April 1, 2012 Palm/Passion Sunday

Mark 11:1-11

  ¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” ⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,“Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” ¹⁰ “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”   ¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The Passion Story - Mark 14:1-15:47

“Not What Was Expected”

Jesus was not what was expected by the people of Israel who had waited so long for their promised Messiah so they crucified Him within the same week they hailed him as King.

They were looking at Him as their great political Messiah; he was coming as a King whose kingdom was not of this world.

In His kingdom peace (“would that you know the things which make for peace”)  comes not by being the most powerful but by loving enough to suffer for others.  (Phil 2:8)

It is to serve rather then be served and to give one’s life as a ransom for many.

The disciples (nor the crowd) didn’t understand that the Messiah must die.  The thought is both repulsive and enraging for them; this is not what they expected: a king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey!

God , the incomprehensible God, did things not necessary or expected of God.  He took exception to our way of doing things and sent his Son to be a servant,

”to humble himself and become obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  (Phil 2:8)

On April 25, 1958 a young Korean exchange student was killed by hoods in Philadelphia.  The city cried out for vengeance; the parents wrote from Korea:

“Our family has met together and we have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed this criminal action...In order to give evidence of our sincere hope contained in this petition, we have decided to save money to start a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational and social guidance of the boys when they are released...We have dared to express our hope with a spirit received from the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins.”

It is often in the unexpected expression of love and concern that God comes to us, or works through us, even as God did through Jesus.

This is our God, the unexpected one, who comes to us, as Albert Schweitzer wrote,

 “...as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside He came to those who knew Him not.  He speaks to us the same word; ‘Follow me!’  and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time.  He commands and to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toil, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.”

The struggle to grasp that Jesus must die to show the power of God's redeeming love for all of us, even for Jesus,  is expressed by Nikos Kazantzakis in "The Last Temptation Of Christ"  (pp. 386,387)

"Jesus lifted his eyes into the light.  He had turned pale.  He squeezed Judas's arm and clung to him.  "There they are!" he whispered, terrified.  "They've filled the air!"

"Read!" said Judas, who was also trembling.

Panting, Jesus began hoarsely to spell out the words.  The letters were like living beasts: he hunted them and they resisted.   Continually wiping away his sweat, he read: "He has borne our faults; he was wounded for our transgressions;l our iniquities bruised him.  He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.  Despised and rejected by all, he went forward without resisting, like a lomb that is led to the slaughter."

Jesus spoke no more.  He had turned deathly pale.

'" don't understand!",  said Judas, standing still and shifting the pebbles with his big toe, "Who is the lamb being led to slaughter?  Who is going to die?"

"Judas," Jesus slowly answered,  "Judas, brother, I am the one who is going to die."

"You?" said Judas, recoiling.  "Then aren't you the Messiah?"

"I am."

"I don't understand!" Judas repeated, and he lacerated his toe on the stones. 

"Don't shout, Judas.  This is the way.  For the world to be saved, I, of my own will, must die.  At first I didn't understand it myself.  God sent me signs in vain: sometimes visions in the air, sometimes dreams in my sleep, or the goat's carcass in the desert with all the sins of the people around its neck.  And since the day I quit my mother's house. a shadow has followed behind me like a dog or at times has run in front to show me the road.  What road?  The Cross!"