Morning Message Texts: Psalm 31:9-16 and Philippians 2:5-11
9 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction,and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Morning Message:
From your Lenten devotional for today: “The great crowd … took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is .. the King of Israel.’” (John 12: 12-13)
I didn’t choose this scripture for today because I felt like I have focused on this story almost every Palm Sunday. I realize though, we can’t have a Palm Sunday service and not remember this celebration. Let’s try not to look at this from our point of view but instead let’s focus on what must have been going through the mind of Jesus. We like the celebrations of life, and I don’t want to deprive you of what has become our traditional Palm Sunday celebration. So, lift them up high, wave them with all of your might, and praise Jesus with your hosannas. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel! Let’s just praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let’s just lift our hearts to heaven and praise the Lord.
From your Lenten devotional: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Can you drink this cup: “Jesus drank the cup of his life. He experienced praise, adoration, admiration, and immense popularity. He also experienced rejection, ridicule, and mass hatred. At one moment people shouted “Hosanna”; a moment later they cried; “Crucify him.” Jesus took it all in, not as a hero adored and then vilified, but as the one who had come to fulfill a mission and who kept his focus on that mission.” A great crowd welcomed their hero into Jerusalem with a parade of palms and shouts of “Hosanna to the King of Israel.” But most of them were looking for an earthly king. They weren’t prepared for a suffering Savior and a cruel cross. Five days later, some of them vilified their fallen hero with shouts of “Crucify him!” We look at the events of Palm Sunday and the week leading up to Easter and we separate them into occasions. As I said earlier, I wonder what was going through the mind of our Savior. He knew what the entire week held in store for him. He knew that the celebration as he proceeded down the Mount of Olives was the beginning of the end; the calm before the storm; yet he pushed forward.
I think that being fully human as well as fully God Jesus must have felt the anguish in those moments. As we read the words of David in Psalm 31, I believe that they must be a very real reflection of how Jesus was feeling on the inside. He had to be feeling the anguish and sorrow of the coming affliction that he was about to experience: the contempt of the people who were about to express their hatred toward him; out of those same mouths that now spoke praises. He knew that these very disciples, his closest friends, would betray him and run away, and even reject him publicly. When I read this Psalm, I think of the spiritual agony of Jesus.
In Philippians we are told to have the same mindset as Jesus in our relationships with one another. This is what we are called to, but this kind of humility is difficult, and I would even say impossible apart from a very close relationship with God. It is important for us, as the body of Christ, to never forget the mission that we are called to. There will be times of praise; the Hosannas will never completely die out as we await the return of our Savior. But the calls for crucifixion grow louder every day. It’s no different 20 centuries later. There are crowds everywhere, it seems, who respond to Jesus with rejection, ridicule, and hatred. I am amazed to hear how people in the world can be so against someone who sacrificed everything for them. Sometimes the only conclusion that I can draw is that there is pure evil in this world, and that the devil is hard at work deceiving people. There are also those who are on the fence. They admire Jesus but are not ready to be his disciples. Thank God for the countless millions in this world whose hearts are filled to overflowing with hosannas to our Savior and King, and whose lives are dedicated to fulfilling his mission. If you meet people who despise Jesus, show them his love. And if you know some who are still on the fence, invite them to join the Palm Sunday parade. We, as followers of Jesus must never forget the price that Jesus paid for our souls, and we must remember the hosannas, the joy of celebrating Jesus as King. One day we will celebrate with Jesus and one another in heaven. Our praise will be the same. Hosanna in the highest heaven! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
Views: 29
