Palm Sunday - God Doesn't Always Tell Us What's Next

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!”, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”, “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”. Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.~ Mark 11:1-11

When Jesus told his disciples to retrieve the colt of a donkey, they knew what he wanted but they certainly would have had a question about why. I imagine the people who questioned the disciples wondered the same things. It would seem to the be the natural progression of the conversation and my guess is that, by this point, the disciples had figured out that Jesus did not often tell them what was coming next! He seemed to use situations like this to teach his followers to trust him and that things are often not as they appear. So, I try to imagine how they would have answered the question if asked why Jesus wanted the colt. I think they would have answered the question with a shrug and perhaps said something like "You know, he doesn't often tell us what is going to happen next." and went on their way. 

Picture taken during our trip to Israel in 2013 at the traditional site of the donkey colt event.

We often don't know what God is doing next. The mere riding into the city on a donkey was an act of humility by Jesus and was foretold by the prophets. But, the shouting of support from the crowd is probably what the disciples focused on because it was an obvious triumphant move by Jesus. After years of struggle, they had finally arrived at the moment they had all imagined! The throwing of cloaks on the on the ground and the waving of palm branches were all signs of great victory. People finally saw Jesus the way the disciples did: as the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God (I find it interesting that, after entering, Jesus just turned around and left). Afterward, I'm sure the disciples were wondering what was next but, the gratifying sounds of the crowds surely replayed in their heads and whatever was next had to be good, they thought! They wanted Jesus to show his power and who he really was... it would be an incredible day of reckoning! Not quite. Not yet anyway.  

The disciples didn't see nor suspect that Jesus' next entry into Jerusalem would be described as anything but triumphal. He would be arrested and dragged by soldiers to a tainted trial followed by a brutal beating and execution. Sorry for the blunt language but, I'm just stating the facts. The disciples reacted like we all would when we expect things to go really well then have everything collapse around us. His crucifixion seemed like the end of the road and the ultimate defeat. It wasn't until a few days passed [Easter morning] before they understood that there was indeed a triumph that was greater than the throwing of cloaks on the ground and palm branches being waived (by the way, the crowd that shouted "Hosanna!" was likely many of the same people who shouted "Crucify him!" less than a week later!). We need to understand that God's blessings will very often come to us in ways we can't comprehend, understand, nor foretell. This may be especially true in times of difficulty. How often do we go into situations laid before us expecting success in a way we would define it (perhaps with fanfare, glory and palm branches) then, when when things become troublesome and difficult, we start to have questions? We often wonder why God sometimes chooses this topsy turvy path because we don't understand the meaning of our journey. Easy paths and accolades feel nice because they fit into our definition of what we think we want or need. But, these things can pale in comparison to the what God ultimately delivers when we simply follow him in faith without having to know what is next.  

Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! Look, your king is approaching, he is vindicated and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.~ Zecheriah 9 (written approximately 500 years before the birth of Christ)

Do We Know What Jesus Looks Like? (It May Not Be What We Expect)

The Old Testament Book of Isaiah is sometimes referred to as the "fifth gospel". The traditional Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Similarly, the Prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus, but he did so 600 years before the Virgin Mary gave birth to him.

Isaiah 53:2-7 

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 

Understandably, we focus a lot of attention on the latter verses of this passage which describe Jesus' crucifixion and our salvation bought by it. Much of the foundation of our faith is summarized there. But, the first few verses describe some very important aspects of Jesus as well. Unlike the traditional Gospels, Isaiah included a brief physical description of Jesus within those first couple of verses. Here, Isaiah describes a Creator God that came to earth, not as a handsome and majestic man with whom people were in awe. Rather, it details a humble person without beauty nor majesty; One who has an undesirable appearance. How many of us would do choose this appearance for our Lord (or for ourselves) if we had that option? The challenge of reality seems to cause us to attempt a type of recreation of the Creator (see related post: Making God Fit). 

We get an idea of exactly how we desire to see Jesus merely by looking at the movie portrayals of him. Those images seem to reflect the misguided importance we place on physical appearance. Most of the actors portraying Jesus in these movies have physical attributes that are more acceptable to us: well proportioned, handsome, and without any significant physical flaws (separately, but just as relevant, why do we insist that Jesus was light-skinned? As a middle-eastern Jew, he was quite certainly dark complexioned). 

Clearly, we feel better when Jesus is portrayed a particular way. But, it is worth asking the question whether we would be as accepting of an uncomely Jesus. What if he was disfigured? Would we hide our faces from him? Maybe our response wouldn't be this apparent. But, is it any wonder that our misplaced emphasis on physical beauty costs us so much (personally, psychologically, monetarily, ethically, societally) when God himself shows us the way by placing the emphasis elsewhere? 

What Would Jesus...uh, Legislate?

I've researched the Indiana Religious Freedom law and am still unclear of its repercussions. I've read it and don't fully understand it. Getting unbiased information is nearly impossible and both sides are relatively convincing. On one hand, I become suspicious of most single interest groups. On the other, I don't trust what some people define as "religion".

If you've read my blog, you know that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. To that end, I am attempting to understand what Jesus' position would be on the matter. All I know for certain is that his choices for company look a lot different than that of many who purport to follow him. Even the Apostles weren't too good at recognizing who his followers were. For example, they thought the "rich young ruler" was a perfect fit for the group. They were wrong. Certainly, as he pointed out, the religious elite of Jesus' day didn't know how to follow him. So, who fits and doesn't fit, I'm always hesitant to say. One pattern I think continues to hold true...his choices sometimes aren't ours and he usually sides with the downtrodden. Similarly, I try to error on the side of inclusiveness and love for others.

So, does this legislation legalize the mistreatment of anyone based on religious conviction?  I don't know. I hope it doesn't. That would be wrong. I've seen that this law is already in place nationally since 1993 and passed with overwhelming support of both parties. Whether there have been negative repercussions of the law, I just don't know.

I do know that there are some credibility issues at stake. One side claims that blatant discrimination will occur here. Some within that group are acting with real aggression toward an entire state populated with many people who have no interest in this legislation. The other side is acting on the fear that their religious liberty is at stake. But, Jesus himself asked for no similar government protection even to the point of his execution.

I hope both sides are wrong. To some degree, I'm certain that they both are; neither side has a corner on the entire truth nor have they an impeccable track record of righteousness. I'm sure this will be read by some as support for the legislation - while others will guess that I'm against it. I tend to side with the great Christian Martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer that said "Politics are not the task of a Christian". Even more, I side with God and whatever bunch of misfits he chooses as his followers. But, I can't count entirely on my own judgment to determine who they are...or will be.

Making God Fit (How We Try to Recreate the Creator)

In an attempt to reconcile our standing with God and our living in the world, I think we've attempted to change and modify him.  In fact, we have a history of attempting to reduce God to a political platform, a few standard cultural norms, or even a figure who just doesn't like whomever we hold in contempt.  In other words, we try to recreate the Creator. 

Do we really believe God would be either a democrat or republican?  Certainly, he has a set of ideals (would we want the ruler of the universe to have none?).  But, try to imagine Jesus running for President.  First of all, he wouldn't.  He was explicit in saying that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18).  He also instructed his followers to give their hearts to God...and give Caesar what is Caesar's (Mark 12).  In other words, your most important possession belongs to God.  Secondly, his political platform would look a little unusual by the worlds standards, wouldn't it?  Try to make a political commercial out of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). Blessed are the meek?  The response would certainly include how "impractical" Jesus' espoused values are in the modern world (author's note: by the way, Jesus meant that stuff).

Neither does God fit into our cultural norms.  Sure, God has blessed America.  But, I'm not entirely convinced that he recognizes our borders with Canada and Mexico and he has blessed many other nations besides the USA.  Kenya is desperately poor but has one of the most devout Christian populations in the world!  Why do we say God has blessed us only when we are prospering (or when we win the game - not when we get beat)?  Do we really think that our struggles and weaknesses contain no blessings as well?  What if our prosperity and/or strengths are only serving to distract us from our need for God? This was the case with the rich young ruler (Mark 10).  What if God has intentionally left us with a weakness in order to further demonstrate his power through us as was the case with Paul's thorn (2 Cor 12)?  Moses stuttered and was orphaned.  John the Baptist ate bugs.  Jesus himself was poor and despised by the majority.

Finally, we tend to justify ourselves to God by pretending that he is more accepting of our shortcomings as opposed to the shortcomings of those people around us.  In our minds, this makes us slightly better than "the bad guy" standing next to us thinking that God then holds us in higher esteem.  For instance, if we fail to recognize our pride and arrogance, but hold the drug addict in contempt, are we sounding a lot like the Pharisee who prayed "at least I'm not like this poor tax collector" (Luke 18)?  According to Jesus, it was that "heathen" tax collector who made it to heaven...

God is obviously too expansive to reduce and recreate but we try to do it anyway.  Anne Lamott said it nicely" You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do".  In this sentence, you could substitute the word "people" with: things, ideals, or shortcomings as well.  I pray to have continued faith that his word will hold true.  That he alone is sufficient.  That he will provide my needs just as he is ... and that I not attempt to reduce him to whatever I see as normal and/or acceptable. 

Big Feeling from Humility

Christ's disciples understand that his teachings were radically different than what the world values or believes.  But, sometimes those values are difficult to understand.  When he, the very Son of God, knelt to wash the filthy feet of his followers, Peter was aghast!  He thought: how could the King of Kings, the Messiah, the Son of God place himself in such a lowly position as to wash another person's dirty feet?  Jesus' response to Peter was very direct:  "unless I wash you, you have no part with me".  Jesus was teaching Peter a different way - a humble way which he commands us to follow.

When the two brothers, James and John, approached Jesus with a request to receive a special seat of honor next to Jesus, they were also rebuked.  Jesus responded in a manner that turned the world's values upside down when he said "whoever wants to be first must be slave of all".  Jesus was teaching them a different way - a humble way which he commands us to follow.  These examples are consistently in the forefront of Jesus' teachings and seen throughout the New Testament.  Even though the Son of Man himself "came not to be served, but to serve" and we are commanded "to do likewise", the world does not reward this humility.  The world does not revere the least, the last, the lowest.  But, we should absolutely take heart in that fact!

Like Peter, James and John, many Christians have difficulty embracing God's value system.  At best, we are sometimes fearful to live by these values because of our need to survive in the world (which this fear is caused by a lack of faith in the very Creator of the entire universe).  At our worst, we sometimes seek the rewards of the world for our own glory while placing those rewards ahead of One who created even our very breath.  There is a better way, Christian.

As a natural extension of following God's leading, Christians will most typically observe modesty and simplicity in their lifestyle, language, and mannerisms.  They will lean away from pretensions and feelings of superiority (or as the Amish say gross feelich or big feeling).  In a win at all cost, toot your own horn, dog eat dog, pat yourself on the back world, modesty has no natural place.  So, it certainly isn't easy.  Jesus said that we were "sheep among wolves" indicating that we are naturally exposed to certain vulnerabilities because of our beliefs.  I laughed (because I absolutely loved it) when I heard a baptist preacher say to his congregation: "if you feel like an alien in this world, I have great news for you...you are!".

But, the follower understands that living for the glory of God (and not ourselves) has greater rewards that are impossible to put into words - because those words would have to reflect an eternal and everlasting God.  Those words would have to reflect the amazingly endless acts of a Creator that are seen only by eyes that he has opened.  Those words would have to describe a love received that is absolutely and wonderfully boundless.  Those words would have to describe the One who has served to a degree that we can only aspire.

Don't Blend In (Jesus meant what he said)

When I was a kid, I thought that being a follower of Christ meant that you were in the mainstream of society.  Christians were people who would dress nicely, smile a lot, and knew a few special words and phrases.  Certainly, their behavior was completely acceptable because they pretty much just blended in with everyone else.  They weren't really that different than everyone else.  That was the image that I had of a "typical" Christian.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus would have been difficult to classify as mainstream.  He combated the traditions of the religious elite, told his followers to lose their lives in order to follow him, and dined with people with whom most of us would be embarrassed to be seen.  Downtrodden people were honored by him and the people most honored by the rest of society (usually people in positions of authority / power) were most often challenged by him.  Jesus took man-made convention and stomped it into the sand like a scorpion.  The Jesus that I have come to know and love was a counter-culture radical that turned the values of the world on its head.  He continues to do that today.

What if Jesus actually meant what he said and did?  For example, Jesus kept company with some pretty rough characters; he really seemed to prefer the company of the least desirable people.  How might we treat someone who collected taxes for a hostile occupying foreign government and profited from these activities by skimming money from the top?  Would we be embarrassed if a prostitute barged into the room to wash our feet while we dined with the local pastor or priest?  Given the choice, would we choose to spend our time with those on the very lowest rung of our society? Would we try so hard to be first if we really believed him when he said that "the last will be first, and the first will be last"?  Do we really believe that we are loving Christ when we are loving the lost and forgotten - prisoners, homeless, addicted, and broken? Do we really believe the Sermon on the Mount? Or do we skip the hard stuff?  Questions like these make me wonder how accepting we Christians actually are of the One we profess to follow.

This message of Jesus' is as radical today as it was then: the values of this world have no place in a person's heart.  We are simply called to be different.  In his book "The Cost of Discipleship", Dietrich Bonhoeffer disposes of the myth that Jesus' messages were merely an ideal to be merely strived for and not practical to live by.  Executed in a martyr's death in Nazi Germany because of his faith, Bonhoeffer explained that Jesus meant exactly what he said and that we shouldn't skip past the hard stuff - perhaps especially when that means we won't blend in so much.

My Pilgrimage to Israel (2013) - Part Seven

Our group overlooking Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (picture by James Stewart - again)

If Galilee is steeped in New Testament history, Jerusalem is where the Old Testament and New Testament converge.  The ancient Hebrew nation centered life and worship in the location (Mount Moriah) that Abraham warily took his son Issac with the intent of sacrificing him.  That act was merely foreshadowing the act of God sacrificing his own son.  Abraham told Isaac: "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son" (Genesis 22:8).  Abraham's lamb represented the Lamb of God that would be sacrificed thousands of years later.  We would retrace that Lamb's steps as he inched his way from the Mount of Olives...to the temple...to Golgotha or Calvary.

Bethphage Church (photo by James Stewart) - click to enlarge

Bethphage sits on the Mount of Olives and was an ancient village overlooking Jerusalem.  Jesus mounted the colt of a donkey and rode into Jerusalem on what is now celebrated as Palm Sunday.  It was to Bethphage that Jesus sent his disciples to find the donkey.  While standing here, you can almost imagine the crowds in the city awaiting his arrival while they celebrated Passover "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!".  Even though Jesus told them, little did anyone know that his triumphal entry included scourging and crucifixion.  Again, he confounded man's earthly intellect with a story that could only be written by God.

David Hayes and me from where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem

We left Bethphage's Franciscan church by descending an ancient route quite undoubtedly used during Jesus' entry into the city.  This was a quiet and sunny Sunday morning perfect for this memorable part of our journey.  After a short time, we descended to a point where we could overlook the city of Jerusalem.  As Jesus descended into the city, he paused to mourn over Jerusalem and foretold the fall of the temple.  

Dominus Flevit Church commemorates where Jesus wept over Jerusalem (note the reflection of Jerusalem - photo by James Stewart)

Garden of Gethsemane

One of the most spiritually moving parts of our trip was our Sunday morning worship service in the Garden of Gethsemane.  So, we are walking along the trail of Jesus' descent and stopped in the garden where he prayed on the night of his arrest...incredible.  I could hardly believe that we were here.  But, to spend the Lord's day morning in worship here was absolutely amazing.  Jesus prayed here while James, John, and Peter slept (even though he kept asking them to stay awake).  He first prayed that the father would protect him from what was about to occur.  Jesus was afraid and wanted to be spared.  But, as his prayer continued, he understood and accepted the father's will.  I am deeply encouraged by a God who knows how it feels to be fearful and discouraged - who is comforted by the company of others during times of trial.  I am also encouraged that he forgave those slumbering disciples.    

Crown of Thorns Tree - Dominus Flevit

Our accompanying pastors led the worship service.  David offered a most appreciated opportunity for each of us to worship in quiet solitude.  As mentioned in an earlier blog post, our regular Sunday worship meetings include lengthy segments of silent prayer.  I have grown to greatly appreciate and rely upon this manner of worship.  So, I was heartened when David asked us to retreat into the garden for silent reflection.  We were to return to the group when we heard singing.  But, I decided to stay quietly next to that old olive tree and pray in silent thanksgiving.

Next stop:  Jerusalem