Palms and Passion

Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey. He came to the cheers of a crowd ready for a coronation. They waved palms and cried out "Hosanna. Hosanna. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." Hosanna. Somebody told me we need more hosannas.
Saying Hosanna and waving Palms is a powerful way to reinforce our faith in Jesus and even to connect with the hope and joy of the crowds who greeted him in Jerusalem. The Jewish people hoped for a great leader a savior Roman oppression who'd make everything right. Jesus, prophet and healer, fit the bill. 60 years ago most churches gathered the week before Easter to remember Palm Sunday and the hope.

Today we sing hosanna and we remembered the hope. But 60 years ago retelling Jesus' Cross was set aside for Good Friday. That was the day to remember and pray about the cross. Over the past 6 decades something has changed and the cross has moved right to the very center of our Palm Sunday. We still remember the procession and the adulation of the crowd; but we also come face to face with the cross.

Some people will rightly ask, “Why?” After all there's something wonderful about praising Jesus and remembering the Hosannas as he came into Jerusalem. Why would we want to hear about the passion on this day too? Why not wait until Friday? Freedom, true freedom, comes for us through the cross of Jesus Christ. St Bernard of Clairvaux said,

if we would have Christ for a frequent guest, to fill our hearts with faithful meditations on the mercy He showed in dying for us, and on His mighty power in rising again from the dead. To this David testified when he sang, ‘God spake once, and twice I have also heard the same; that power belongeth unto God; and that Thou, Lord, art merciful (Ps. 62.11f).

The cross is where everything starts over. Its the place where before we can start over we have to see ourselves—our pride and our sins put to death—with Jesus. Bernard wrote on,

And surely there is proof enough and to spare in that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and ascended into heaven that He might protect us from on high, and sent the Holy Spirit for our comfort. Hereafter He will come again for the consummation of our bliss. In His Death He displayed His mercy, in His Resurrection His power; both combine to manifest His glory.

We look at the cross today not just to be dower and down hearted. We look closely at the cross so that the joy of Easter might start to grow in us. We look at the cross knowing how the story ends and how God ripped that ending apart. It's real for all of us. And so too is the hope we have in Jesus.

Luther wrote of the Passion

We say without hesitation that he who contemplates God’s sufferings for a day, an hour, yes, only a quarter of an hour, does better than to fast a whole year, pray a psalm daily, yes, better than to hear a hundred masses. This meditation changes man’s being and, almost like baptism, gives him a new birth. Here the passion of Christ performs its natural and noble work, strangling the old Adam and banishing all joy, delight, and confidence which man could derive from other creatures, even as Christ was forsaken by all, even by God.Martin Luther, vol. 42, Luther's Works, Vol. 42 : Devotional Writings I, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1969)page 11

We look on not to drop into despair but to reach up to hope.

Lifted up for the world John 3:14-21

Jesus lifted up--to save

Jessu lifted up--on the cross--abandoned and abused, naked and derided.

Jesus lifted up--by the whole church--saving all who come to faith in Him.

Jesus lifted up--by sinners--both then and now.  2000 years ago sinners lifted Jesus up.  Today we sinners lift him up. His death on our hands and our new life in His hands.

When God Overturns John 2:13-22

Jesus stepped into the temple and he didn't like what he saw (John 2:13-14). Rather than walking away he introduced himself.  He wove together cords into a whip to clear things up. He poured out the money changer's coins and tossed over their tables. He drove animals and animal sellers out of the temple court.(John 2:15).

Why? New life starts and Jesus turns things over: the temple, sin, death, and the work of the evil one: Jesus came to turn it all over.  Like a gardener with a spade or a roto-tiller Jesus turns everything. Overturning is key to a new beginning.  Jesus came not to leave us in sin but to turn us away from sin lifting us up out of ourselves. John 2:17 remembers Psalm 69:9 as a prophesy about a heart zealous for the temple.

Does this image of Jesus, strong and independent, shock you? Jesus was so passionate he drove people from the temple. He wanted worship on different terms: Jesus wants change in us and it begins with Him.  People in the temple wanted a miracle as evidence He had a right to speak and act boldly.  Jesus answered them crypticly, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days.” (John 2:18-19 NCV) Later on Jesus followers understood what he meant. He was talking about his own destruction and resurrection (John 2:20-22).

Jesus' strength:
We sinners think the world is about us.  Jesus teaches something different.  He wants things to change starting with worship.  More than ritual action He wants hearts.  Put away idols, lesser gods like money, power, toys, sex, and come worship with your whole being.

Many mistakenly view Jesus as weak, unable to make change happen: there are at least two views of Jesus as weak.

• some believe Jesus is weak and zealously rush to help Him.  In confusion they presume Jesus can't act as Son of God without their help. Fyodor Dostoyevsky explored the logical end of such confusion in a novella called The Grand Inquisitor.  It's worth a read.
• sinners who've grown comfortable assume Jesus is weak and blind loving and accepting all in apathy.  But meeting the real Jesus, who turns things over, challenges us to leave our sins behind.  The difference here is between a God who loves you too much to leave you in sin and a lesser god who tolerates you. A God who loves you will lead you to change.

Jesus, John 2 reveals, is bold, zealous, and full of compassion: this is Jesus true character. Jesus gave both love and forgiveness at a great cost accepting sinners.  He welcomes us not to continue in the way of destruction but in order for us to begin new lives. 

May God help us hold Jesus up high that the world may see both his passion to turn things over and his compassion for all. Pax, John

Get behind me Satan Mark 8:31-38

Jesus predicted his death more than once in Mark.  Look at Mark 8:31, Mark 9:31, Mark 10:45 and in Mark 12:1-12 His prediction's tucked into a parable. 

The news of Jesus' looming death shocked Peter.  Christians 2000 years later are accustomed to Jesus cross.  Knowing that Jesus death leads to his resurrection.  We see this prediction differently than Peter did the first time he heard it.  Jesus' prediction sounded aweful to Peter.  He tried to stop his rabbi from saying such unsettling words.  Mark says Peter επιτιμαν αυτω warned him. And Jesus warned Peter instead ύπαγε οπίσω μου, σατανα go behind/following me Satan. 

Just who does Peter think he is anyway? 
Telling the Rabbi what to teach was a bold move, a move that presumed equality with the teacher.  Peter didn't want Jesus to die.  At first it's hard to blame Peter.  Why would you want your friend to suffer.  Truth is we don't want Jesus to die on the cross; we need him to die, to set us free from sin.  Who among Jesus followers then or now wants to see Jesus crucified?  But be honest who among Jesus followers needs a savior.  Jesus had a mission to die and to rise and we, like Peter, are to follow our Lord always, even to the cross, and through it into our death and into new life in Jesus. 

Who does Jesus think Peter is?
Peter believed he was a devoted follower.  He believed Jesus was the Christ--but he didn't then understand what being Messiah meant.  Jesus was talking about the cross as part of God's plan for Him.  Jesus was boldly inviting Peter and others to take up their own crosses Mark 8:38.  He was inviting the crowd and us to true live Mark 8:39.  This is God's plan for our old lives to end for us too.  To Jesus--Peter was one of many who he would save through his cross and resurrection.  He was one of many living stones out of which Christ's body, the church, would be built.
Pax, John

a lonely place Mark 1:9-15

Mark tells the story of Jesus baptism noting a heavenly voices approval,  "You are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:9-10. 

Jesus' story takes an instant twist--from baptism to temptation.

Καὶ ευθὺς τὸ πνευμα αυτὸν εκβάλλει εις τὴν έρημον

And immedieatly the spirit tossed him out into the deserted/lonely place:

  The word ἔρημον/έρημος deserted/lonely sticks out in Mark's account of Jesus temptation. Many use words like desert and wilderness to describe this place. Reading Mark this year the loneliness comes clear.  The Spirit drove Jesus into a lonely place and the temptations and the tempter came for him.  Lonely places don't just exist in the wild or the desert; desolation exists as much in our minds and hearts as in any place.  Even in great cities and in the midst of "good" families there are lonely places of isolation and temptation. 

  It's in the lonely places where who we are, who the tempter is, and who God is can come clear.  Mark say nothing particuar about how Satan tempted Jesus; he says it happened.  Any adult human has temptations they've faced when alone; and Jesus, fully human, faced temptations too.  Each of us is unique and the Devil knows it and that's exactly why he chooses temptations for each of us one by one.  Satan seeks to destroy us all, but he doesn't always work to destroy us en masse, rather he picks at us one by one searching for us when we are isolated using temptations as a wedge to force us away from God and our neighbors.

  In lonely places we find both faith and doubt.  It's in moments alone when who we are before God, our sin and strengths can come clear.  A lonely moment is the moment to turn towards temptation or towards God to help you.  Faith is confidence in God's presence when we are tempted into sin and when we have no evidence, besides hope, that God is real (see Hebrews 11:1).  Faith turns us towards God's presence even when see desolation and loneliness.  Even as we face the Devil and doubt alone faith is God's gift to remind us that we are not alone; that God is with us.
May God Sustain us with faith and hope and love even in the lonely places of our lives
Pax, John

Ash Wednesday

Lent's a season that many churches set aside to reflect and remember what Jesus did for us on the cross.  And in our culture Ash Wednesday has found a place of special significance.  So what's the big deal with the Ashes? Just a little smudge on your hand or head is enough to mark you and to stick with you.  The ashes are a reminder of what we are,

“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Pay attention to these words about being dust.  Ash Wednesday is much about “What are you?” as it is about “Who are you?”

Maybe you don't talk about yourself or others as dust. But chemically speaking that's what we are—ask a chemist what humans are made out of he might tell you, chemically speaking, you're made mostly of water held in a frame work of complex chains made up mostly of of carbon and calcium. But the same could be said about a watermelon. When either a human or a melon are completely dried up they are basically indistinguishable from dust. 

So what makes you different from a melon?
–biologists can point to the differences between humans and fruit by talking about the way cells in our bodies work. All cells are made up of many of the same basic compounds. But cells are not random piles of stuff, no each cell is intricately made up of these elements working together to stay alive in its own unique form.
–a geneticist could tell you how cells fit together into a body not as a jiggling jello like mass but as a small part of a complex organism. We look at the discoveries of scientists and see the grand design God has for life.

At the most basic chemical level, we are little more than dust and water. The ashes today are a reminder of of what we are and faith gives us hope for who we'll be after death. Either through decomposition or cremation, we turn back to dust.  But through faith in God we see new life is coming for all who believe. 

Our culture is fascinated by death and images of death. Books, movies and TV shows can engross us or just plain gross us out. Death is viewed as creepy, scary, shocking and sickening; but for people who believe in Jesus death is not the end of everything. Rather for believers death is the beginning. This is where faith comes in: for Christians death is the way to life everlasting.

Pax, John