It is no secret that Easter is coming this Sunday, and in preparation for the greatest day in the Christian calender, I have been pondering just how to approach this day. I realize that the Bible says for the most part that a day is a day, but a majority of the churches recognized yesterday as Palm Sunday and an even greater percentage will celebrate this next Sunday as Easter to commemorate the risen Savior of the world. My pastor discussed this matter for a bit this Sunday, and looked to the triumphal entry for a good place to begin this discussion.
Luke 19:36-38
And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!â€
From this passage, we can see the way Jesus was celebrated during His final entry into Jerusalem. The people were laying down their garments for the donkey Jesus rode into town to step on. The imagery goes way beyond a red carpet at any awards show or political entry of today. These were people who allowed their cloaks to be stepped on and worse so that Jesus could be honored. Likewise, we need to be willing, even glad, to accept shame so that the work of Christ may be taken forward in today’s age.
This sentiment requires several things, but the ones Pastor Host discussed were that we need to drop our pride and our fear if we truly desire the work of God to go forward. The work of Christ is already going forward, and the best thing we can do is to worship Him as our king, despising the shame that our outer appearance may be sullied through this progression. This requires us to lose the pride that we have in ourselves, and place the focus of the glory that we seek… all of the glory that we seek, toward Christ.
Our message is not one that this world will accept. We know that going in and we must realize that throughout our Christian lives. Nonetheless, we must follow the example of these people and loudly proclaim our King and Lord, again by setting aside our pride and our fear. The people of Israel who were there that day were excited in their hope at an earthly king who they expected to make the Romans leave. If they could be so excited in their hope to see their own kingdom restored, how much more excited should we see to celebrate the coming of a kingdom that goes far beyond this world?
He is the one who has brought peace to this world. In Him we can shout at the glory in the highest. But first we must overcome our pride, as well as our fear. The Pharisees had the authority to bar a person from the temple, and to an Israelite this would be a profound cause to fear. If they could no longer approach the temple, the people would be cut off. They may even believe that they were no longer a part of the Covenant. These people worshiped Jesus despite this fear, for they were sure that this king would restore Israel to her splendor. And one day, He will.
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.†He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.â€
Jesus does not need our praise. Yes, we honor Him in our praise and it is good for us to do so. But I have no doubt that Jesus was being absolutely clear in this. If it is not us who will praise Him, we can be assured that someone will.
And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Yes, it is our highest honor and duty to proclaim Christ to a dying world that some may be saved. There are some who succumb to the pride and fear that keep them from proclaiming Christ as Lord. We must remind them with encouragement that this world is a doomed vessel, but that there is a King of Kings and a Lord of Lords who has set aside those who are His. We need to do this with all humility and boldness. An odd pairing, but that is what we are called to do. And if we do not do this, God will raise up those with hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh.
It is already written that He will be praised. It is our chief end and our grandest blessing that we are included among those who will worship Him and enjoy Him forever.
[...] Doug at the CoffeeSwirls blog has been doing some thinking about how we should approach Easter week. Looking at the story of the “triumphal entry” in Luke 19, he notes: [...]