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.” Matthew 21:10-11
I love questions. And the more I read the Bible, the more convinced I am that God loves questions too. Like the one they were asking on that first Palm Sunday. Can you imagine the turmoil? Talk about disrupting traffic – this would have brought the city to a stand still. Jesus, riding on the donkey, is making a statement that many of his time would have immediately understood. His entry on that Palm Sunday was a declaration of his claim to being the Messiah; at least that is what many scholars tell us.
So, when the question was raised it was more than a simple question of identity. The question was not simply where is he from, but who does he think he is?! Or, more precisely, what has he done to make this claim?
All of the stories that had been told about him, all of the teaching he had done, all of the healing and miracle work would meet in this one moment and in this one question, “Who is this?” And the events of the next week would settle the issue or, at least for some, unsettle it. The bold claim of his triumphal entry would be answered in the minds of most by the stark reality of the Cross. But the following Sunday, the issue would be opened for debate all over again.
This is the question of the 21st century. It is a question that we in the Christian Church are being called to take seriously and in a way that many of us in the U.S. simply haven’t had to before. When we hear the question, no matter how it is stated, we have a remarkable opportunity as those who have experienced the presence of the Risen One in our own lives. We don’t have to have all the answers to all the questions of others. Just this question and our answer will do. But it presumes that you and I have come to an answer for ourselves.
The unique witness of the Christian Church is that Jesus is the issue – a profoundly personal but ultimately public issue - for each of us. Through the centuries Christians have understood that Palm Sunday raised the question and Easter Sunday answered it. What about you?
Don’t you just love questions?
Heavenly Father, remind us that you love questions. Then send your Holy Spirit to bless us with the Palm Sunday question and the Easter answer. Let us give witness to your Son, Jesus – the prophet from Nazareth. Amen.
