For Sunday, March 20, 2016 – Luke 19:28-40
The comedy-drama of life’s unfolding story was set in motion long before we came on stage, and it will continue long after we make our exit. While we are here, we are given a few lines to speak, some actions to take, entrances and exits to further complicate or bring resolution to parts of the plot. God is the writer, Jesus the director and the Spirit holds the cue cards. We just stand poised, alert, ready to enter the scene and do and say whatever is assigned to us.
The stage is set. Jesus is going to Jerusalem where he will have the main role in coming scenes. He sends two of his disciples to make preparations, telling them to go into the village where they will find a colt that has never been ridden. They simply are to untie the colt and bring it to him. Their one line, only this: “The Lord needs it.” I wonder if they are disappointed to have such undramatic parts. Could these two be James and John, who recently said they wanted stardom, asking to be on each side of Jesus when he comes into his glory? And what will they think when they see what being “on each side of Jesus” really means? Don’t we all tend to miscalculate the roles we think we want and deserve?
When the grand entrance comes, everyone has a part to play. Humble Jesus, legs dangling, sitting atop a colt—what a sight! Colorful cloaks spread hodgepodge across the road, the peasant version of red carpet splendor. Laughing, crying out, the crowd erupts, their eyes and hearts suddenly opened. “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” They see it now, the comic healing relief of God’s drama. Heaven’s joy and peace have come down to earth, have come to uplift and empower the lowly. Glorious upheaval!
“Teacher, tell them to stop,” some of the Pharisees say. Tell them to stop playing around. Don’t they know this is serious, that you are on your way to court, charged with treason? Don’t they know how dangerous and uncertain our days are? But if they did not rejoice, Jesus says, then the stones themselves would dance and shout. Why? Because the comedy and tragedy of God’s story, the longing and laughing and weeping and healing, can never be stopped. They will always find a way to go on.
