker nations around them, to make their own nations great. We see humanitarian crises from one day to the next, and brokenness everywhere.
But Palm Sunday teaches us that God has never been out of control. Nations rise and nations fall. When God’s people were exiled, he used a foreign superpower to free them. When Alp Arslan and the Turkish Empire swept upon the centre of Christianity, Christianity prevailed, and will always prevail, because Jesus lives and is present with divine blessing wherever his word is read and heard.
The Good News is not just bound to a time 2,000 years ago. Jesus did not only ride into Jerusalem. The saving power of God, the grace of God, the love of God, the truth of God, the blessing from God that rode into Jerusalem in flesh and blood on a donkey, has ridden into your heart, in the waters of baptism, so that by water and the word, you may be a new creation; a temple for God and praise him.
Jesus brings you all of God’s saving help from the Cross and tomb as we gather around his Table. We acclaim again today: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” He says: “Take and eat this is my body given for you. Take and drink, this is my blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins.” Through these mighty words you share in Jesus’ own victory, you receive all of the blessing from heaven there is to give. With one sip, your cup overflows with divine blessing, grace, favour, mercy, forgiveness…and life.
Even though it seems that the very earth gives way—literally in some places—and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, Jesus came to bless us in what we need most of all—a relationship with God, with personal access to his grace and favour. He came to make known the ways of God to us, as we live in a dying and dead world, a decaying a disintegrating world, a world as we know it that will one day be no more—a world that is just our temporary stop-over on the way to our true home of heaven.
Having been freed for life with eternal blessings, may we never look past Jesus and put our trust in people or the things of this life that will only pass away. May we not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, which will one day disintegrate, but treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19-20). May we always seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, (Matthew 6:33). May we not be anxious and troubled like Martha swept up in the busyness of her serving, but, like Mary, see the one thing needful is not more busyness, but to stop and sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him.
Because our ultimate blessing is from the Crossroads, and the Crossroads come to us in God’s ministry to us; his word and sacraments. As we come to Jesus again today, may we again say with the first Palm Sunday crowd: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” And may we hear and rejoice in our living Saviour’s promise to us: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6). Amen!
[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1242–1243.
