John 12 12-24 2005
Palm Sunday
John 12: 12-24
March 20, 2005
That's Our God For You!
after J. BRAATEN
Palm Sunday is an event in Christ's life that many people, particularly young people, enjoy. It is action packed, filled with lots of celebration. It centers on a grand parade with all the excitement and frenzied emotion of a political convention. The "Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem," includes people lining the streets craning their necks to see, waving palms, and lots of shouting. For many people who like lots of activity, Palm Sunday is their kind of festival. It provides plenty of action.
Actions are important because through them we learn about people. We say, "Actions speak louder than words," because we are not always what we appear to be. We reveal ourselves, little by little through how we act and react; by what we do. That is also how we get to know God. We can ask all kinds of questions about God, but how can we get the answers? How will we ever get to know what God is like? We can now God through His Words and through His actions, by seeing what He has done.
When God became human in Jesus of Nazareth we hear His Words and we see His actions. We know who God is, loving, just and merciful through the actions of our Savior Jesus. This is how we come to know each other and this is how we come to know God.
The story is told of a little boy, Billy. He visited his grandmother in California one summer and almost wore her out with his vigorous activity. She was accustomed to living a peaceful, orderly life. He was perpetual motion, into everything. One night when they were both sound asleep, there was an earthquake. The grandmother was awakened by the house shaking and in her concern called out, "Billy, Billy!" To which came the response, "I didn't do it, grandma!" He said this because He was like a little earthquake to a grandma who liked her quiet lifestyle.
It is by our actions that we reveal ourselves day by day and so are known by one another. It is by our interactions with others that we paint, stroke by stroke, the portrait of who we are.
In the events preceding and following the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem, the actions of Jesus speak volumes. Knowing that suffering and death lay ahead of him if he went to Jerusalem, he resolutely charted his course to be there during the Passover celebration.
Jesus could have played it safe. If he valued his life he should have entered Jerusalem by night and slipped in on the back streets until he reached secure shelter. But our Lord entered the city in a way that deliberately set himself on the stage and intentionally riveted every eye upon himself. He purposely challenged the religious and political power-brokers of the day by riding into town like a king, as the one in charge. That is the impression he wanted to give us and that was, in fact, the truth. From that time on, no matter how things may have looked to the casual observer, Jesus was and still is in control.
In other words, the Jesus that the gospels portray is not a poor, well-meaning, but unfortunate teacher who got caught up in a series of ill-fated events. The drama of Holy Week is neither random nor accidental. In each circumstance we see that our Lord is in control. He is in control of himself and he's in control of what happens.
Let's look at it. In the garden that fateful Friday night when Judas kissed him, Jesus asked, "Friend, for what purpose have you come?" Jesus knew Judas was there for a reason; the betrayal comes as no surprise. In fact he had spoken about it at supper. It is clear that the betrayed was superior to the betrayer.
As the scene continued, as Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was the captive who seemed to be most free. He did not condone violent action; he would not be party to it. He didn't ask for 100 legions of angels to come and deliver him from the situation because he came to that hour for that purpose. Nor did he allow the disciples to take up arms and fight for him. When Peter grabbed his sword and began to do battle, Jesus rebuked him saying, "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." Once order was restored, Jesus quietly, and without protest, went with the soldiers back into town. Jesus revealed by what he did that he was in command all the way.
This, too, is significant. At one point in the story the leaders of the Jews are gathered together in unanimous agreement that they must not put Jesus to death during the Passover festival because they feared the reaction of the people. At that very time, Jesus was telling his disciples that he would die during the celebration of the Passover - and of course he did. Jesus was in charge.
Our Lord's majestic silence before both Pilate and Herod suggests that he was the one in command. That was his moment, his time. The sufferings at the hands of the soldiers represented the purpose for which he had come. He had chosen the plan for the salvation of the world and it would be carried out even though Pilate tried in many ways to release him.
So Jesus didn't come into Jerusalem looking much like a king. He didn't act much like we think a king should act - and he doesn't even today because he still comes to us, not as one who takes, but as one who gives, not as one who is served but as one who serves. Jesus gives himself up in love to his subjects. This is not at all the way kings normally act.
Now we can be fooled by all of this, underestimating who Christ really is. So we tend to devotionalize him, make him the object of thimble-thin piety. Jesus can become a "king of hearts," a source of emotional highs, rather than a source of strength for deliberate cross-bearing. So we say some strange things like "we take Jesus along with us wherever we go," as though God tagged along behind us only at our request, forgetting that he promised that he is with us always - always. That he is never far from us.
The amazing thing is that he lets us get away with all that! He even gives us the unbelievable freedom to say, "No! "to him and to his lordship. That's because he loves us so much he will not twist our arms until we agree to obey him, nor will he force us into his loving, forgiving arms.
However, there is a bold fact intended for all, both great and small, this humble Jesus Christ is King; he is in charge. That's the way it is. And that's the way it will always be.
Often, as in the Palm Sunday events, he doesn't look much like a monarch, but don't let appearances fool you. Christ is Lord of all and he will reign for ever and ever. He is King of kings and of him, the Bible says, "God has highly exalted him and has given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Philippians 2:9-11)." We are to make no mistake about that!
On Marco Polo's celebrated trip to the Orient, he was taken before the great and fearsome ruler, Genghis Khan. Now what was Marco Polo supposed to do before this mighty pagan conqueror? One false move could cost him his life. He decided to tell the story of Jesus as it is recorded in the gospels. It is said that when Marco Polo related the events of Holy Week, and described Jesus' betrayal, his trial, his scourging and crucifixion, Genghis Khan became more and more agitated, more engrossed in the story, and more tense. When Marco Polo pronounced the words, "Then Jesus bowed his head and yielded up his spirit," Genghis Khan could no longer contain himself. He interrupted, bellowing, "What did the Christian's God do then? Did he send thousands of angels from heaven to smite and destroy those who killed his Son?"
What did the Christian's God do then? He watched his beloved Son die, that's what the Christian's God did then. That was the way Jesus chose to ascend the throne of his kingdom and to establish his Lordship for all time. Not at all the way we would expect God to demonstrate his might and power, but that's the way it was and that is how we know what our God is like.
In practical terms, that means that this suffering King, who rules in love, comes to lay his claim on your life. Your entire life is subject to his Lordship, not just a portion of it. Dr. Alvin N. Rogness explained it this way, "This means that we have to do more than shout a few hosannas or sing a few songs in praise of him. It must mean more than setting aside an hour a week to honor him, or parting with a generous offering to advance his cause. It means all that to be sure, but much, much more. To have Christ be our King means that we rely on him for everything, most of all the forgiveness of sins. It means being ushered into the Father's great family. It means living day by day in the Father's house and doing things the way the Father wants them done."
That's good news for you and me because living in harmony with God keeps us in touch with the day by day unfolding of our Lord's love. There is so much bad news in the world that we can be overwhelmed until we begin to wonder if God really is in charge. Only in continually experiencing God's divine love do we grow rich in our understanding of what God is like.
The story is told of an American soldier who had drawn remote duty and had written home to his wife, telling her of his seven new friends with whom he had developed a close friendship. "I am so grateful," he said, "because in this isolated and barren land a person could easily be driven to despair." When his next birthday rolled around, there was a large package in the mail from the States. When he opened it, he discovered not one gift, but eight gifts - one for him, and one for each of his seven friends. The soldier looked at the eight presents and, with tears rolling down his cheeks, exclaimed, "That's my wife for you! Yes sir, that's my wife!"
The wife was revealed by her actions. That was the kind of thing she would do. That was her nature. That's what she was like. Today, as we pause at the doorway of Holy Week, we look at the cross and we recall the whole story of pain, suffering, darkness and death. And as we gaze upon our King, arms spread wide in forgiving love, we proclaim, "That's our God for you! Yes, that's what our God is like! Amen."