(Un)Expected
By Anthony Casperson
3-23-24

There’s a comedian named Michael Jr. who breaks down what comedy is during his routine. He says that comedy is all about setup and the punchline. The setup is when the comedian begins to get everyone heading in the same direction. And then the punchline is when the comedian changes direction in an unexpected way.

Michael Jr. uses this explanation to minister to people who have the difficulties of life beating them down. And ultimately, he speaks about God’s punchline of using those terrible experiences for good.

I’ve mentioned his explanation in a blog before. But I bring up this idea again because I was thinking about unexpected twists when it comes to Jesus’ purpose in the week that leads up to Resurrection Sunday. Just like how a comedian’s purpose can be found in the punchline, Jesus’ purpose for his coming is found in the twists that were unexpected by those around him.

Both the crowds who followed him and the religious elite who hated him had expectations of Jesus at that time. But neither group’s expectations were met during that week from Palm Sunday (which I’ll focus on in this blog) to Resurrection Sunday.

And in the spirit of unexpected twists, I’m going to focus on a part of Palm Sunday that has only a tangential connection to a young donkey walking over broken fronds.

Many will gather tomorrow to read about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem less than a week before his crucifixion. They’ll focus on passages like Matthew 21:1-9—possibly including verses 10-11. But I highly doubt that many preachers will continue on to the next verse.

(The reason might be because preachers don’t want to have to deal with the seeming discrepancy between the gospels—since John shows a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, while the others speak of this cleansing here at the end of his ministry. The easiest answer being that Jesus cleansed the temple twice because sinful people will keep on sinning. But I digress from my point.)

Verses 12-13 show Jesus chasing the moneylenders out of the temple. And he speaks of how they’re making the house of the Lord into a den of thieves. These priestly-sanctioned individuals are exploiting spiritually-minded worshippers of God by exchanging sacrificial animals for exorbitant prices. Basically, they’re turning worship into a business opportunity. And a dirty business at that, while they’re rolling in the cash.

But notice the context again. Crowds had just called out, “Hosanna,” as Jesus rode in. “Save us, Lord God.” These crowds expected Jesus to take on the role of king. And save them by leading them all against the oppressive Roman Empire. But what was the first thing Jesus did after riding in? What did they get for their expectation?

A Messiah who reminds them that a false expectation of salvation and deliverance will fail.

See, the place that Jesus quotes the “den of thieves” part from is Jeremiah 7:11. There, Jeremiah was commanded by God to let the people of Judah know that their reliance on the temple as a proof of their right place with God was unfounded. They couldn’t go on standing in the temple, while doing abominable things, and expect to find deliverance. Especially since God was going to destroy that temple during the time of Jeremiah.

Their false assumptions about worship would lead to destruction, but God wanted to show them his better way.

The crowds during Jesus’ day would know quite well the destruction of that first temple, even as they stood on the grounds surrounding this second—and lesser—temple. And thus, should have an understanding that Jesus speaks of false assumptions concerning the worship of God. Their own cries of, “Hosanna,” ringing more like the sour tune of the, “We are delivered,” from Jeremiah 7:10. Which is proven all the more when their hosannas transform into the crucify hims of Good Friday.

Jesus’ punchline to the crowds was that their calls for salvation were based on a faulty assumption about what he came to do as their Savior and Messiah. He wasn’t there to lead them in some physical battle against their political oppressors. He was there to lead them to the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. To turn their falsely offered worship back to the proper worship of God. Salvation that comes from a crucified Messiah, not a political figurehead.

We also need to see that he came to lead us to true worship of God. Not the worship that let’s us remain in our sin, get things our own way, and make others suffer for our selfishness. Just because we sit in a building called a church—just because we’ve prayed some prayer or been baptized—doesn’t mean that we can continue to do as we please while saying, “Save us Lord” and “We are delivered.” That’s not the worship that Jesus died for.

Our salvation calls us to be like our Savior. Our deliverance changes us to join in our Deliverer’s work. Our redemption buys us from sin in order to be holy like our Redeemer.

It was a totally unexpected type of Messiah that rode among those in the crowd that Sunday millennia ago. And it seems to be just as unexpected in our own day as we make a Messiah that saves us from everything but our own sin.

The cry for salvation wasn’t the part that was wrong, but rather their expectation. We can see this as we continue on in Matthew 21.

Outrage from the chief priests and the rest of the Sadducees rises in verses 15-16 of the Matthew passage. After all, Jesus had just driven out the moneylenders that they supported. He was making another ruckus about their false religiosity, but didn’t stop the people from crying, “Hosanna.”

These members of the political/religious elite came to Jesus filled with exasperation. How could Jesus run off the moneylenders but not stop the crowds from shouting out “Hosanna to the Son of David” all over the place? (Leaders of the local state not wanting people to speak publicly about Jesus? No. Who would ever consider that a possibility?)

Surely, at this Passover-time, the Roman officials would be waiting for riots and mobs in Jerusalem. Waiting to lay down the law upon all of the people, not just those involved. If Jesus didn’t want the government to crack down on the Jewish people, then he should calm the crowds.

But Jesus shakes a smirking head at them saying, “Are you teachers of the Law so ignorant of what God’s word says?” And he quotes from Psalm 8:2 about God preparing praise from out of the mouths of newborns and infants. Basically saying that even if the people aren’t mature enough to understand what they’re saying, this praise from God is good and right.

In addition to this, if we take a look at the psalm, we see that the context has Messianic overtones. A point made by the author of the book of Hebrews when he quotes Psalm 8:4-6, attributing it to the glory given to Jesus by God. All things have been placed under his feet. The authority given to the Second Person of the Trinity after his enfleshment in humanity.

And given to him because of his obedience to the death he was about to endure on the cross.

Jesus’ punchline to these political and religious elite was that the cries for salvation are completely founded in this moment—even if the people are off about their own expectations. They’re crying out “Hosanna” because if they didn’t, then the whole of creation would ring forth the cry.

This is the moment of salvation. But the leaders of the people were more concerned about their own political positioning than the plan of God. They were too disgusted at the way that God worked his plan of salvation to even realize they stared him right in the face. They should’ve joined the crowd, not stopped it.

Yet, in a few days, they would be the ones urging the crowd to cry out, “Crucify him.”

Some among us might miss the point as well, as we stand too self-assured about our own place as God’s people that we don’t realize we’re working against his holy ways. Too worried about how all this Jesus talk will look in the eyes of those politically overseeing us.

We have an expectation of what following Jesus is about. And there are many differing views among we who claim to follow him. But they all fail to stand up to Jesus’ point.

His punchline is clear.

Salvation is needed. Not from political oppressors and rivals. Not from the enemies we’ve built up in our heads. But salvation from our sin which seeks a savior other than the one who has everything placed under his feet. It’s a salvation from our expectations about God and his Messiah that we need. A salvation that leads us to true worship of our God.

So, as we think about tomorrow’s reminder of “Hosanna,” let’s join our voices with those from ancient days. But without the faulty expectation that they had.

Let’s be in on Jesus’ unexpected punchline.