Mystery Becomes Reality

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Mystery Becomes Reality

There is something about Palm Sunday that is very real and a mystery. Every year since childhood, I’ve dressed and attended church on Palm Sunday. As we entered the sanctuary, the worship hosts offered a palm branch. It’s a mystery for some of us of what to do with a palm branch.

We’ve heardthe scripture reading reminding of asa parade traveling through Jerusalem. I’ve imagined that event yearafter year, imagining the size of the crowd and watchingJesus ride a donkey. We’ve read the scripture and heard the details leading up to the event. Depending on the gospel reading, there was a foalof a donkey following its mother. One scholar suggested Jesus rested his feet on the donkey’s foal but knowing horses, that would be unusual and a mystery.

When we have parades in Wentzville, the city sends out a notice weeks in advance. Forms are completed andthe city makes appropriate plans. Some groups want to be in the lead and hardly anyone wants to be in front of the fire trucks. If there are horses, you don’t want to follow them and if the Shriners in their little go carts are racing about, it’s noisy but fun to watch. I love parades and the excitement that follows.

Today is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a "borrowed" donkey. The crowd of well-wishers would later shout and harangue him as he made his way to the cross – but today, they and we are waving palm branches, cheering him on.
There's a mystery behind this event. If we can navigate through the details as one of Jesus' followers, our modern ears will hear thewordsthat seem to be real as we imagine the eventsof mysteriousmen and women cheering one day and accusing their leader the next.

It’samysterythat a person like Jesus,perceived as a common man would enter Jerusalem like a king ridingon a donkey.A prophesyfrom Zechariah 9:9-10 reminds us:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

If you were a first-century Jew, this makes sense. God's people had been waiting for the Messiah. They had been waiting for someone, sent from God, who would rule and change the world. Jesus entered Jerusalem and this was his way of saying, "I'm the guy, your Messiah."
The people responded by laying their coats on the ground andwavingpalm branches while praising God. They were saying, "We agree."
One mystery for us on Palm Sunday is the idea of a messiah or a king.

We struggle with the idea of living under the rule of a king. Americans forged the conceptofopposingkings -- it's our DNA. Life under an all-powerful ruler like a king is not our way.We know what a king is but as followers of Christ, we are uncomfortable using that word.

Palm Sundayreminds usthat God through Jesusdesires to be ourking. A king has absolute sovereignty, having total power over us. That is a mystery to us. It’s not an idea we naturally embrace as our reality.

The kingdom of God is not like our democracy. There are no elections, only Jesus.A big part of discipleshipis learning how to submit our lives to the rule of Jesuswho offered himself as a sovereign king 2,000 years ago. Today, Jesus offers to be our king, the leader we all hope will set the world right.How do we make this mystery our reality?

We firstlearn to submit to the authority of Jesus. Jesus has authority over all of creation. We hear this in the instructions Jesus gave regarding a donkeyand its colt. Jesus sent two disciples with this word, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once" (vv. 2-3).
Jesus took this donkey belonging to someone else. He asserted his kingly authority. "If anyone has a problem with it, tell them the Lord wants it." In other words, he's not stealing because he's the king.
There are two ways we submit to Jesus. 1) As the church,we have faith in his Word which is our guidepost. As followers, there's nothing private or personal that's off limits to Jesus. He governs our bodies, our debit cards, our desires, what we look up on our cell phones, what we put in our fridges and how we work at the office. He is king. We look to himfor guidance. Remember praying, "…your willbe done on earth…?"
2) We submit to his authorityby showing respect for authority.

It is how we come to live in peace, recognizing an authority greater than ourselves. There are examples around us in everything we do – laws, rules, elected officials, even our parenting. This soundsmysterious to some, but when we rightly submit to the authority of others wehonorand submit to the authority of Jesus as our king. It becomes our reality.
There is always someone above us to whom we must give respect. That doesn't mean we cannot disagree or oppose them in lawful ways. There are times when we resist injustice and oppression. In our everyday experience, this maybe a reality or a mystery but it is what we have agreed to when we make Jesus Lord of our life.

When we honor Jesus, we respect others. Jesus himself was respectful even as he resisted religious and political authority right up to his death. On the cross, as he was dying, he prayedfor his enemies to be forgiven because,"…they know not what they do."
Jesus offers himself to us on this Palm Sunday as king. We can respond, first, by submitting to his authority (having faith in his Word, and respecting the authority of others that he has placed in our lives).

Many of us have been seeking God's authority during this season of Lent. We have been praying twice a day, asking for the Spirit of God to breakthrough into the life of this church. We believe God has more in mind for his church than what we understand – we are earnestly asking God to speak to us and to lead us into that vision.

Therefore, we must listen with our hearts to hear God's answer – what are some of the answers you have heard? Just like Jesus riding into Jerusalem to offer peace, he enters into our lives offering us his peace.

To believe that Jesus is king is to believe that he is unmatched in his ability to love you, protect you and saveyou from your enemies. That is why, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey. The people shouted "Hosanna" meaning, "Lord, save us." They believed his power could bring peace to their lives which they desperately wanted. Jesus' peace however was a different kind of peace than expected.
Jesus rode a colt -- a young donkey -- into Jerusalem rather than a horse because a king rode a horse in times of war, when he was king in battle. A king would ride a donkey when it was a time of peace. Jesus rode a donkey to demonstrate that life under his rule would not be dominated by war and strife, but, for those who have faith in him, a life in peace!

This Palm Sunday we remember Jesus who was fully God and fully human. He humbled himself and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey not to overtake the city but that through him the city, and the world, might be saved.It is the mystery of faith that we believe as our reality:

“Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again. Amen