Mark11:1-11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
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Let us pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight. O Lord, you are our rock and redeemer, Amen.
In college, I was a psychology major. Now Psychology, as with any other field of study, has its own collection of subfields; there’s Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, Health Psychology; the list could go on and on! My favorite of the psychology classes that I took was Social Psychology; the study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the presence of others.
It was my junior year when I took the introductory Social Psychology class. It was there that I learned about the theory called “cognitive dissonance.” This theory quickly became a favorite of mine because, once I understood what it was, I realized that I could see it everywhere in my own life and the lives of others.
I admit that my understanding of cognitive dissonance is limited because I only studied it in that one introductory course but, if I may explain what it is, cognitive dissonance is a feeling of contradiction; an inconsistency between our beliefs and our actions.
For example, cognitive dissonance might feel like a situation where you want to change your career, but can’t afford the necessary education or time off to make it happen. There is an inconsistency between what you want and what you can and cannot actually do.
It can be said that a depressed person experiences cognitive dissonance: you want to be a cheerful person, but you’re just too depressed. It is an inconsistency between how you want to be and how you are. Another example would be when you really want to turn down an invitation, but you feel too guilty to do so. This would be an inconsistency between what you want to do and what you should so.
Are you getting the ideas of what cognitive dissonance means?
Let’s talk about a few more examples now in a church setting. You want to give more time to church, but you’re just too busy. You want to help serving, but you feel you do not have anything good to offer. Or maybe you want to fast in order to grow closer with God, but boy you are just TOO hungry! As you might guess, I went through that a little bit back in January when I was fasting!
Anyways, my point is that we experience these kinds of inconsistencies, this cognitive dissonance, a lot in our daily lives.
We encounter contradictions between “want” and “should,” inconsistencies between our expectations and the realities we find everywhere in our lives. We can also see this in our faith journey, our spiritual lives.
Today is Palm Sunday. It is the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem toward the end of his ministry. This was truly a remarkable day for those who followed Jesus. It meant a celebration of Jesus who had come to enter the capital of Israel as a King. People waved palm branches, put their cloaks on the ground along his path. These were the things that people did when they recognized the presence of a king. By doing these things, people were acknowledging that Jesus was their king, not the king who actually ruled over them at the time.
People were excited. People had certain expectations for Jesus. People thought Jesus was the great successor to King David. People thought that now the world was finally going to change because of the appearance and presence of Jesus in the capital….Well people’s guesses were right, but not in the way they expected....
People had their own particular beliefs about who they wanted Jesus to be. They expected Jesus to be a savior who is also king, someone who came to rule in power and exercise political dominion; They expected Jesus to become a strong military leader who could fight back against, and eventually overthrow the oppressive Roman government and set them, God’s people, free once more.
The time is around CE 30 and God’s people in Israel have been living under Roman occupation for quite some time now. They weren’t living as slaves, as they had in Egypt during the time before the Exodus about 1500 years earlier, but their religion now was subject to governance and control by the pagan Roman government, who worshipped multiple Gods, to which they were forced to obey and pay taxes.
In terms of location, they were fortunate this time in that they remained in their homeland, rather than having been taken away into exile, a foreign land like their ancestors were; they had their own temple left intact, and were free to go to worship as they pleased, and make sacrifices to their God.
But in the truest sense, in their hearts and in their lives, they were not free because they weren’t independent. The way they could worship, the way they worked, the way they paid taxes, the way they could be part of the society were controlled by a foreign military and government. So they wished, desired to be their own people again, having their own independent nation and having their own king who can rule over, guide and protect them.
And as their model of a great and perfect king, they held up the “good old days” of King David. The story of the first King of Israel, David, has been passed down from generation to generation. Everyone knew the story of this great, strong, king David who could defeat the giant tall Goliath, united the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel, settled the Ark of the Covenant that contained two stone tablets of ten commandments, and established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
During his kingship, David had conducted great military campaigns, using his army to beat back the locals, fight off the terribly strong Philistines, and to establish a secure, independent kingdom for his people. David, who succeeded at all those things, was praised, hailed as a great and conquering king by his people. And this great memory of King David is what drove the expectations of the people, who believed that another like King David had finally come!
In today’s passage, when Jesus enters Jerusalem, he’s entering into a crowd of people who have heard of the wonderful deeds he has done in Galilee and beyond; the healing of the blind and the lame, the feeding of the 5000, even the raising of the dead. The rumors about Jesus have been spreading for a long while. The expectations of the people have been climbing higher and higher. They were holding out great hope that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, might be the one they would have waited all along. The Messiah; the Savior.
They were expecting that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, could well be the successor to great King David . They thought that this man, Jesus, like David, might be that leader who brings everyone together as one united nation, free from the restrictions and control of the oppressive Roman government. In the number of miracles Jesus performed, they saw power and authority of God living in him which could be turned to conquest against the Roman soldiers and government, and to set the people free at last again.
These were the sort of expectations people had for Jesus while waving palms and putting their cloak on the road; this is why the people were cheering wildly as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, the child of a donkey.
How did his followers respond to him entering Jerusalem as king? Well, the response at the time was overwhelmingly positive; they fanatically welcomed him.
They welcomed him as they would welcome a great warrior king; like they would welcome King David himself. And in that time and place, laying cloaks and palm branches on the ground before a person was a gesture used to welcome a warrior king such as this; someone who could lead the nation to success and conquest.
People were ecstatic; they were shouting! They were shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Mark 11:9) This is a quote from Psalm 118:26. People were shouting this line intentionally knowing that historically this line was used when a king conquers and wins the battle with a military might.
“Hosanna”(Mark 11:9), they cried out; a word which means “Save now!”
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (Mark 11:9-10)
You can imagine these people thinking to themselves, “Finally, a king has come who can rebuild our great kingdom! He can make our kingdom great again, just as our ancestor David did!”
This is what the people expected; they wanted Jesus, their desired king, to step in and save them now, in exactly the way they wanted from their past memories. Right now with force; immediately. They’ve seen and heard that Jesus has the power to work miracles with the wave of his hand, with just a touch of his garment even. So they knew Jesus could do it. They wanted to see the miracle done to save them, and they wanted to see it now!
Well is that what happened?
Let’s hear what happens.
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Mark 11:15-19 Then they (Jesus and disciples) came to Jerusalem. And he(Jesus) entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
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This is Jesus' response to the people crying out Hosanna, “save now. ” Instead of going to confront the Roman authorities, to boldly proclaim the judgement of the Lord against the oppressors, Jesus turns his attention directly to the temple itself where he teaches and preaches; to the house where the people had gathered together to worship God.
And with the same boldness and strength by which he drove out demons earlier in his ministry, he begins here to drive out the people who were doing their regular day-to-day work in the courtyard of the temple. He channeled the force of his displeasure into the very people who had gathered to worship God, that is. his own people!
This is total cognitive dissonance! It’s a complete disconnect between what the people expect and want for Jesus and what Jesus actually does. This long-expected and awaited king, the descendent of King David himself, starts from a place of anger not at the oppressors and enemies, but at his own people!
In Mark 11:16, we see Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Kicked them right over!
Why was he so upset? What made Jesus do all these things?
Well...he’s got good reason. Back then, people who came to the temple were expected to give animal sacrifices in order to be forgiven their sins; usually doves, or other similar items. And, because this was the time of passover, the great celebration of the Exodus from Egypt, people from all the neighboring regions had gathered together to worship at the temple in Jerusalem.
Some of them needed to exchange money, so they would have the right local currency to buy the necessary sacrifices sold at the temple. And, because of how busy it was, these sacrifices were being sold at a raised price. What’s more, the sacrifices were also being taxed on top of that as well, to make sure that both the Temple and the Roman King Herod could get a cut too.
When this all added up, the cost of a single sacrifice could go well beyond the reasonable fee, exceeding easily an entire day or two days’wage and more. And all of this was happening in an area called “the court of the Gentiles;” a place exclusively for non-Jewish believers. This meant that the place of worship specifically for the many from outside who came to God, had become a means of profit for those few on the inside.
This upset Jesus. Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers. “
The very place that was set aside for all people of all nations, had been turned into a marketplace. Moreover, the business in that marketplace was being done in such a way that the temple could profit at the expense of those who had come to worship.
People lifted their praise to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, hoping and expecting that he would deliver them then and there by the sheer force of God’s divine might and military power. Instead, Jesus directed that might inward, coming to cleanse his own people and their religious practices.
Jesus brought to the light cognitive dissonance of his people. Jesus brought to the light the cognitive dissonance of their faith. They pretend their house of worship is for all people, but their practices did not reflect that.
Despite the fact that the temple ought to have been a house of prayer for all nations, the people behaved in such a way where it couldn’t be called that at all.
Instead, it had become a place where only the temple leadership, and those who worked for the temple building, benefited. It didn’t seek to help those who came seeking closeness to and connection with God; rather, it took something, stole something important from them instead, a purified, sacred place of worship.
Often in his ministry, Jesus made a point of calling out these moments of cognitive dissonance in our lives; the inconsistencies between God’s ideal, God’s will, and our own wants, beliefs, or actions. Jesus called for the poor to be cared for and the rich to sell all they have; he called for those in power to lay it down, and for the voiceless to be given voice instead; he called for the first to be last and the last to be first.
In psychological terms we call this cognitive dissonance; the inconsistency between idea and reality. But in our community of faith we can call this by a different name, when we see an inconsistency between what God says and what we actually do:
Sin.
The word Sin in Greek means that something is not...on target. That there is a disconnect between the reality of our actions and God’s call on us; God’s will. When our actions are not responding to what God asks of us, we commit sin. And because those of us who believe in Christ do not remain forever in the darkness, those sins are confronted, revealed and exposed through God’s light that searches our hearts.
One of my own, big, cut-to-the-heart moments of realization came when I was confronted with my own sin as I struggled to forgive someone who had hurt me. I had all the “good” reasons not to like this person, because they had deeply hurt me. I was bitter, and always found reasons to blame them for things, feeling justified because I was the victim of their behavior. I reached out to God, asking for help, calling out Hosannah, asking God to “save me now” many times.
But the answer I got wasn’t a sudden and dramatic change, but the continual reminder that I needed to repent for myself, and apologize to this person for holding onto my bitter attitude.
Over the last few years, as I have come to realize the role Christianity plays in the world, in particular the role it plays in America, I began to realize that not speaking up, not taking action, can actually contribute to the growth of sin in the world. Allowing racist, sexist, and discriminatory remarks to go unchallenged is just as bad as the disciples standing idly by, refusing to take a side as Jesus stormed into the temple and started overturning tables.
Our God is a God of Justice, and when sin remains God does not remain silent. God brings all things to light.
The second Scripture we read today shows us that there are two ways we can respond when sin is exposed. We can be like the priests and scribes and temple leadership, getting offended not at the injustice, but at the person who exposed things, and grow bitter in our hatred of them. (Mark 11:18)
Or we can be like the disciples; bystanders who do nothing at all about the sins before them. Sure, they’re not active participants, but by letting it go unchallenged, they’re still part of the situation, contributing to the sin with their silence.
When your sin, our sins are exposed, how do we respond? Do we respond like the gaslighting priests, blaming others for exposing our sins, or like the silent disciples, quietly waiting for someone to do justice without them? Or is there another way we can respond instead?
Yes, there is another way, and thankfully we can also see this other way at work described rather in details in the Scripture. Today’s story doesn’t end at the place where we stopped reading. The sin of being an unjust and discriminatory house of worship was taken up to the cross, and new life came as a result.
Do you know what happened?
A transformation was brought about that was only possible through Jesus’ blood and the power of his resurrection.
The disciples, living into repentance for what their temple lives had been, set out to make life and ministry anew. If you want to really see how this played out, I would suggest reading through the book of Acts.
The disciples broke down the walls that divided men from women, jews from gentiles; the “haves” from the “have nots.” They came together as one people, breaking bread and praying regardless of their backgrounds. They sold their possessions and shared everything among themselves, according to the needs of the people. (Acts 2:44-47)
This was the birth of the Christian church, and this new way of being tog ether brought new converts to the church, and it began to grow (Acts 2:47). And this was only possible because they took Jesus' confrontation with the temple to heart.
They examined their hearts.
To be a Christian means to be open to the unexpected ways in which God shows up in our lives and speaks to us. We shout giving praises saying, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” only for Jesus to show up in a time and place that we don’t expect, ready to confront the sinful beliefs and practices that are not on target of God’s kingdom that we have been a part of.
Sometimes, God flips the tables on the things we have done. Other times, God kicks over the tables of the unrighteous things that we have been a part of, but have taken no action to stop or speak against.
Looking at these things in ourselves is certainly not fun. It isn’t glamorous, or uplifting, and it’s certainly not something to which we want to testify out loud.
But look at the disciples of Jesus. The growth of their new community, that first community which we now know was the beginning of the Christian church, came as a response to Jesus challenging them on the way their house of worship had been run before. Jesus might not have been kicking over the tables at them, but they saw what Jesus did, listened, understood it, and took it to heart. They might never have said the right words of repentance for what they had been a part of before this day, but their actions after that day spoke louder than any words could.
And this radical change in the way they did church, the change that came about after the Holy Spirit descended; They went from a temple of divided walls and limited access to a house of prayer for all nations, very literally. God’s cleansing the temple led them to examine their hearts, and assess their actions or lack thereof.
They took what Jesus did to heart, and they changed direction. Changing directions...that is what repentance literally means in Greek.
And the disciples were able to do that, to change direction, because Jesus had gone before them and shown what it means to do that.
We enter Holy Week, going into this time where we examine what things within us are responsible for placing our sinless Lord and Savor up on that cross. I pray that we might have the courage to look inward, to examine the ways in which we practice, believe, and dream into being growth for our community. May we have the courage and the strength to change direction when God calls us out for the inconsistencies, for the dissonance, between our practices and God’s perfect will. Have mercy on us O Lord as we are sinners this day and forevermore who needs your cleansing.
Amen.
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