It must have been quite a scene as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. First, he is not riding a warrior’s horse, he is riding on the colt of a donkey. His head is bobbing as the colt takes its awkward steps. And all around is a motley crowd. Former prostitutes, shouting children, people who had been lepers who were now cleansed, people who were once blind who now could see, people who at one time had running sores and untouchable diseases, tax collectors, foreigners — all touched by Jesus. The Bible says, "The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen" (Luke 19:37). The Pharisees were all about determining who was and who was not approved by God. They worked harder at keeping people away from God than they did bringing them to God. They had set up temple worship so that you could hardly be a part of it. Many could not afford to worship and offer an animal to sacrifice on the altar under this system. Since people from up north in Galilee could not bring an animal all the way over the rugged terrain to Jerusalem, they had to buy an animal there. They also had to buy wood for the sacrifice and oil. Their standard Greek and Roman currency had to be converted into temple currency before anyone could buy anything, and often there was extortion involved in the exchange. At the same time, a temple tax was also charged. The whole thing had become a terrible distortion of what temple worship was supposed to be. As Jesus came into the temple area, he threw them all out. He overthrew the tables and chased the money changers out.

All of this is very interesting, because it is the opposite of what we might expect. We would expect Jesus to be on the side of the religious system and its leaders, and you would expect that they would likewise be on the side of Jesus. But, actually, it is quite to the contrary. Jesus seems to be repulsed by the religious, and strangely attracted to the sinners and unacceptable people of society. He drinks and eats with tax collectors so that he is called a drunk and glutton. Women with bad reputations caress his feet, washing them with their tears and drying them with their hair. They anoint his head with expensive perfume. He touches people with leprosy and terrible diseases, things that most people would not get within a hundred yards of. And Jesus has accumulated a strange mix of people in his disciples. There are zealots who want to fight the Romans with terrorism, and whatever other tactics and force are required. On the other hand you have tax collectors who have collaborated with the Romans. And because of this, and issues like who was the greatest, there seems to be constant conflict among the disciples. How patient our Lord must have been — how open his heart.

There are so many things we could talk about today, but the first point I would like to make is: Jesus’ arms are open as an act of invitation. Jesus is riding into Jerusalem inviting, not forcing, them to receive him as King — only not the kind of king they wanted. His arms are open wide. The invitation is for them to lay down their political ideas of what the kingdom of God means, and take up his teaching of what the kingdom actually means. This is not an invitation to take over Rome so that Israel can be free, this is an invitation into new life in the kingdom of God here and now, while Rome is in control politically. This is not just an invitation to be healed, delivered or forgiven, it is an invitation to kingdom living that transforms the world. But would they understand this? Would there be as much enthusiasm for the kingdom of God as there would be for a political kingdom of this world and the national interests of Israel?

Jesus’ invitation was for everyone to come and recognize the King of this new kingdom. I don’t want to call it merely a spiritual kingdom, because it was very much of this world. It was not about floating spirits sitting on clouds, it was about real people standing on real earth living out the principles of this new way of life. This was an invitation to the religious and non-religious. It was for saint and sinner alike. It was not just a life of sin that Jesus was asking people to leave, although that was certainly a part of it, it was an invitation to leave their directionless and self-absorbed lives of confusion and ambiguity. It was more than an invitation to be saved from personal sin, it was an invitation to leave a life of futility and stupidity and enter into the God-life he was offering. It was an invitation to leave a life of dysfunction and have a life that worked, because it was a life lived God’s way.

For the rich — like that young ruler Jesus met — it was to abandon the hollow story of acquisition, and instead to enter God’s better story of generosity. For farmers and shepherds, it was to realize that there’s more to life than just planting seeds of wheat or tending flocks of sheep; instead, Jesus invited them to enter into the bigger story of planing seeds of truth and seeking lost men and women, every one of whom is loved and counted and missed by God. For fishermen like Peter and Andrew and James and John, it was to trade in the story of catching fish for a bigger story of fishing for men and women, inviting them into God’s story of ongoing creation and redemption. For the middle class, who want nothing more than to create a little social aquarium for their family. . . . it’s a call to care about the families of their neighbors too, especially the poor, to see them as family too, as children of Adam and children of God."

He invites nominal church people to leave a life where God only occupies one hour a week, with a passing prayer here and there, to enter fully into his life and teaching, on a moment by moment basis. Instead of inviting God to be a part of your life, accept his invitation to fully be a part of his — to move beyond thinking we need God’s help to realizing how much we need God himself. He invites us to move beyond a list of rules and right doctrine to a life of ongoing relationship with himself. He invites you to understand that he did not die just to bring you to heaven, but to bring heaven to earth through you.

And that leads to the second point, which is: Jesus gives an open invitation to a life of fruitfulness. Jesus’ openness to us is not an invitation without cost. It is not just an invitation into God’s love, although it certainly is that, it is an invitation into God’s kingdom where there is work to be done. Being a kingdom person means accepting kingdom responsibilities. What strikes me about the context of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is that it is sandwiched between two great parables. Luke tells us that as he was heading toward Jerusalem, he told the parable of the ten minas. We are told that the reason for telling the parable was, "because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once" (Luke 19:11). Minas were a currency that was about the equivalent of three months wages. The parable begins with the words: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return" (Luke 19:12). Jesus is talking about himself. He was telling them that he was going away for a period of time, but it would result in him being appointed King of all the earth and return to it. But before he left, he would give money to his servants which they were to put to work until he returned. He gave each servant a mina. One servant multiplied it to ten minas, the next multiplied it to five, but the last one hid his mina in a piece of cloth and hid it. The master was angry and took the man’s mina and gave it to one who had ten. The parable ends with the words, "I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away" (Luke 19:26). Jesus expects us to be fruitful. His invitation is an invitation to have our lives count.

The other parable is told by Jesus after his triumphal ride and entrance into Jerusalem, as he enters the temple area and the religious leaders question him about his authority. He tells about a man who owns a vineyard. He owns the property and plants the vineyard. He then entrusts the vineyard to those who are supposed to work the vineyard, and then goes away for a long time. The tenants are able to keep part of the crop for themselves in return for their work, and he, as the owner, is to receive part of the crop as his fair share. The owner does not want it all. He gives them time for the vines to grow and mature, and then at harvest time he sends a servant to collect his share of the crop. But they beat and mistreat the servant. He sent another and another, but they too were beaten and treated shamefully. Finally, the owner of the vineyard says, "What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him." Jesus said, "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him" (Luke 20:13-15). The tenants did not want to give the owner of the vineyard his share. They wanted to keep it all for themselves, so they killed the owner’s son. They wanted to pretend there was no owner.

Obviously, Jesus is referring to God as the owner of the vineyard. It is God’s world. The human race, as tenants of God’s world, have been given much, and only part is asked to be returned to the owner. The owner of the vineyard is willing to share the profit with them. They are allowed to keep much of the crop, but they do not want a part of it, they want it all. They beat the owner’s servants who are sent to them. These servants represent the prophets who were persecuted for their message. The owner has been amazingly patient with them after their mistreatment of his servants. Again, the Bible says, "Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him’" (Luke 20:13). The verse shows that both the owner and his son understand that there is a possibility that the son will be rejected, but still the father is willing to send the son, and the son is willing to go. But the tenants are even willing to kill the heir, which is Christ, in order that they can have the world to themselves and pretend God does not exist. They think it will destroy any proof of ownership and no one will be able to claim it or take it from them. In this parable the tenants are productive, but they keep all the benefits of their productiveness for themselves.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, he was the Son coming to collect what was due the owner of the vineyard. His heart was open to all, but there were expectations as well — the expectation that the servants would be fruitful and that the owner would receive what was his. But they proved faithless and decided that they wanted it all. They beat and killed the prophets, and now, in order to have it all, they would kill the Son of the owner. The invitation was extended, but the invitation was rejected.

The most tragic words in the Bible are, "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him" (John 1:10-11). The good news is, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). God’s heart is open to you.