Palm/Passion Sunday Sword in One Hand, Wallet in the Other Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! Jesus wants you to know in today’s Gospel there is nothing you need to try and hide from Him—not even your idols. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says a very strange thing to those who love Him: “Now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” Then Jesus explains why He would say such a strange thing to you: “I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’” Dear Christian friends, Before Jesus said, “Take up a moneybag and a knapsack,” He first reminded His disciples of an earlier time, when He had previously talked to them about moneybags and knapsacks. Jesus reminded His disciples of that earlier time by asking them in today’s Gospel, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” With these Words, Jesus was speaking about that time when He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And He said to them [back in those days], “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics” (Luke 9:1-3). Why did Jesus instruct His disciples to “take nothing for their journey” during this earlier time? Because the disciples could trust God, completely and fully for all things. Not only could the disciples trust God for every good thing, but in those earlier days of preaching and teaching, the disciples also show others that it is possible to trust God completely. Simply stated, the disciples in those days were each a portrait of faith. By looking at them, you could see what it means to be Christian. They carried no moneybags because they trusted God, rather than money, for their daily bread. They shouldered no knapsacks because they needed no preparation for the future—the future, as well as the present, can be fully entrusted to Jesus. No swords were tied at their waists or tucked into their cloaks. Who needs the self-defense of a sword when “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”? (Psalm 46:1) In today’s Gospel, those days of empty knapsacks and swordless hands are over! He said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about Me has its fulfillment.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ closest disciples are all done depicting faith and trust in Jesus. The disciples must now take on a new role; they must now depict the sort of people for whom the Christ has come and for whom the Christ must die! “For I tell you,” says Jesus, “this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’” Essentially, Jesus is saying, “BE the transgressors among whom I must be numbered!” • Before, the command was to take no moneybag, so that you may live by daily trust in Jesus. “Now let the one who has no moneybag take it.” That is to say, clutch in your hand the very thing that tempts you NOT to trust every day in Jesus. Show Me your wallet, because when you show Me your wallet, you are showing Me idol. • Jesus also once said, “Carry no knapsack, no sandals” (Luke 10:4) and “do not have two tunics” (Luke 9:3), that is, an extra change of clothes. Now Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Take up a knapsack.” Show Me your fears and your insecurities about your own future. Show Me that you want to rely upon your own savings and your own planning, rather than relying exclusively upon Me. When I see your knapsack, I see your god. • “And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” With these Words, Jesus is saying to you, “I know that you feel an inner, primal need to defend yourself. I know that it is hard—no, it is impossible—for you to look upon defenseless Me as the only one who can truly defend you against all danger and guard and protect you from all evil. Buy a sword, and in so buying one, display to Me your doubt in Me! When I see the sword at your side, I will see the one in whom you truly trust!” Then, with mercy that knows no limit, with love that has no boundary line, with grace that cannot end, Jesus explains to you why He would say in today’s Gospel, “Now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” Why does Jesus say this? Because “that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me,” says the Lord: “‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’” What does Jesus mean by these Words? Jesus means that He came to earth for sinful people! Jesus means that He WANTS to be surrounded by sinful people! Jesus means that He counts Himself—He is numbered with—those who transgress and break and cannot keep God’s Law. Wallets betray idolatry; knapsacks and swords betray idolatry and Jesus does not want any of us to pretend that we have no idols. Jesus wants us to be open and honest about our transgressions—as open as a wallet clutched in one hand and as honest as a sword in the other. “Now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” These Words sound surprising, but should we really be surprised? Jesus has already made it clear that He likes to keep company with transgressors and sinners and other miserable people. • That is why “the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus” (Luke 15:1); • That is why “all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and He laid His hands on every one of them” (Luke 4:40); • That is why, when the Pharisees complained about the company Jesus keeps, He said to them, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31) And Jesus in today’s Gospel wants His disciples—and He also wants you and me—to be sinners! Wallet, knapsack, and sword: these are all images of what we constantly seek as replacements for Jesus. And Jesus says today, “Now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” In other words, be a transgressor! Be a transgressor, because “this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me,” says the Lord: “‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’” “He was numbered with the transgressors.” There is no place that Jesus would rather be, than with you; no one whose company He prefers to yours. Jesus wants you to know in today’s Gospel there is nothing you need to try and hide from Him—not even your idols. Show Jesus what is in your hands, and He will show you what is in His hands. Thus it is written in the Psalm, “They have pierced My hands” (Psalm 22:16). And again, in the prophet, He was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He bore the sin of many, And makes intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12) _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
