[Scripture: Mark 11:1-11]

Christian means those who follow Jesus. But it is a dictionary meaning. In fact, the biblical sense is people who have returned from their wrong way of life. Twelve disciples of Jesus all ran away from Jesus, but they came back to Jesus again and had a second chance to serve Jesus Christ. People called them Christian.

Today is Palm Sunday. I humbly ask you to think about what happened in the city of Jerusalem the week before Jesus Christ was crucified, and who was involved the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and why they did that.

Today’s the Bible passage is Mark 11:1-11. The main subject in this story is Jesus’ final public ministry in Jerusalem. While Jesus was in Jerusalem, he experienced many things in a short period time. For instance, Jesus had experienced that people gathered and welcomed him and treat him as a king who enters into His kingdom. They were shouting and proclaiming that the king of Jerusalem is coming in the name of the Lord and the crowd hailed him as king. After that, they betrayed and crucified him.

Can you imagine a few days ago when the people were praising him as their King and the Lord? But when Jesus was arrested, they shouted “crucify Him” and mocked Him and were saying, “let Him die”.

We need to think about the cultural, social and political dynamics of the city of Jerusalem to have better understanding why they treat Jesus like that when He entered Jerusalem.

Two different group of people

At that there were two group of people. The first group is those who lived outside of Jerusalem. They were welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem and shouting “Hosanna,” when Christ entered in the city. These people were not the residents of Jerusalem. They were pilgrims who came into the city to celebrate the Passover. They hoped that the Messianic Kingdom would soon begin with Jesus to renew the city.

On the contrary, there were other people who lived in Jerusalem. they hated to come Jesus get into Jerusalem to change them. They disagreed with the people who were coming from outside of the city. Among them, those who rejected Jesus the most were the Pharisees and Sadducees.

When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate and Pilate brought out Jesus and Barabbas, and said to the crowd, I will release one prisoner in honor of the Passover. Who shall it be? Jesus of Nazareth, or this man, Barabbas, a murderer? They shouted with one voice, kill Jesus of Nazareth! Give us Barabbas! Those people who screamed all the louder, “Crucify, crucify him” were the residents of Jerusalem and controlled by the Pharisees and Sadducees.

While Pharisees and Sadducees were looking for the way to kill Jesus, the supporters of Jesus Christ who shouted “Hosana” and welcomed Jesus when he come into Jerusalem Were either disappeared into the crowd or stood in the crowd and became bystanders and fell into silence.

Many commentaries say that they were disappointed with Jesus because He refused to establish on earthly political kingdom. Eventually, the supporters who welcomed and shouted Jesus as a king also rejected Jesus because Jesus was not the one whom they were waiting for, to fulfilling their will politically and economically.

Priests and Pharisees

Why the priests and the Pharisees tried to kill Jesus. The reason is obvious, because of money making business. The main source of priestly wealth came from selling items such as sheep, doves, and money change.

Especially, during the great festival such as the day of Passover, they could increase its price because almost every person would come and buy. They were able to earn a lot amount of money but Jesus strongly denounced them and had driven the sellers and moneychangers out of the temple in the great season for earning money.

The Pharisees crucified Jesus to retain their power to control the people in their society. The Pharisees were strict teachers of the Jewish law. They were proud that they taught the law and dedicated themselves to teaching their traditions and regulations. Especially, they were very strict about keeping the Sabbath day holy.

They tried to argue with Jesus many times to keep the elder’s traditions and laws of the Jews but Jesus occasionally healed people on the Sabbath, and he intentionally broke the man-made law for people because he loved people more then to keep the law.

As a result, people now knew that Jesus was a great teacher, and many people followed Jesus more than Pharisees. It was the reasons why Pharisees were against Jesus because they wanted to keep their fame as the great teachers of Israel.

Pontius Pilate

Why Pontius Pilate allowed to crucify Jesus, He was one of the key figures of Jesus’ death. As a representative of the Roman Empire, his main job was to collect taxes and to keep the peace among the people, especially during religious festivals, such as Passover, when almost every Jew would come into Jerusalem. 

When the priests and the Pharisees brough Jesus to Pontius Pilate, he was in a difficult position. He ordered Jesus to be beaten, thinking it would appease the crowd but it was obvious that scourging was not enough to please them. The crowd began to cry out for his crucifixion. Their reaction aroused great fear in Pilate.

Although Pilate plainly said that he found no fault with Jesus, the people shouted violently for his death. The fury of the crowd was greater than Pilate’s power to control them. Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent, and did not want to crucify him. His fear of the crowd caused him to crucify Jesus.

The Disciple of Jesus

The last figure was the disciple of Jesus. Judas sold Jesus to the high priest and the elders of Jew because of money. in Matthew 26:33 says, Peter said, Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” And all the other disciples said the same. But Peter disowned Jesus three times because he was afraid of what might happen to him. John ran away because he was afraid to be killed. All followers of Jesus ren away from Jesus and return to their home town. It means, they drew back into their comfort zone for their safety. 

Conclusion

in Mark’s story, there are many people groups and individuals involved at the event of Jesus’ crucifixion. Some of them welcomed him as a king when he enters into Jerusalem because they hoped that the Messianic Kingdom would soon begin and their country will be freed from the Rome.

Some of them hated Jesus to come into the city and arrested Him to kill Him because they did not want to lose their advantage to earn money and their fame from people. The disciples swore that they would die with Jesus. But when Jesus was arrested and crucified, they all scattered because they were afraid to be killed.

Now I have a few questions. Why did the people turn against Jesus?  My answer is that every individual has their own reasons why they love Jesus or hate Jesus. The main reason is that they didn’t want to have any risk it for Jesus.

However, return back Christian rebuild the Church and fulfilled God’s will on the earth.

1. When Peter came back to Jesus Christ and rededicate himself, he built the church of Jerusalem.
2. Nicodemus, the man who visited Jesus at night was a disciple but secretly because of fearing the Jews. He was coming out of his comfort zone to take his responsibility. He took body of Jesus and buried him.
3. Apostle Paul who once persecuted Christians came to Christ and took his cross and follow Jesus, and he planted Gentile Churches all over the world.

The meaning of Christian is a person who turned their way to Jesus Christ and rededicate their lives to love God and love people.

Application

1. Come to Christ, take your cross, and follow Jesus in your daily life.
2. Prayer, reading, and helping others are the starting points

2022.04.10. Pastor Cloud Poy

@ Photo on Unsplash