Luke 19:28-40,22:14-23:56

Palm Sunday | April 10, 2022 | Lk 19:28-40; 22:14—23:56 | Brad Everett |

As Jesus rode the colt into Jerusalem on a make-shift saddle of his disciples’ cloaks, the donkey’s feet never touched the road, as others in the crowd spread their cloaks in his path in honor of his arrival. He entered the Holy city, acclaimed by the crowd of disciples who were unable to stay silent, as they joyfully praised God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

Their praise was not just of Jesus but of the LORD in whose name he had come. 

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” they cried. 

They knew the one who had sent Jesus, in whose name he had come, and whose will he had come to accomplish. 

What they hadn’t fully understood were the specifics of God’s will which Jesus had come to fulfill. No matter how many times Jesus had explained during his time with them that the Son of Man must suffer and die, it all seemed just too much for them to take in and make sense of. This triumphal entry however, fit their understanding of Jesus’ work as the Messiah of God, the savior of Israel. What else could one expect for God’s anointed—the one appointed and empowered to fulfill God’s promise of salvation? 

The crowd of disciples recognized the power and glory the Lord had bestowed on Jesus, and they shouted it loudly—but they failed to comprehend fully its nature and how it would be demonstrated, not only to them but to the world. 

Unlike an earthly king who would serve his people, but always with his own well-being in mind, Jesus’ authority was such that his ‘well-being’ if you will, was never at issue. As the one through whom everything in heaven and on earth had been created, there was nothing in this creation that hinder or harm him—unless he permitted it—and even then, it wouldn’t have the last word over him.

The story of Jesus’ passion which we just heard from the Gospel of Luke and which we’ll hear again on Friday from John’s Gospel, is the story of a king whose power was such he could willingly, intentionally, and deliberately lay his life down and take it back up again. Jesus wasn’t an unfortunate victim, who got caught up in events beyond his control and was crucified. He was fully God, fully human, who came from the glory of heaven to accomplish the will of the Father—the salvation of the whole world. By his life, death and resurrection he would defeat the powers of sin, death and the devil. 

But the pain that accompanied this work was real. He experienced betrayal and desertion by those closest to him. The agony and bloody sweat of his prayer in the garden. The physical suffering of the scourging and cross. The emotional suffering, knowing the grief and misery those close to him would be afflicted with seeing him this way. 

But he chose to endure it all and did. 

As we enter this holiest of weeks, with its services, readings and reflections, may God grant us a new understanding and experience of the power and love of Jesus Scripture describes for us today, and was, is and will be exercised by him for our sake and our salvation.   

---

Pr. Brad Everett

Calgary, AB, Canada

Email: everettsts@gmail.com