Sermons:

• Name Calling Isaiah 50:4-9a; Luke 19:28-40; Luke 23:1-49
  Rev. Karen Goltz        
   

• The Penitent Thief Luke 23:39-43
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer        

• He Stoops to Conquer, Philippians 2:1-11
  by Dr. David Rogne         
   

• Standing at a Distance Luke 23:1-49,
  by Rev. Randy L Quinn  
   

• Splendid Sorrow, a sermon on the Passion of Christ, engaging Mel Gibson's "Passion..." by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• A Holy Week Letter to Jesus, Luke 19:28-48,  by Pascack Pastor
   

• Do Lord, Do Remember Me! Luke 23:33-43 by Rev.Frank Schaefer
   

• He never said a mumbalin' word, Luke 23:33-43, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• Time To Take Out The Trash,  Phil 2:1-11, by RevBill in GA

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Name Calling
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Luke 19:28-40; Luke 23:1-49
Rev. Karen Goltz

            [LOUDLY]  “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”  “Crucify him!”  “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!”  “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

            [REGULAR VOICE]  I remember chanting as a child, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.”  It seemed a sort of talisman, a magic charm to ward off evil, or at least to soothe bruised feelings.  Too bad it’s not always true.

            Upon his entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus was hailed as the long-awaited Messiah, the one who was God’s Anointed, destined to restore the kingdom of Israel to one of justice, and might, and peace.  The people cried out to him their hails of praise, and with their hails, the people named Jesus Messiah, as he rode into Jerusalem.  And for the first time in Luke’s gospel, Jesus allowed himself to be publicly recognized.  Before this, he commanded silence regarding his identity, silencing the demons he’d exorcised, and even insisting that his disciples keep silent about him after Peter correctly identified him as the Messiah.  Throughout his ministry, Jesus never denied that he was the Christ, but he never wanted that information to be made public.  But when it came time for him to enter Jerusalem, it seems like he was ready to be known.  He even named himself when he sent two of his disciples to get the colt, instructing them to tell anyone who asked that it was ‘the Lord’ who needed it.  Never before in Luke’s gospel had Jesus allowed himself to be known publicly as ‘the Lord’, but as he prepared to enter Jerusalem, he prepared to claim that title, and everything that went along with it.

            And it seems like the crowds responded appropriately, honoring him with their hails.  And with their honor and praise and confidence, they called him names:  Lord, Messiah, Christ, King.

            And those names caught the attention of the religious leaders in Jerusalem.  In the chapters between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper, Luke tells of many attempts on the part of the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees to test Jesus.  They were hoping to trip him up and give them something—anything—they could use to prove that he wasn’t really entitled to those names.

            Only, Jesus passed all their tests and used all their traps against them.  His wisdom made people doubt not who Jesus was, but the right of the religious leaders to call themselves religious leaders.  Truth be told, Jesus really made them all look pretty stupid and incompetent, and it became a power struggle between ‘either’ and ‘or’.  Either Jesus was the Messiah and the religious leaders were incompetent fools, or Jesus was a blasphemer with no legitimate claim to the name ‘Lord,’ and the religious leaders were the authoritative protectors and interpreters of God’s Word.  And the crowds sat back and watched the struggle, interested to see who would win this battle, who would prove to be the most powerful.

            And in the end, there really was no battle.  Jesus was arrested, and he never tried to fight back.  The only words he spoke in his own defense were a simple acknowledgement of the situation:  The chief priests and the scribes ask Jesus if he is the Son of God, and Jesus simply points out that they are saying that he is.  Later when Pilate asks him if he’s the King of the Jews, Jesus simply says, “You say so.”  And then Jesus never speaks another word until his way to the cross, when he speaks to some women who are crying for him.  None of his last words, those he spoke to those women or those he uttered from the cross, were any kind of resistance or protest against what was happening to him.

            For the crowd, Jesus’ lack of resistance proves that he must not really be the Messiah after all.  They must’ve been mistaken when they hailed him with their “blessed be’s.”  Maybe they were driven by anger at having been duped, or maybe they were driven by fear of the religious leaders, the ones who obviously had the real power, that they might be punished for having blasphemed when they hailed this powerless criminal.  Whatever the case, the shouts of praise turn into demands for his death, a demand that was met. [continue]