Church of the Holy City

Redefining the Messiah

Redefining the Messiah
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010

Zechariah 9:9-17 Matthew 21:1-11 Psalm 118

Palm Sunday is all about joy. Yes, it is the prelude to Good Friday, the blackest day in human history. And it is also a step toward Easter Sunday, the happiest day in human history. But being placed before these two important days in the church calendar should not detract from the message that Palm Sunday gives us in and of itself. On Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem joyously welcomed Jesus into their city with singing and waving palm branches. It is a day of joy, as we reflect on Christ’s entry into our lives and the liberation, love, and joy He brings to us all.
In the Palm Sunday story, Jesus was seen as a triumphal king by the common people and by the Roman authorities. Seeing Jesus this way was a misunderstanding. This misunderstanding relates to the concept of the Messiah. Throughout his ministry, Jesus was constantly redefining for the Jews what the Messiah meant.
In this morning’s reading from Matthew, we heard a reference to the Zechariah prophesy we heard from the Old Testament. Zechariah describes the kind of things that the Messiah was supposed to do. First of all, Zechariah promised that a king from David’s line would rule in Zion. The term “Messiah” means “anointed,” and the anointing refers to the way a man is made king. A prophet anoints his head with oil to establish him as king. This is why Jesus was welcomed with such pomp and ceremony when He entered Jerusalem. The Jews there were welcoming a king. But there was more to the Messiah prophesy from Zechariah. When the Messiah came, there would be peace among all the foreign countries around Israel. This hope for peace also brought joy to the hearts of the Jews in Jerusalem. Furthermore, their Messiah would rule over all the known world. Zechariah says that the Messiah would rule from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. The king of the Jews would be at the center of world power, and Jerusalem would be the political capitol of the world.
One can understand why the Roman authorities would have a problem with Jesus, understood this way. Herod was a local king, who served under the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. A Jewish king was a direct threat to the Roman Empire. In fact, a Jewish king was a criminal threat. Thinking ahead to Good Friday, we can understand the reasons why Jesus was brought to trial before Pilate. He was brought before Pilate as a rival to the Roman King. Pilate even asks Jesus if He is a king.
But there was more still, to the Messiah prophesy than just the Jewish King. When the Messiah came, God would appear to the world, flashing like lightning. The whole world would be reconciled to God and all the wrongs of the world would be set right. We can see again, why there was so much joy at the coming of the Messiah. All this is what the Jews thought would happen when Jesus came to Jerusalem. And this is why they threw the palm branches in front of His glorious entrance to Jerusalem.
Yet Jesus did none of these things. Jesus was none of these things. None of these things happened. Throughout His ministry, Jesus continually tried to reshape these ideas. When he told Peter that the Messiah would suffer and be handed over to the Roman authorities, be killed and rise on the third day, Peter protested against such talk. He said, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matt 16:22) Jesus’ response sounds harsh, “Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (23). And in His trial, Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. He said his kingdom is within. God had appeared to the world, as Zechariah had prophesied, but He didn’t come flashing like lightning. No, He came as a human being, a carpenter’s son. He touched people; He healed people; He dined with people; he taught people. This God was all too human for many of the Jews to accept. And Jesus did usher in a new age, as Zechariah had prophesied. But the peace that Jesus brought to the world was within. Jesus fought with the hells throughout his life, and opened a new passageway for God’s saving love to touch everyone. Through His Divine Humanity, God’s Spirit became embodied in the flesh. Spirit became matter, and God became Human. We know that in time, the world was transformed as the gods of Rome were replaced with Christianity. But Jews at the time of Jesus did not know this, could not know this. Jesus’ kingdom is within. As he lived out the lessons of love, he showed western civilization a new way of life. He showed that forgiveness, joy, and love are what make life meaningful. And when we welcome forgiveness, joy, love in our own lives, we are welcoming Jesus into our world.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus sought to reshape people’s understanding of what the Messiah means. Likewise, throughout our lives, God is continually reshaping our own ideas of what and who God is. I think that a little reflection will show that our ideas about God have changed over the years. All our life’s experiences lead us to reshape our understanding of who God is, and how God acts. Over time, we come to shed old ideas about God, in favor of more true images of God. As a young adult, I thought God was harsh and strict. I was sometimes afraid to come to God in prayer because I thought he judged me so strictly. I have no doubt that I thought that way about God because my father was harsh and strict. Furthermore, my father was not religious, so it was hard for me to feel a male God possessed of spirituality. Finally, my father was mechanically inclined, while I was artistically and literarily inclined. So none of my values were reflected in the most powerful male image of my early life. Jesus has a male form, so powerful males can be projected onto Jesus’ personality. I know of some people who have abandoned the image of Jesus Christ altogether, as their God-image. Some prefer to see God in the feminine form. As a Christian, for me, I feel that God seen as the Divine Human Jesus Christ seems central to our faith. Jesus may have feminine qualities inwardly, but outwardly I visualize the Jesus of the New testament when I pray. When I went to the Swedenborg School of Religion, away from my family, and in the company of very different men of authority, my view of God changed. At the Swedenborg School of Religion, I met professors who were sensitive, gentle, spiritual, and who outwardly showed their care and solicitude for my welfare. I also encountered male role models who were caring, sensitive, spiritual, in my professors at Harvard. These men helped me to reshape my concept of God.
I think that one’s concept of God is an intersection of many factors. We understand God by our faith communities. There we come together for worship, and the worship experiences we have contribute to our feelings about God. Our conceptions of God are also formed by the discussions and sharing of faith perspectives from others we encounter in our faith communities. I know that my own feelings about God have changed and grown by interaction with others and comparing and sharing our understandings about God. Of course, our understanding of God is shaped by the theology and sacred texts that we study. But I think the most fundamental way we come to know God is by what happens to us in our faith journey. It wasn’t until I personally changed my own state of mind, that God truly became the loving, forgiving God I now commune with.
I think that the God we encounter has much to do with the God that dwells within us. All through our lives, God is regenerating us. God is bringing us into greater love, and into clearer wisdom. And when God does this, God is actually entering into our hearts and minds. It is the God within us that communes with God when we pray. We can hear many teachings about God. We can listen to many sermons. We can attend church and go on spiritual retreats. But from all these sources, we are only able to take away what resonates with us. We may hear much, but we will only listen to what we can relate to personally. Our concept of God will evolve in step with the way our soul evolves in its acceptance of God.
How different was Jesus’ message from the one that devout Jews thought He was bringing. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was not in external rituals, but in your heart. God’s kingdom is within, not outside the self. Jesus taught that love is at the heart of religion, and for those who love, limitless joy fills the heart. Every free bestowal of love on another is what religion means, and when we bestow love freely, we come to find a God who does the same.
Palm Sunday is a day for joy. It is a day of celebration for all the love that has entered our lives. It is a day to celebrate Jesus’ presence when we are touched by love and when we touch others with love. Wherever we are, at any time, when we are open to feel Jesus’ presence, let us respond with joy. Let us welcome the one true God of love into our lives with joy and with celebration. As Jesus continually reshaped the ideas of the Jews in the first century AD into a truer and truer understanding of His kingdom, so God will continually reshape our conceptions of who and what God is. As God enters our hearts, our understanding of God will grow into a truer and fuller understanding of His Holy nature. So let us continue to engage in a worshipping community. Let us continually share and discuss concepts of God with others. And, above all, let us ask God into our souls and lives. Then the Messiah will come to us in fullness, in power, and in truth.