Topsy-Turvey Worship

“Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:8-11

You are probably familiar with this passage. Our calendars even mark Palm Sunday to commemorate it. We have songs that echo “Hosanna in the highest!” But to be honest, I’ve never thought that deeply about this passage. At first glance, it is this amazing worship scene. Many Bibles even give this passage the title of “The Triumphal Entry.” But what is really going on here?

I’ve been reading Journey to the Cross: A 40-Day Lenten Devotional by Paul David Tripp. On Day 35, he addressed this passage, and it got me thinking about topsy-turvey worship. In his reflection questions, Tripp asked the reader to imagine themselves in the crowd, so I closed my eyes and imagined.

Hundreds of people closing in around me, pushing and jostling to get to the front. I hate crowds, but this time it would’ve worth being pushed around to get a glimpse of Jesus, the prophet, the king. Our verses say that people were shouting. I’m sure it was noisy. I’ve been to several concerts. As the band sings a popular song and gets to the chorus, everyone is singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. The crowd is so loud, you can hardly hear the actual band. The crowd sways to the beat, waves their hands or nowadays waves their cell phone flashlights. I can imagine that in this scene minus the cell phones.

And then I imagine there would’ve been tangible excitement running through the crowd. The excitement is what made me stop and think. What was this crowd actually excited about? We have the benefit of looking back on this account knowing the full story, knowing who Jesus is and what He came to do, but what about the crowd that day? The word hosanna comes from a Hebrew word which means “save us” (Psalm 118:25). Yes, they were looking to be saved. Yes, they believed at that moment that Jesus was the one who would save them, but they weren’t looking to be saved from their sins. They were expecting to be saved from Rome.

I also thought about the disciples. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus for the third time foretold His death to His disciples (Matthew 20:17-19). We know from later Scripture that even with that clear declaration, the disciples still didn’t fully grasp Jesus’ mission. I can imagine on that day that they got caught up in excitement. The Person that the crowd was shouting for and laying down cloaks and palm branches for, a symbol for victory and triumph, was their Jesus. They were His inner circle. Maybe for the first time in their life, they felt like they were part of the “in” crowd. Although Scripture doesn’t tell us what the disciples were thinking, it’s difficult for me to imagine that in that loud, exciting, exhilarating moment they were thinking of Jesus’ entering Jerusalem to suffer and die for their sin. I think I would have been caught up in the crowd.

Jesus knew the truth. He didn’t get caught up in the moment of adulation and lose His focus. He knew that this triumphal entry as King was not to save the Jewish people from Rome. It was a triumphal entry because He was still faithfully being obedient to the mission He came in the flesh for: to save people from their sin, to be the once-for-all atonement. He knew the thoughts, feelings and motives of the crowd. He knew their praise was not for who He really was. Their praise was for a Jesus they wanted, a Jesus they had constructed, a Jesus that fit their plan not God’s. It was topsy-turvey worship.

How often are we like the crowd? We think we are serving or worshipping God, but it is a God or a plan of our own making that has little or nothing to do with the God of Scripture and the will for us He has laid out in Scripture. Maybe we are even like the disciples who knew (at least had been told) Jesus’ mission, but may have been side-tracked by what was popular and exciting in the moment. Remember that later in that same week, the crowds of Jerusalem were no longer shouting “Hosanna!” They were shouting “Crucify Him!” How quickly their topsy-turvey worship changed to rejection because Jesus wasn’t adhering to their plan.

The youth group at our church puts together an Easter sunrise service each year. As leaders, we work with the kids on the music, skit and testimonies that are part of it. This year especially I have been having my own topsy-turvey worship battle. I usually do the welcome at the beginning of the service, and as I have been thinking about it, I’ve been thinking of how proud I am of the kids. We have six seniors that we’ve been with for four years. We’ve seen God working in and growing them. We’re seeing growth in the other kids too. The kids are using the gifts God has given them in the music, skit and behind-the-scenes. These are all good, God things, but I realized it is too easy to shift the glory and worship of God in this service to glory of the kids. Yes, it is good to be thankful at how God is working, but how He works is for His glory not the glory of man.

There are many ways we can get caught in topsy-turvey worship: Caring more about numbers in the church than spiritual growth. Watering down the gospel so it isn’t offensive to anyone but no longer resembles truth. Teaching God solely as a God of love and forgetting about His holiness and justice or other attributes. Worshipping God only when He does things that we deem as good. When we serve, do we look for man’s approval instead of God’s? Forgetting that we still need a Savior for our continuing sanctification.

We can look pious on the outside. We can even be excited about the things of God, but is our mind, heart and will lined up with God’s mind, heart and will?

Revelation 7:9-12 speaks of a different scene with palm branches, but this is true worship of the Savior. There is no confusion over who God is. No more topsy-turvey worship. I long for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Reflection:

Where might you have topsy-turvey worship? Where are you fitting God into your own mold?

Are you like the disciples possibly were – enjoying a popular, exciting or more comfortable path and forgetting truth?

Do you daily see your need for Jesus as the Savior for your sin or are you looking for Him just to save you from your circumstance?