What happened to cause joyous shouts of ‘Hosanna’, to become angry shouts of "Crucify Him?"

Palm Sunday, a day many a Jew thought would go down in infamy. A day the crowds believed would bring an end to Roman rule and suppression. A day when the Messiah had come to Jerusalem, to establish the kingdom of God on earth. What happened to those expectations, those dreams, those hopes? How did the peoples’ love for Jesus, turn to hate in a matter of four days?

The attitude of the crowd is not the only attitude that waffled.

What happened to Peter? He, who would swear loyalty to Jesus, a loyalty he said he would die for. Yet, in less than 12 hours, he would deny Jesus, not once but three times.

Such fickled attitudes can be found in today’s world as well.

What causes a President of a country to declare allegiance to his people and then declare war on some of those same people?

What provokes police officers who took an oath to uphold the law, shoot 41 bullets at an innocent man in the doorway of his home?

What is the reason behind a husband stating his love for his wife, and then erupting in violent acts against her?

Holy Week, it begins on such a high, and then rapidly spirals downward. When we listen to the stories about the Pharisees and scribes and their hatred toward Jesus, we wonder why.

Yet truthfully we are not very different from the Pharisees? They felt pretty righteous, they hadn’t murdered anyone. Yet they were angry enough at Jesus to plot his murder. You and I may have never picked up a gun or knife and killed someone, but the chances are good that we have spoken a word or two in anger and have killed a persons reputation, or destroyed a relationship. As far as Jesus is concerned, murder, anger, they are one in the same.

"You have heard that it was said to those of ancient time, ‘You shall not murder’;
and
‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’
But I (Jesus) say to you that if you are angry
with your brother or sister,
you will be liable to judgment"

How can murder and anger be seen in the same light? Surely killing is more terrible than being angry. It may seem that way but in truth, they both violate God’s command to love.

Does that mean it is wrong to become angry. Absolutely not. Anger is a normal human emotion. Jesus displayed anger when he entered the temple and saw that it had become a house of trade instead of a house of prayer. Scripture tells us, that he overturned tables, made a whip and chased the money changers from the temple.

The anger Jesus exhibited was a righteous anger. As Christians we are expected to exhibit anger at injustice, prejudice, inhuman working conditions, blatant immorality. However, remember scripture tell us,

"don’t allow your anger to cause you to sin."

Make sure your anger expresses the righteousness of God, not your own selfish will.

There is a difference.

A person is outraged by abortion. He or she believes is it morally and ethically wrong to kill unborn children. So they participate in peaceful demonstration.

More than a thousand people have been arrested in the past few weeks because of their demonstrations against NYCPD and NYC’s handling of the Diallo murder. Both are examples of peaceful demonstrations. Both are examples of righteous anger.

But when those demonstration lead to the bombing of a clinic, the shooting of a doctor, a riot on the street corner. Anger is no longer righteousness. When anger leaps out of control and leads to violence, emotional hurt, mental stress and spritual damage, it becomes sinful.

This is the kind of anger which Jesus is talking about. The kind of anger the Pharisees instigated during holy week. A seething, a bitterness, a brooding type of anger. The kind of anger that has the potential to escalate into murder.

"Whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.
But I say to you that if you are angry
with a brother or sister,
you will be liable to judgment."

Chances are you have heard about the fire last Monday, that not only destroyed the East Brunswick Rescue Squad building, but also destroyed 3 of their 5 vehicles, records, material and etc. It is believed that the blaze, started out as a small fire in the rear of one of the bays. Fed by exploding oxygen tanks and other accelerants the fire soon engulfed the entire building bring devastatting destruction.

Anger is like fire, when handled incorrectly in can turn into a raging fire of insults, hurts, slander, violence. Fueled by exploding tempers and emotions that anger can lead to murder.

Such was the case during Holy Week. It was the anger of the Pharisees, that fueled the crowd, to cause them to shout,

"Crucify Him, Crucify Him,"

when only 4 days earlier they were shouting,

"Hosanna, Hosanna,
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

And yet, Jesus loved them. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he knew that those Hosannas would soon be Crucify Him. Yet He did not lash out in anger at the crowd. Instead he loved them.

What Jesus desires is that you and I would do the same. He just doesn’t want self control. Like, biting one’s tongue so that you don’t say something you will be sorry for. It’s a good place to start, however Jesus wants more than that. Jesus wants us to control our attitudes as well as our tongues. An angry spirit keeps you from developing a spirit pleasing to God.

This is why Jesus said,

"So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and sister, and then come and offer your gift."

Broken relationships with each other hinder your relationship to God. They hinder that relationship because they reflect an hypocrisy. We cannot claim to love God, while hating others. Our attitude toward others reflect our relationship with God.

Anger and love are like to sides of the same coin. It becomes your choice, not a toss of the coin, which side your life will demonstrate. Palm Sunday reflects both anger and love. We find the anger of the Pharisees and scribes who are able to change a joyeous crowd into a murderous crowd by weeks end. We find the love of God in Jesus who know He was entering the city to die. Yet he entered anyway, because His love for you and me were so great He was willing to die for us.

May the Plam branch which you receive today, be a reminder as well as a challenge, to respond to life’s situations with the love of God, with righteous anger, not with selfish anger.

Amen

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