Where Do We Stand on This Palm Sunday?

Dear Family,

As we celebrate Palm Sunday I would like us to consider where we stand concerning Jesus. In today’s readings taken from Mark 14:1-15:47. It starts off with the religious leaders trying to figure out how they can arrest Jesus without starting a riot. They can’t find any legitimate way to take him so they resort to treachery to obtain what they want.
 
Meanwhile in Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper Jesus is reclining at  the table with him. Having a meal with a leper let alone enter the home of one would have been unheard of in Jesus day. It would have rendered him unclean and susceptible to catching the disease himself. Usually lepers were forced to stay in colonies with others like them outside of inhabited places. This was because Leprosy was highly contagious with no known cure. Once you got it was a death sentence which would eat at you until you died generally speaking. Yet Jesus chooses to recline at Simon’s home.
 
Does Jesus heal Simon? He could have as he healed many lepers throughout his ministry. However, we are not told that here. We are told he was a leper who was hospitable to Jesus and opened his home to him. Thus, a rich woman is able to bring a box of very costly ointment with which she causes scandal by anointing the feet of Jesus with it. The people insist it could have been sold for a lot of money which could then be given to the poor. A couple of things we need to see here, By entering the home of a leper the woman makes herself unclean and thus any gift she offers unclean. However, Jesus is there. Leprosy is seen in the Bible as a type of sin. Jesus thus is showing he is not affected by our sins. Instead, he came to forgive and cleanse us from them. This he does by his death and resurrection so now if we confess our sins, he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)
 
Going back to the woman she offers her gift without any regard to what others may think of her. They may be scandalized however she just wants to show her love for Jesus in this special way. This Jesus recognizes and accepts. He tells the others she has done a good thing anointing his body for burial. No reproof from him at all. He points that there are always poor people around that can be helped anytime. However, he is just one person who is about to die and return to the Father.
 
How do we approach Jesus? Is he someone who lived long ago, died and was buried and that’s the end of it? Maybe he rose from the dead but lost interest in us and no longer involves himself in human affairs. Maybe he is a good teacher, a good moral example for us to follow and imitate. Then again maybe he is God worthy of our most outlandish worship and devotion. Maybe we need to bring our most expensive thing we have and give it to Jesus. For most of us the most precious thing we possess is ourselves which needs to be brought to him and poured out at his feet in utter love and devotion to him. Nothing held back, no name for us just devotion to Jesus. He will see and reward accordingly. Not everyone will be pleased with this decision. After the woman does this Judas Iscariot is offended and goes to the Jewish religious leaders offering to hand Jesus over to them.
 
Going back to Mark we see its the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the disciples are worried about where they are going to have it. Jesus gives them instructions which when they follow everything works out and a meal is prepared for them all to share. All is well until Jesus makes a startling announcement that one of them will betray him. They all begin to question who this might be and if they might be the one Jesus was referring to.  He tells them the one who dips his hand with him in the dish is his betrayer and leaves it there.
 
Jesus then precedes on with the meal. All is well until Jesus predicts all of his disciples will deny him that night. All deny they would ever do such a thing including Peter. When Jesus tells Peter he will deny him three times Peter says it will never happen. They then go to Gethsemane. It was intended for everyone to be in prayer and prepare for what was coming. Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him to pray with him. Jesus goes to prayer while everyone else sleeps. Jesus is amazed that they could watch and pray with him. When the soldiers arrive to arrest Jesus 9 immediately disappear and go into hiding. John goes to the high priest’s home (whom he is a relative of) opens the gate to let Peter into the courtyard and then disappears. (John 18:16) He will reappear at the crucifixion of Jesus. Meanwhile Peter is being accused of being a follower of Jesus which out of fear he denies three times just as Jesus had foretold. When he realizes it he breaks down and goes and weeps.
 
Meanwhile a special trial is going on before the Sanhedrin. (Highest court in the land and arbitrator of all disputes concerning Jewish law and practices). It was being held in secret at a holy time (Passover) when they were supposed to be celebrating, not deciding court cases. Not only that they were only supposed to hear and listen to people who were truthful not liars.  However so determined are they to get Jesus on something they bring in false witnesses to testify against him. That doesn’t work because the witnesses can’t agree on anything. So they finally turn to Jesus, whether he is the Christ, the anointed who was to come. He admits he is. That should have been good news to them as they were allegedly looking for a Messiah to come. However the opposite is the case and the admission fills the religious leaders with consternation and despair.
 
In their eyes Jesus is a threat. He is attracting more followers than they are. This they fear will lead the Romans to come destroy the temple and the nation. This they can’t allow to happen so they have to eliminate the main threat they believe could lead to that. Thus this admission is seen as blasphemy deserving of death. How to do it becomes the problem. They go before Pilate the governor of Judea. He tries to reason with them pointing out he has done nothing wrong. However, the Jewish leaders stir up the people to demand the crucifixion of Jesus and for a thief named Barrabas to be released to them. They then threaten to riot if they don’t get what they want so Pilate gives in, orders Jesus condemned, and Barrabas released.
 
He is released to the guards who mock him by putting a purple robe on him, a crown of thorns on his head and then pretending to pay homage to him by bowing to him. However, they spit on him, strike him, demand he prophesy to them and then deliver him for scourging and crucifixion. Ultimately, he will be stripped naked, nailed to a cross and left to die. He then is laid in a tomb. In the eyes of the religious leader’s mission accomplished. Jesus is eliminated and the Jewish temple and nation are saved.
 
Temporarily everything seems going according to plan. Then Jesus rises from the dead and his followers launch a movement from which the world is still affected by today. Forty years later in 70 AD the Jews revolt, Jerusalem is captured, and the temple destroyed, never to be rebuilt again – all of which Jesus saw and prophesied would happen. Now Jesus is the new temple residing in the hearts of all believers.
 
The church is the visible manifestation of that fact. We are called to witness to all the world taking  our message to them so they to can come to believe, becoming a part of our community, the church. As this happens the reign of Christ manifesting in his church at present will extend out to all the world until all will come to embrace and live in peace with one another. This will be fully realized at the second coming of Jesus. That does not, however, keep us from what we can do now to bring it to pass. We may have not always lived up to our true mission of presenting the true Christ to the world. We may at Christmas talk of the Prince of Peace, Jesus and his desire for peace in our world. However, we then go forth to war and other things Jesus would never approve of. It’s time we did an about-face, returning to the original message of Jesus, promoting peace and love for all. Jesus got started with 12 and I believe there are many more than that currently living who are committed to peace, the elimination of war, and anything which disrupts peace. Peter and the other apostles all denied the Lord, then repented and went to launch a movement that would change the world. It still has the potential to change our world today. Not necessarily with churches, incense, prayers, priests (though we need them) but with people committed to the true message of peace proclaimed first by Jesus. Take that message to the world, all evil will be overcome, and a new heaven and earth will come forth. To that day let us work to its fulfillment. You with me?