into Jerusalem

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Today's passage portrays Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem, which we celebrate on Palm Sunday. John connects the recent sign (or miracle) of raising Lazarus from the dead with the crowds welcoming Jesus as their king. It seems Jesus is self-consciously fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy about the promised king by riding a colt into the city. As expected, the religious leaders, who have been worried about Jesus for some time now, are not happy with this open display of support for him as Israel's Messiah.

As usual, the disciples don't totally understand what's going on, but they will after Christ's death and resurrection. How can we get ready to welcome Jesus as our king?

God bless,
Sam

John 12:12-19

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” ¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ¹⁵“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. ¹⁷So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. ¹⁸It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

welcome the king

Good morning friends,
We've been walking with Jesus towards Jerusalem for some time; today we finally get there. Jesus sends disciples into a nearby village to get a donkey for this procession. The crowd of people following Jesus welcome him not just as a teacher or prophet. They cry out praises to God and sing to welcome a king into Jerusalem. Not surprisingly, this makes the religious leaders uncomfortable. For one thing, they are scared of the Romans. The Romans have become pretty attached to ruling Judea, so they won't like the idea of a Jewish man claiming to be king without their blessing. On another level the Pharisees are uncomfortable because they expected a holy king from God, the Messiah to restore Israel's independence and faithfulness. They weren't expecting someone like Jesus to fill that role.

Jesus responds to their concern that if the disciples didn't welcome him with all this fanfare, the rocks would. In other words, Jesus is affirming that he is the anointed king. His redemption is so significant that even creation praises God for it, not just people. Jesus accepts this calling and is ready for the conflict and rejection that comes with it. May we hear our calling today.

God bless,
Sam

p.s. Please make sure to vote today.



Luke 19:28-40

28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.”


35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”