Mark 11:1-11

"Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes,

Long as I have my plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard of my car

I could go a hundred miles and hour

Long as I got the Almighty Power

Glued up there with my fuzzy dice."

 

That's the way an old Country and Western song starts.  The chorus continues the theme this way:

 

"Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard of my car

Through all my trials and tribulations,

We will travel every nation,

With my plastic Jesus I'll go far."

 

There are dozens of verses. Some of them say that you can buy Him "phosphorescent, glows in the dark, Pink and Pleasant…"

The anonymous author says he tries to run down pedestrians using the plastic Jesus' halo as an aiming guide. 

He complains because his plastic Jesus is turning white because of stains from the smoke of his cigar. 

When a policeman stops him on suspicion that he is "tight," he'll never find the bottle because his plastic Jesus' is hollow.  The head comes off, and he uses Him for a flask, "a holy bar."

That old song popped up in a Mickey Anders sermon I read recently on our scripture passage for this morning. into my mind when I reflected on today's Gospel passage. Both have at their root the question, "What kind of Jesus do you want?"  Many people don't want the real Jesus; they want a more convenient version.

What kind of Jesus do you want?  In his book, "The Jesus I Never Knew," Phillip Yancey confronts us with a Jesus who is more than we expected. 

He begins by saying, "I first got acquainted with Jesus when I was a child, singing 'Jesus Loves Me' in Sunday school, addressing bedtime prayers to 'Dear Lord Jesus,' watching Bible club teachers move cutout figures across a flannel graph board.

I associated Jesus with Kool-Aid and sugar cookies and gold stars for good attendance."  This Jesus, he said, was a lot like Mr. Rogers.

When Yancey began to watch films about Jesus, he found that the actors often portrayed Him in stereotypical, serene fashion. 

He writes, "In older Hollywood films about Jesus, Jesus recites his lines evenly and without emotion.  He strides through life as the one calm character among a cast of flustered extras.  Nothing rattles him.  He dispenses wisdom in flat, measured tones.  He is, in short, the Prozac Jesus"

An old poem describes another kind of Jesus.  It is about a student who had his Jesus in a bottle so that he could take Him out when it was convenient and then put Him back on the shelf when it wasn't.

So, let me ask you again: What kind of Jesus do you want?  Do you want a plastic Jesus or a Prozac Jesus?  Do you want your Jesus in a bottle so you can control him or do you want a Mr. Rogers kind of Jesus so that he will not be a threat to you? 

The problem with all these versions of Jesus is that He is so much more.  The truth is, Jesus has always challenged people's misperceptions of him. Maybe that can help us understand the fickle reactions of the people present at that first Palm Sunday. 

The question most often asked in sermons on this special day is, "How could the same people who yelled, 'Hosanna!' on Sunday turn around and yell 'Crucify Him!' on Friday?" 

You have to admit, the cheers turned into jeers in an alarmingly short time.  How do we solve this mystery? 

Well, I think we solve it by looking at the kind of Jesus they were looking for, and the disappointment they felt with the real Jesus.

So, what kind of Jesus were the crowds looking for?  I would imagine that they loved the fact that he taught in parables – that Jesus’ parables, believe it or not, were actually easier to understand than the obscure reasoning they heard from the Pharisees. 

I’m sure they were attracted to him because he was a vigorous, dynamic leader.  They liked it when he put the Pharisees in their place. 

But of all the qualities of Jesus that the crowds loved, I just guess that they loved him best as a “miracle man.”  The crowds thronged around him when they saw him healing the lame, the blind and the sick.  And they clamored for more. 

On one occasion the crowds pestered him for another miracle, but scripture records that "he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek for a sign? " 

And certainly they must have been especially disappointed on the seven occasions in the Gospel of Mark when Jesus performed a miracle, then told them to tell no one about it.  The crowds wanted a Miracle Jesus, but he disappointed them.

What kind of Jesus did the Pharisees want?  They thought the most important matter of religion was to be found, not in how they believed or prayed, but in how they dressed and washed and ate.  Their greatest fear was that their whole culture would be absorbed into culture of the Hellenistic world. 

So they emphasized the thousand little details that kept them distinctly Jewish.  These every day rituals were the way they could keep themselves pure and unique.  But Jesus came preaching that the real way to God was through having faith in God and maintaining a high ethical standard. 

In fact, Jesus often broke the rules that the Pharisees had set up.  He healed on the Sabbath, ate with sinners, and defied the laws of purification.  The Pharisees wanted a Ritual Jesus, but he disappointed them.

What kind of Jesus did the Zealots want?  The Zealots were the radical nationalists who were ready to use force, even terrorism, to overthrow the oppressive hand of the Roman government. 

Many suggest that Simon was a Zealot, and perhaps Judas. These followers clearly wanted Jesus to be the leader of their resistance movement.  But Jesus said to them, "All who take the sword will perish by the sword".  The Zealots wanted a Military Jesus, but He disappointed them.

And then there were the disciples. So, what kind of Jesus did the Disciples want?  Well, they followed Jesus and as they did so the crowds around him grew.  Their heads were full of self-seeking dreams. 

They wondered aloud which of them would be allowed to sit at His right hand when He came into his kingdom.  It must have been a heady time to be one of the chosen twelve.  These men were the true believers. 

But Jesus kept up His negative talk about His death.  He kept hinting that persecution would be their lot, not glory.  He made clear that following Him meant taking up a cross.  The Disciples wanted a Victorious Messiah, but Jesus disappointed them.

All of these different groups were in the crowd that first Palm Sunday, each with their own private view of Jesus.  As they waved the Palm Branches and shouted, "Hosanna!" they thought they were finally getting what they wanted. 

The crowds assumed that he would do even more miracles in Jerusalem than he had in Galilee, and the coming days would be filled with massive crowds and a frenzy of miracles. 

The Pharisees had already decided that Jesus wasn't to their liking.  They floated on the edges of the crowd trying to catch him in a misstep so they could turn the crowds against Him. 

The Zealots were thrilled that Jesus was finally bringing the revolution to the seat of Roman power in Jerusalem. 

The Disciples expected this to be their greatest week of popularity and glory. 

But as the week progressed, the expectations of all these groups were quickly dashed.

When we look closely at the dynamics of that Palm Sunday, we shouldn’t really be surprised at the Friday outcome.  On the surface, it seems like the Triumphal Entry was a grand celebration, however underneath we find the seeds of the crucifixion lying among the palms.

But the real meaning of Palm Sunday for us today can be found in that same question I asked about each of the groups, "What kind of Jesus are you looking for?"   

Do you want a Miracle Jesus or Ritual Jesus?  Do you want a Military Jesus or a Victorious Jesus?  In more modern terms we might ask, "Do you want a plastic Jesus or a Prozac Jesus?  Do you want your Jesus in a bottle or a Mr. Rogers kind of Jesus?"

If you are looking for any of those, you will be disappointed too.  But note that the reason we are disappointed is that we are looking for the wrong kind of Jesus. 

When we really see Jesus, the real item, we will be amazed and certainly not disappointed at what we find. 

Phillip Yancey quotes Napoleon saying these words about Jesus: "Everything in Christ astonishes me.  His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me.  Between him and whoever else in the world, there is no possible term of comparison.  He is truly a being by himself… 

“I search in vain in history to find one similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel.  Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it.  Here everything is extraordinary."

What kind of Jesus are you looking for?  The danger is that we try and box Jesus into a box that is much too small for him.  The real meaning of Holy Week, indeed the meaning of His whole life and death and resurrection, is that He came and died for you and for me. 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

You know, it really doesn't matter what the crowds were looking for. It doesn't matter what the Pharisees or the Zealots or the Disciples were looking for.  The real meaning of Palm Sunday is between you and God.  What kind of Jesus are you looking for? Whatever that is, just be sure that you don’t make it too small. 

To that end, I hope that you will join us as we walk with Jesus this Holy Week, chronicling his ups and downs and ups again as we gather together on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

The truth is, we sell Jesus short if we try and jump from the parade to the Easter egg hunt.  If you do, you do both yourself and Jesus a disservice. Maundy Thursday will be engaging and Good Friday will be difficult – but important. 

I hope you will accept my strong invitation to join us for both.  It will make your Easter celebration that much more significant.

AMEN.