Palm Sunday, the day the church remembers the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is a joyous festival full of dynamic hymns and the powerful story of Christ's entry to the shouts of people while he rode on the back of a donkey in fulfillment of prophesy. We think of children waving the palm branches in procession as we remember and celebrate these events.But this year is different. 2020 is different. Most churches will not be able to gather together in person to wave the branches, and shout together "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" We won't be able to hear one another's voices singing those beautiful hymns of the day.
Perhaps this Palm Sunday is in some ways more like the first than any we have every known. The disciples were caught up in the excitement, but Jesus knew what this ride meant, where this ride would ultimate lead. That in less than a week he would be dying, his every breath an agony, as the life drained from his broken body as He carried the weight of the sin of the world. This is why Palm Sunday is closely connect also with "Passion Sunday" or the remembrance of Christ's death. It was a celebration because the horror of the week was hidden to the crowds. But Jesus knew.
On the journey up to Jerusalem Jesus knew. The people traveling with Jesus were expecting He would restore the Kingdom (of their expectations) immediately as soon as He arrived. (Luke 19:11) So he told them the parable of the tenants. A Lord gives three servants ten minas and then goes on his way. The first uses it for the service of His Lord and makes 10 more. The second makes 5 more. But the third was afraid and so hid his and kept it safe. But upon the Lord's return this last servant finds himself haven fallen short of His Lord's expectations.
Normally when we meditate on this parable we do so with a focus that we are called to be faithful stewards for God's kingdom with what God gives us. But there is another piece here. Jesus was telling them that He would depart they would remain but they would remain for a purpose. They would remain to work.
The Kingdom would not come magically. Its not the kind of thing that happens because a shoe fits on a princess, or a prince kisses a sleeping princess or anything of that nature. This kingdom comes because of death... the death of its Lord. And it comes because of life... the resurrection of its Lord. And it endures because of His ruling following His ascension into heaven to the right hand of the Father.
So perhaps this Palm Sunday, this Holy Week is more like the first than any we have ever experienced. Jesus came knowing that the celebration would be over by the end of the week. Crowds could gather on this first day. By the end of the week it would be a small gathering in a hidden upper room for safety as Jesus prepared His disciples not for the instant fixing of all things broken but for His death. By the end of the week it would be Jesus and his closest praying in secret in Gethsemane waiting for what He knew was coming. Praying in anguish at the suffering He knew He must endure.
Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday knowing what was coming. Still yet He wept for Jerusalem that day not for Himself. He wept for the pain and suffering that people go through, most inflicted upon self or others because of sin. He wept for a world broken and suffering because of sin. And He moved onward, step by step toward Calvary, toward suffering, toward death. Because He wanted to save us from it.
Next weekend would find the disciples who so boldly walking in parade to shouts and joy to hiding in their dwelling place from fear of the Jews. For them Holy Week would not be about big public gatherings and wonderful hymns and great food. It was about seeing Jesus do His final teaching. It was about hiding in secret from those who sought to harm them. It was about having nothing but Him to rely upon and then seeing even Him taken from them. They had all they trusted taken from them. All their expectations fallen short. All that seemed so solid turning to water.
So yes, how much this 2020 Holy Week is like theirs. We too are sheltered with close family not out of fear of the Jews but out of respect for a contagious and deadly disease that exists in a world that remains broken by sin. Yes, now we have 2020 vision. We see a little better the true nature of our world. All those things we trusted and hoped in seem so powerless right now. All those things that seemed so important and essential have been stripped from us. In ways we have never understood before we are asked to love our neighbor through sacrifice.
But there is also a difference. It is over two thousand years since the first one. Jesus is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Yes that is the Easter call but right now we need a little Easter, well, we need a lot of Easter. We need to remember and focus that the victory is won.
Sure it would be so much easier on us if Jesus would just make the kingdom of God appear immediately, destroy all sin, all disease or at least make Covid-19 go away so we can get back to life as normal. Get back to work, back to our favorite restaurant, see sports on TV again, see our friends again. But this is the time of the ten minas. It is the time of endurance. It is a time to do the best we can with what we have to work with. Much has been taken from us but not Christ. Not the Gospel. Not the resurrection. He is Risen!
We do not have to be as the one tenant who so cowered in fear that he did nothing. But we cannot work magic nor deny the limitations of our 2020 reality. So what can we do?
The Gospel is for you. Tune into a worship service and hear the Word of the Lord. You are welcome to join my church Sundays at 11am at www.mtcsa.org
You can pray with and for your family. You can share family devotions. You can share family time.
And you can ponder the mysteries of our faith. All those things that so consume our time and energy, many are taken from us. It is a time where we can have 2020 vision -- what is really going on? what is really important? What really matters? When you shake out the dross what remains?
Christ is yours! You are Christ's! His suffering is over. The glorious day of His return is closer every breath. The specter of death hangs over us, but He has transformed it into the promise of eternal life. Christ is with us. We are abandoned. We are not alone. We are the people of the ten minas. And it will work out in the end. The Lord is coming again.
