The day now known as Palm Sunday, was a day of great excitement. Enthusiasm ran high and folks were thrilled at the prospect of a new leader arising to set things right in the world. God’s household rules, relationships and economy were starting to break out in the land, all emanating from Jesus. It was a new and ancient way of life, suffused with the power and presence of the very Spirit of God. People were getting ready for a major move, maybe a power play, where Jesus would overthrow the Roman empire and finally set things right- instate the kingdom of God on earth.
There were several obstacles to this plan working, though. 1. Jesus didn’t play by their rules. 2. The Roman government didn’t like what he was doing and was not going down without a fight. 3. Actually practicing the kingdom of God was contrary to what a lot of powerful religious people wanted to do.
Jesus didn’t play by their rules. When everyone was celebrating his coronation day, he was crying. He was reading the signs of the time and they looked good for no one. He knew the destruction of Jerusalem was coming. And he was also planning his own funeral.
The Roman empire had their own set of rules. Being a good citizen of Rome meant paying your taxes and worshiping the emperor. With Jesus giving people the idea that they deserve more from each other… let’s just say they were well practiced in crushing uprisings.
And the religious people. Well, turns out they liked power, too. They liked surviving off the crumbs of an empire that they had to suck up to for allowing them to exist. They weren’t interested in treating the regular people with the dignity of brothers and sisters.
And some folks looked to the future with toxic optimism. Their unrealistic expectation of how the futwas a resentment waiting to happen. Even Peter was willfully ignorant of the signs of the times, like when he reprimanded Jesus when Jesus said, “I’m gonna suffer and die.”
So when expectations were high… they all came at a high cost to Jesus. And Jesus… suffered. He didn’t retaliate. He allowed himself to feel all of the oppression, the powerlessness, the vulnerability that human beings in this world suffer. And it ripped him apart. He wept for himself and for his people. I’m going to go so far as to say he wept for everyone from Adam to us and beyond.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be immune right now to the suffering in the world? Jesus didn’t get a quick escape from the cross. And honestly, if we’re doing it right, neither do we. So we walk through our own tumultuous times, with lament and resolve and empathy for the suffering of others. We set our face toward what’s coming, reach out in compassion, and trust in the unbelievable resurrection power of God when death is near.
Holy Monday Anne - - My house is an active construction zone. Thankfully we’re past the phase of the bathroom not having walls (potty privacy is a blessing that keeps on giving) and dinner prep no longer involves the garage, basement, and trailer to make a salad. Progress! The joy of drywall dust continues, however, providing a persistent grimy coating to our lives and an excellent chance for my kids to learn the joy of service (Yes sweetie, you do have to wipe down the counters again even though you did it yesterday).
I don’t know who got the task of wiping off a year’s worth of dust and grime from the Lord’s temple as Jerusalem prepared to celebrate Passover, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t have the snazzy vacuum cleaner attachment that makes the job a bit easier. While I don’t enjoy cleaning, I like the relief of a clean house. When we describe dusty and grimy spaces we use words like “suffocating”, “choking”, and “smothering”. Today the Lord’s house is not a temple that gets cleaned before Passover, instead he lives in each of us. Time for some spring cleaning! What dust and grime has built up in you over the past year that is suffocating your connection to the One who knows you completely and loves you absolutely? Does your heart need to be free of resentment, selfishness, and disgust? Mine does. Replacing these with gratitude, generosity, and hope is not something I can accomplish without God’s intervention. Romans 5:1-5 reminds us that suffering is a part of the human package, but it’s also one step on the journey towards a hope in God that will never disappoint us. And hope is welded to love. No one in our family, our community, our world will be untouched by the scary ability of a virus to mutate from an animal to a human and then thrive. There is no snazzy vacuum attachment that will suck this suffering away from us. Yet we are called to love in this time, to grow, to support one another by being salt and light in the world. Life loads us down with grime. God’s love for us vacuums it up and fills us with hope. Happy Monday!
Laura Pierce