Resurrection Sunday - Happy Easter :-)

RESURRECTION SUNDAY  2020

My favourite service, for many years, was the Easter Vigil.  Usually this would take place on the Easter Saturday, but the traditional idea of a vigil, is that it keeps going until the sun comes up.  The symbolic idea is that we are going from darkness and death to glorious light and resurrection. 

The sacred readings for this service tie together two stories.  The story of the Israelites escape from Egypt with the passing over of the angel of death and the salvation of the nation through the parting of the sea, is the first story.  The 2^nd story is, of course the story of the empty tomb and the discovery that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Both these stories are from the past, but they have a relevance for the future for all of us.  The egg that has become symbolic of this time is a bit of a mystery to most, possibly an important one, which I will explain a little later……

 

If you have been following my reflections you would already know a fair bit of the story we title the Exodus.  You would already know that the many plagues that were supernaturally sent, didn’t convince Pharaoh to let the people go.  So the ultimate plague, the death of the first born, was enacted.  The Israelites then set out.  They were no small group.  There were about six hundred thousand men.  The women, children and livestock were not counted but this was a huge number of people.  I imagine that they were rather slow moving and difficult…..  no mobile phones for communication either, but it seems that they had effective means for keeping all together and all was good until they reached the sea and discovered that Pharaoh had again changed his mind and sent the solders after the slave nation. 

You can imagine the distress and why some cried out, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here?”  Moses must have had very broad shoulders to take all the criticism.   The people fluctuated between wanting to follow Moses and then not trusting him and then probably calling him all the derogatory names that our society also calls our leaders.  It is nothing new really – especially when people are hard pressed, stressed and frightened.  (Yep – our leaders really, really do need our prayers and people to support them).

In a tiny way, at this time of isolation due to the Carona virus, we might understand the plight of the people.   Back in Egypt things were no good – but here they were in a place where they could see no escape and no future.  Many who have lost jobs at this time can not see their future either and that is possibly the hardest part.  However, our Israelites felt that they were most likely facing death – sooner rather than later.

I remember someone telling me about Moses’ position as he stood there in that moment; Sea in front, Egyptian army behind – God… your move…..

Moses knew that God was directing him every step of the way, but just like the others, Moses too was frightened at times.  It was a reassurance that God’s presence, a cloud of fire had moved between the Israelites and the Egyptians, but it certainly was an anxious time.  God’s instruction was to move forward into the sea.  But wait – you know the saying, “if it’s flooded, forget it”?  Well, this was way beyond that.  However, as Moses held out his hands over the sea, God made a wind to create a path of dry land in the middle of the sea, creating a pathway to the other side. 

I can imagine that the noise of the wind, the wall of raging sea and the frightened people would have been intense.  The deliverance was dramatic and frightening, but it also was sure and one more important aspect – It was what God did.

As far as those Israelites being able to save themselves, they were as good as dead.  The frightening reality is that the arrows of the army following could have reached them and the sea could have drowned them and then they had to trust God completely that the sea would not come back on them at any second and drown them.   After all, this was a nation…. Not a few righteous people, but a whole nation of the good, the bad and the ugly in all kinds of ways.

 A common reason that people give for not coming to church…. I’m not a holy person – I’m not religious – I don’t understand this God stuff….etc….   I actually believe that while most say this, the deeper truth is that they don’t want to confront the truth.  The truth that God can save them, but their fear that he will reject them.  They have painful experiences of unanswered prayers and therefore, a sense that God, if he exists, has rejected them.

A whole nation was saved by God.  The good, the bad and the ugly.   Some were faithful.  Some had enough faith to hope in Moses and the faith of others.  Some simply knew the stories of God’s interactions with their ancestors.  Some just wanted to be free and didn’t think much about God at all, although grateful that the blood of the lamb had saved their family from loss so far.

I imagine that as the sea came together again, separating the Israelites from the Egyptians, there must have been a mighty roar of relief and celebration at being so definitely delivered.

God saved his people.  They were free now and he had delivered them and by this act, even those who knew themselves to be the bad or the ugly, knew that they were not rejected, not abandoned or forsaken by God – but chosen as part of this holy nation.  They were, at that point in time, a redeemed nation because God had chosen them, and was giving them a fresh start….but it didn’t end there. 

These people had been brought from death to life.

Jesus had been crucified, laid in a tomb, and now our Gospel reading tells us that he had risen.  The two Marys came to the tomb in sorrow, but then an Angel appeared to announce Jesus had risen and then the ladies saw Jesus! 

Jesus had been brought from death to life.

These two stories are tied together to help us understand that Jesus’ resurrection is connected to all his people – The good, the bad and the ugly.

All are offered his gift of life.

People often get stuck on whether these are literal things that happened…. Can we believe the stories?  In the short time I’m here talking to you I can honestly say that I believe these are true, factual events.  My belief is not unfounded blind faith….  I actually have reasons for my belief and I understand if you need to know more, but don’t simply disregard the story of faith because you have doubt.  This story is too important – It is the difference of staying between slavery and death, or life and life eternal.

This year I decided to celebrate a Seder Meal on Holy Thursday (similar to the Jewish Passover remembrance meal).  In this meal there is an egg.  The egg is a symbol of mourning, but also a symbol of hope.  Hope for the Jewish people was the promise that God gave to bring them to the Promised Land. 

As Christians we mourn that life does not always reflect the life of God.  We mourn that there is sickness and sin and at this time we grieve that we can’t even reach out with the usual hugs to comfort our friends.  We mourn that Christ suffered undeserved rejection, crucifixion and death, but we rejoice in his resurrection because, not only is this a great story that Jesus is the Messiah, proved to be true in all that he claimed about himself, but there is a promise of life for us too.  There is hope in the promises of God.

Our Romans letter tells us that we who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too might walk in newness of life. 

We are all, the good, the bad and the ugly, all offered this life of God and love. 

So, our Pascal Egg is to remind us that sad things have happened.  The history of the world is one of great sin and injustices in every generation, but through Christ’s sacrifice there is hope.  There is a vision for a better way and a life that is abundant and eternal.  An egg is literally about new life and the life that is offered us through the resurrection on that wonderful morning.  Will we accept this gift of life?

Good Friday Reflection......

GOOD FRIDAY 2020 adapted

Jesus said, “It is finished!” 

Today is a day most holy.  But as we acknowledge this day, from the isolation of our homes, it has become sadly very clear to me that this day is irrelevant to so many.

The church doors have shut, and I’m wondering if the church bells are all broken and if this is this the day the music died?  Obviously not.   Imagine all the people living for today…. Someone recorded a version of this song – imagine as an encouragement to the world in isolation, reeling from the Coronavirus pandemic.  Imagine no religion, is what the song says….  Do people really know what they want?  Nothing to live or die for… above us only sky.  I’m sorry – but to me that is not a song of comfort or encouragement.

Let me tell you about where there is encouragement and where there is relevance:  I’m feeling so alone this day.  I feel like no one understands or has the perspective that I do.  Jesus was not understood.  Jesus was betrayed by a close friend – by one he loved, and whose feet he still washed, all the while knowing of the betrayal.  Jesus went to his death abandoned by his followers and denied by his best and most vocally loyal friend.

But don’t think that this is the relevance to your life part…. This is only the very tip of the ice-berg and my attempt to enable us all to realize that any horrible feeling that we have felt, Jesus too experience this.

Jesus knew that he was preaching the truth and he knew that he had a message that would bring life and goodness.  He knew he was the Messiah, the son of God and in fact he was the way, the truth and the life.  But today we remember that this mad crazy world said “NO”.    This world turned against him, mostly out of jealousy –it was Jealousy from the religious leaders – and it seemed that the crowds didn’t want to hear the truth.

A famous line from Jesus trial before Pontius Pilate is where Pontius Pilate says, “What is truth?”.  It was a rhetorical question, never meaning to be answered, but we need it today.   What is truth?

The first truth we need to deal with is about the existence of Jesus.  Is he or was he real? 

Even non-Christian historians have written about this Jesus, who we know as the son of God, and they wrote that he performed wonders and that he was crucified.  Jesus did really and truly exist and is accepted by scholars as being an historical figure.  Because of him our system of counting the years came to be marked by the year of his birth…. Any sensible person must ask why the life and death of Jesus was so significant, and it would be highly improbable that all this could have come to be if Jesus was merely a myth.

Taking Jesus seriously then, what was his message and why is it considered Good News and why is this horrid day called Good Friday?

Just before Jesus died on the cross he cried out, “It is finished”.  But what did he mean by that?

It all began back in the book of Genesis at the beginning of time when sin entered the world and mankind were cast out from God’s presence. 

These days it isn’t considered “nice” or politically correct to talk about sin.  And people become quite defensive and uncomfortable if we suggest that they might sometimes sin, yet sin is simply anything that falls short of perfection, and in fact the Bible tells us that anything that is not of faith is sin…. Yet we all have times where we lack faith.  In Archery anything other than a bullseye is considered sin.  In fact, we can-not not sin…. It has become part of our DNA.

Unfortunately, sin separates us from God.  Now that is the bad news…. But it is a fact. 

God created us to be in relationship with him and he planned a way to bring us back into relationship with him.  The Bible tells us that justice must be served and there is a price for sin, and the price was death.  And this is not good news!

In the history of the Israelites, when they were a slave nation in Egypt, God sent many plagues on the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh of His reality and to convince Pharaoh to let the nation go free.

Finally, after Pharaoh continuing in his rebellion against God, God sent the ultimate plague of death but to save the people he command that a lamb be sacrificed and the blood painted on the door ways, while the Angel of death passed through the land of Egypt where the Israelites were living as slaves.  The Angel would pass over the houses with the blood of the lamb, and the firstborn of the family was saved by the blood of the lamb. 

All through history God showed his loved, and forged ways so that his people could be in relationship with him…. And yet they were not to take him for granted.  Make no mistake, God is holy, powerful and awesome.  His temple contained areas that were segregated such that one area was only for the high priest and even that was only under very strict guidelines involving animal sacrifice and with a rope attached in case the power of God overwhelmed them and they died, they could then be pulled out.  Sounds frightening… and though it was a way for the people to be relationship with God, still not the greatest of news.

However, our reading from Hebrews tells us that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever.  This is what he accomplished on Good Friday.  And he said, ……“It is finished.”

Another scripture written hundreds of years before Christ, from Isaiah chapter 53, tells us that Christ bore our sins.  His punishment made us whole

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

It also says… The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities….. he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”  This prophetically tells us about Jesus and what he was accomplishing for us.

This is beyond what we can comprehend, but Jesus actually was baptized into all our sin… past, present and future and paid the price for us all.  Although our physical DNA has a natural inclination to sin, when we are baptized into Christ, it is as though we receive the Spiritual DNA of Christ, who has already paid the price for sin and is perfect.

Hebrews tells us that with one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.   What this actually means is that we now have the privilege that was once only for select few who’d prepared themselves through sacrifice and rituals.  We can now enter the holy of holies… the place where God is.   In one very natural sense we are still being made holy, but in another, we are already perfect as we only come to God through the sacrifice of Jesus, and when clothed in Christ, we are acceptable to God.

C. S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, fictitious children’s stories, but full of Christian imagery.  In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a scene where the Lion lies dead on the stone table, then as the dawn breaks there is a loud crack as the stone table breaks in two and the lion is resurrected.  He explains that there is a deep magic in Narnia that requires a traitor’s life to be forfeited to the white witch.  But then he explains that there is an even deeper magic that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.

At the beginning of time God had a plan to save us in this way as the letter from 1 Peter 1:18-20 tells us, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

Finally it was accomplished.  So many of the things that happened in Jesus journey to crucifixion were written about in scripture hundreds of years before hand.  From the accounts in the Gospels we know that Jesus knew the sacrifice he willingly made, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.

Have you ever been accused of things you haven’t done?  It doesn’t feel good.  Do you remember a time when someone sat down with a needle to work a prickle out of your finger?  That wasn’t fun either.  Sometimes the knowledge of the pain to come makes it even harder to bear.  Jesus knew of the physical pain that was ahead and he was scared.  He knew that he was to be mocked for claiming to be God’s son, as if he was a fraud, but he knew that he was truly the son of God. 

All these things are horrible, but we can imagine what it may have felt like.  What we can’t imagine is what it was like to carry the sin of the world to the cross.  We know that Jesus was scared.  Yet willingly, Jesus continued to fulfil his destiny.  Why? Why would he bother?   Has he seen us, for whom he died?  John Newton was a ruthless and cruel slave trader.  When he came to understand the message of the Gospel he wrote;  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”  For all of us, even that person that you find completely ruthless and horrid, Jesus died.  Jesus paid the debt of sin for all.  And this sacrifice was done once and for all.  It is now finished.

Imagine being found guilty of a crime and then discovering that the jail term has already been served by someone else.  The judge bangs the gavel and says, “Dismissed… you are free…”

There are times when we think we are not acceptable to God.  There are times when we think we need to work at something to become acceptable to God.  Nothing but the truth is needed…. And that truth is that the debt has been paid. 

GOOD NEWS !  Finally!  We know the bad news about how we all sin and sin separates us from God, and now we know that the Good News and reason that this is Good Friday is because Jesus paid that debt for us and we are free.

I once heard an international Bible speaker say, “Christ didn’t come to die for your sins”.  And I thought he was speaking heresy.  Surely that is what Good Friday is truly about, Christ achieved his destiny by dying for the sins of the world…. But the speaker went on to explain something which I’ve come to see as vitally important…. Christ’s objective was to bring us LIFE.  However, to bring us life, our debt for sin needed to be paid.  God showers us with love and mercy and grace beyond our comprehension, and we can rejoice in the freedom and live an abundant life that starts now and goes into eternity.  But the Life that God brings us was not possible without the cross.

Good Friday is a MOST holy and important day, but we are NOT meant to stay here focusing on our sin.  As Jesus declared on the cross; “It is finished”.  Even sin in our future, is already paid for… nothing can separate us from the love of God…nothing….   Nothing, that is,  but our free will to live in denial, rebellion and ignorance of the truth…

Do we comprehend the grace of God?  Psalm 103:10 “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”  Have you ever felt that things weren’t working out for you and you figured that maybe it was God punishing you… ?    I do this all the time but it is wrong! God does not do this- the cross took that away.  Jesus took that punishment.  

The cross was vital, and the powers and principalities operating meant it to be death and destruction.   But that death was only part one of the story.  Our debts are all paid.  We are loved and we are free.  Resurrection is coming….

 If we do not accept the gift of freedom and actually live the life that Jesus came to bring us, then Jesus’ sacrifice was in vain.  Let us this day, determine to step into that way of abundant God given life.  Let us determine to also set free the captives who have not understood the grace of God…. Let go and forgive them, just as Christ has forgiven us… set them free and live free and rejoicing in the knowledge of the abundant love of God.   He loves you so much and says, YOU are WORTH DYING for!

The cup of life...... will you drink it?

MAUNDY THURSDAY   Year A  April 9, 2020

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14  • Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19  • 1 Corinthians 11:23-26  • John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Today begins the Easter Triduum.  Basically this is about the story of Easter in three parts – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the resurrection ( there are a few services for the resurrect with differences depending on time they are held, but essentially, my belief is that the story is best told as a vigil that ends with the rising of the Sun on the day of resurrection).   These three days are a solemn time of prayer… a time most, most holy.

It just so happens that today is also the 2^nd day of the Jewish feast of Passover and this is no coincidence.  It was the traditional feast of Passover which Jesus was celebrating with his followers on the night that he was betrayed.  Almost ironic really, that on the holy time when the Jewish people were celebrating their deliverance, Jesus was betrayed, taken into custody and sentenced to death.  But we should know that none of this was actually ironic or coincidental – it was all part of the plan and typical of the way that God re-enforces his message of salvation.

Our first reading tells us about the first Passover and how God commanded that the Israelites continue to commemorate it each year.  It was such an important part of their history that they were to mark this month as the first month of the year for them – the month of preeminent importance.  Passover was the incredible story of God’s deliverance.  Never, in the history of any nation, had there been anything like this.  Plagues came upon Egypt and then they stopped when Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelite slave nation go.  But as soon as the plagues had stopped then Pharaoh changed his mind and refused to allow the slave nation to go.  So God sent another plague… and the same thing happened.  This happened over and over until the final plague; the death of the first born.

 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

The Israelites were to eat a lamb, and place the blood on the door posts of their house.   They were then protected by the blood of the lamb.  When the angel of death came, the houses with the blood were passed over.   If we don’t understand or know this, much of the understanding of Jesus dying for us will be a complete mystery and make no sense.

Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God.  It is not a random title given to him, but was prophesied from the beginning of the Bible in Genesis where Abraham tells his son, Isaac, “God himself will provide the lamb”.   That story was told many generations before the Passover in Egypt and many, many generations before Jesus was born.  The prophet Isaiah also speaks of the promised messiah as being a suffering servant who is like a lamb to be slain.  John the Baptist, when Jesus appears before him, declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

As the Israelite people continued to celebrate their Passover, they remembered the story of how the blood of the lamb caused them to be saved and they remembered how they were a nation in slavery who were set free by the phenomenal and indisputable hand of God.  The reputation of these events caused fear in the hearts of the nations around them for many years beyond their freedom, the forty years in the desert, and when they entered their promised land.  The nations had heard of the miracles of God, and feared Israel whose God delivered them from the great nation of Egypt.

The celebration of Passover was a reminder of God’s deliverance and it was also a prophetic sign of God’s deliverance yet to come and this was a part of the remembrance…. Remembering that God was promising to send a Messiah who would deliver them.  That prophecy was being fulfilled on that night of the fateful last supper.

In the ceremony of the Passover, the leader has four cups.  One is the cup of sanctification.  The second is the cup of deliverance or salvation, the third is redemption and the fourth is the cup of thanksgiving and hope.  One Jewish site explains it this way; “1. "I will take you out…" 2. "I will save you…" 3. "I will redeem you…" 4. "I will take you as a nation…"” (https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/658520/jewish/What-is-the-significance-of-the-four-cups.htm  ).  Actually, every site I research explains the four cups a little differently, with different words but they are similar words to express the way that God saved, delivered & redeemed his people…. In our Psalm the psalmist proclaims that he will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  Drinking from the cup came to symbolize a commitment and a willing partaking in all that was associated with it.  It was an acknowledgement that the partakers claimed this story as their own experience.  When Jesus added his words, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”, he is most likely offering the third cup in the Jewish Passover feast, the cup of redemption.

My research has revealed that there was an ancient Hebrew tradition where if a man who wanted to marry a woman, he would propose by pouring himself a cup of wine.  He then offered her to drink from his cup.  If she did so, it signified her commitment and willingness to partake in his life.

The Passover cups, for the Jewish people, were not just about the past but also a commitment to be a willing party in the rest of the story that God had in store.  Most important was that last cup, because the last cup is about the coming of the Messiah.  It is likely that what we retell over one cup in our Christian services, was actually broken up and proclaimed bit by bit by Jesus and explained over the four cups in the actual last supper.

It is most important for us to understand that partaking in the cup is a sign of our commitment to partake in the life of Christ.

At the beginning of the Passover there was a ceremonial washing, and Jesus began to announce a new dimension to the ceremony right there at the start and we read this in our Gospel where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.

Jesus teaches his followers one most important aspect about leadership, which the Pharisees and religious leaders didn’t understand about the heart of God.  He teaches them that they, who are to lead, are to be the servants.  Leadership was to be sacrificial.  It was the way that Jesus led and he calls his followers to do the same.  Unfortunately, we still have trouble with this, as it goes completely against our human nature.

The ceremonial washing is symbolic of being purified from sin.  Usually it is about washing hands, yet instead of allowing each to wash their own hands, Jesus washes the feet of his followers.  It is a radical sign that once again strives to show that Jesus is the one who purifies us… and not just superficially, but sacrificially, in humility and completely.  Remember he tells Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 

In our Anglo Saxon society we have become very binary and logical in our way of understanding life and this pervades the way we understand our faith also, but Jesus spoke in parables and used actions that were prophetic and meaningful in a way that needs us to think in a different way and understand the emotion and images that convey meaning.  Jesus washed Peter’s feet and there were two meanings; one was that Jesus would be the one who purifies, the other was that, as leaders the disciples needed to understand that they were to lead sacrificially as servants to those they would lead.

And here is one more aspect that I believe is important; Judas was at that meal.  Judas was one of them and even though Jesus knew what Judas was doing, Jesus washed Judas feet.

I might let you pause for a second and ponder all the implications of that. 

Judas drank from the cup.  He made the commitment along with all the others.  He was purified by Jesus along with all the others.  There are many things we could guess about Judas…. But what we know is that Jesus included and loved and died for Judas even though he had full knowledge of what was about to take place.

That, my friends, is epic.

Where are we in this picture?  Do we see ourselves as Peter – confidently Jesus’ right hand person?  Have you ever considered that you could be Judas?  The one who thought a little gain wouldn’t hurt…. After all he’d seen Jesus slip away from the authorities miraculously before and this might finally force Jesus to reveal himself as the Messiah, finally showing himself to the world.   In other words, what I’m asking is, have you ever thought you were doing something that would be good in the long run even if it meant compromising in some area?  It is possible that, in Judas mind, this is all that he was doing?

Or maybe, you have actually betrayed a friend.  No doubt you regretted it after.  So did Judas.

Jesus washed Judas feet.  Jesus offered the cup of salvation to Judas. 

Deliverance, Salvation, Redemption and the promise of eternity….  These are offered to us all.  The question is; will you drink the cup?

Palm Sunday with the crowd proclaiming Hosanna 2020

LITURGY OF THE PALMS   Year A  April 5, 2020

• Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29  •   Matthew 21:1-11  

Just to recap on where we are at, in our journey of faith, last week we heard about the valley of dry bones and the death of Lazarus.  We heard how Jesus is the resurrection and the life and the question was posed as to how this affects us today, and who exactly Jesus is for us.  Today we continue that question, and add, what place does Jesus have in our lives?

This week our journey takes us to that victorious moment, where the praise for God was declared by young and old.  This created such a stir that it was said, that even if the crowd kept quiet, the stones would cry out in praise to God.

I am so very much reminded that this weekend I was supposed to be performing in the Passion Play.  I was so looking forward to it and so hopeful for being part of this new thing for our area.  Sadly, our joy has also been turn to sorrow, as it is cancelled due to the Corona Virus pandemic.

This week is Palm Sunday.  We celebrate that day of great praise to God.  This was the point in our Passion Play where the story began.  We were a great crowd, declaring praise to God.  We were to walk down the isles among the people and encourage them to join in our praise also….. Can you imagine it?  Praising God and infecting those around us to declare God’s praise as well.

 The ministry of Jesus had reached such acknowledgement that people were prompted to throw down their cloaks in front of his donkey as he enter Jerusalem to celebrate the festival.  It was a startling sight.  He did not have the demeanour of a mighty King or some narcissistic charismatic leader.  He did not ride in on a majestic horse, but in the same way he came into the world, carried on a donkey.  Many in the crowd were asking the question that we asked last week – “Who is this?” 

Just as the sunshine casts a shadow, this day of rejoicing had a deep dark shadow that knew it’s time was near.  Just because sorrow and hardship is to follow doesn’t’ mean there is no rejoicing in the moment of today.

In grief we find this mixture also, where people can be deeply sad and then happy in the next little while.  In fact, we humans cannot bear all the sorrow of grief, and to find happy moments in the midst of sorrow is the only way to cope with it all.  The happy moments give us relief, and to give praise to God gives us strength.

Last week I spoke about the Bible, not just being a guide for this life, but giving account of mankinds struggle to see the bigger vision of God.  Here we see that this God ordained praise was appropriate, even though the shadow of Jesus’ rejection and crucifixion was soon to follow.

Our Psalm reflects this same sunshine and shadow as it states; “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

It is then followed immediately by, “Save us, we beseech you, O LORD we beseech you, give us success!” 

“Hosanna to the Son of David”.  Hosanna is a term of praise, but do you know that it actually means “Save us”?  From https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-does-hosanna-mean.html  “The Hebrew word, “hoshi’a na,” is translated in Greek as “(h)osanna.” In English, we know it as “hosanna.” The original intent of the scripture is “Save!” It is viewed as a plea for help. It’s as if we were yelling “stop!” at someone about to throw a firecracker at us. We use this when we understand the potential impact of something about to happen, and as an act of surrender.

Our Psalm, with it’s statement of praise, followed by the plea for salvation, is actually a declaration of Hosanna….

Hosanna is the moment when you are in the car and it is spinning out of control.  You then let go of the steering wheel and say, “Lord I am in your hands.”  You realize that you can do nothing to save yourself and only God can save you.

Hosanna is the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and the complete surrender to his will with a plea that he will save.   This is a moment of truth.

Those marching along the path who were waving palm branches and singing praise to God were caught up in a moment of truth.  Yahweh, God is Almighty, and the crowd acknowledged it, being swept up in the moment and not fully aware of what they were doing.  They praised God and cried out for him to save them.

It was a prophetic moment.  We know that the crowd did not fully know what they were doing because in only a short space of time they turned against him, denied him and rejected him.

Hosanna was the cry that God inspired the people to cry…. It was prophetically ordained by God because God knew His response was about to take place.

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is the beginning of our Holy week as we journey with Jesus to the last supper.  We journey with him as he experiences the betrayal of Judas, the trial before the authorities, the denial by Peter and the crucifixion.  Regardless of all these very good reasons not to save us, God’s plan goes ahead.

   

Phillipians 2 tells us; “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross.”  This is a big ask. To have this same mind of Christ Jesus is a challenge.  Personally, I would have chosen the majestic horse, and required at least a majority of loyal followers.  Jesus knew that he would be completely loving and giving regardless of the actions of those around him.  In fact, Jesus’ actions and sacrifice were not dependent on our actions at all. 

Now, there is a lesson for all of us.  Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ, whose actions were not dependent on the behaviour of those around him.  Something I tell school children often is that, your choice to behave well when others are misbehaving and when the teacher is not looking, is how we develop a very important quality called integrity. 

At this point in our lives, we have the opportunity to develop our character.  We are facing a global crisis of health, a global crisis of unemployment, a global crisis of mental health, a global crisis in finance.  How will we develop our character in this time and how can we strive to have the same mind as Christ, who was deserving of worship and accolades, yet gave himself to respond to the cry of Hosanna?

Can our actions be giving and loving without depending on the response of those around us?

Honestly, although I can strive for this, I have no power in myself to do so.  It is for this reason we find in many of our Church initiation liturgies, where promises are made, the response is; “I will with God’s grace”. 

At the very beginning of any of any conversion, there needs to be this Hosanna.  There must be an acknowledgement that I cannot do what is needed to save myself and an acknowledgement that God can.   I need the salvation that Jesus brings and I surrender to the will of God – proclaiming Jesus as the Lord of my life.

Are we there yet? 

We can be like the crowds.  We can proclaim Hosanna, not really knowing what we are doing and then turn away only a little while later.  We can get swept up in the moment and with great elation get on board with all this God stuff, but when the entertainment is gone, so are we.  We can….  But what should we do?

Even if we proclaim Hosanna and then turn away, Jesus does not turn away from us.  His resolve to hear our hearts cry and to save us is his plan and our fickle heart is not going to stop him.

On Palm Sunday the challenge is for us to proclaim the Hosanna with full knowledge and conscious understanding.  God save us, we surrender to you on this day you have made.  You are the great I am, the saviour.  Save us and thank you for saving us.  Jesus take the wheel, I acknowledge that you able and I am not. I worship you and surrender to your will.  Hosanna.

So, for my final point, I circle back to the question at the beginning; Who is Jesus for you and what place does he have in your life?   On this Palm Sunday, I pray that we can consider all that Hosanna encompasses and consciously acknowledge a moment of truth and proclaim, Hosanna.