Reflections for Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016
Children’s Time:
 
Hymn # 276 Tabernacle Hymnary  “When He Cometh”
 
Scripture Reading:  Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 & Luke 19:28-40
Reflection:
          As Jesus enters Jerusalem, we enter Holy Week.  This is the last act in a dramatic series of events that will change the world.
          Jesus has been trying to prepare his followers for what is to come.  They do not have the benefit of hindsight that we do – they cannot begin to imagine what lies just ahead – but he knows they will process all this later.  He must plant seeds of illumination now if they are to understand it later at all.
          We believe that he, Jesus, knows what will happen. He has made some preparations.  The donkey colt is ready and the owner knows the code words.  This happens in Bethphage or Bethany, a place where Jesus was well known, and where he would have had many contacts.
          It’s the Passover, and millions of Jews (by some estimations) have poured into Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Jesus has timed this event for maximum impact.
          He will enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey – the foal of a donkey which has never been ridden.  Two things are significant about this.  The triumphant entry of a king, a warrior king, would not happen on a donkey.  A large, strong horse would be the steed of choice for such a display.  A donkey would only be ridden by a king in a parade or procession if the intent was to demonstrate a time of peace – a king who is coming in peace.
          The fact that a young donkey was chosen is also significant – for this animal would be pure and therefore suitable for a sacred occasion.  It had never been ridden by another man, and had never been used for work.  So Jesus, the Prince of Peace, rides triumphantly into Jerusalem on a High Holy Day, on the foal of a donkey.
          This is a powerful symbolic message.  But it is not the message that is expected of the Anointed One – their Messiah.  Being an oppressed and actually warlike people, they expected a strong military leader to come and lead them out of the subjugation  imposed on them by Rome.
          And the symbolism used by Jesus is drawn powerfully from the Hebrew scriptures. He is bringing to them a whole new way of looking at things, but he is doing it by using the symbols and story of their race.
          We remember that much earlier in their history (1 Samuel 8) the Israelites had asked to be ruled by a king like other nations.  Though they had been warned about the abuses of power often associated with the reign of kings, they insisted, and Saul became their king.  This people is not unfamiliar with the violence and injustice that often are the mark of dictatorships.
          Still kings are the kind of leadership they know.  Military might is what wins the war. But Jesus is an iconoclast.  He has come to turn everyone’s expectations upside down.
          And it’s as if suddenly time stands still. Every little detail, every nuance takes on great significance.  Something different is going on here.  The atmosphere is electric. People know about him – they have heard the stories about miraculous healings and people being raised from the dead.  Many are probably aware that the religious authorities are unhappy with the attention he is getting. Certainly Jesus knows that his life is in danger, because he has become such a threat to the establishment.  You don’t turn everything upside down without making enemies – those in power really want to stay there.
          “Hosanna” the children and the disciples are singing.  “Hosanna in the highest”.  The Pharisees want it to stop.  They tell Jesus to make his followers stop.  Hosanna means “save now”.  The Messiah has come to save them and somehow this is clear to them, and so they shout, “Hosanna”.
          And Jesus replies to the Pharisees:  “I tell you, if these were silent the very stones would cry out.”
          And this, my friends, is the beginning of the end.  Or maybe it’s really the beginning of a new beginning. As we follow Jesus thru the rest of Holy Week, we will remember how it was for him and for the people of Israel. And we will see how the Divine plan is manifested for the building of a new kingdom of God built on love and forgiveness and not on might and coercion.
 
Hymn # 313 VU  “God whose Almighty Word”
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United for Kids:  Good Friday Class (2014)

          Last week we talked about how God made all the earth and all the people and all the creatures, and all the mountains and lakes and all the plants and flowers, and how God loved all that God had made and said that it was very good. 

          Then we talked about Jesus of Nazareth, a very special and holy man, who came from God to teach us how to live as God’s children – according to God’s way of Love.

          We heard about how some people didn’t like it that Jesus was so popular, and the people listened to him and wanted to be like him.  Those people liked things the way they were – because they were the ones people were supposed to listen to – they were the rulers.

          We learned that Jesus went into Jerusalem – the capital city of Israel where all the rulers were gathered for a special feast called the Passover (a meal to celebrate a time when God had saved the people from slavery in Egypt).  Jesus knew he was in danger there, because the rulers wanted to kill him.

          We’re going to talk about when this happened, and we call it “Good Friday”.  Do you know anything about what happened on “Good Friday”?  It wasn’t very good, was it….

          It started with something we call “the Last Supper”.  Let me read you a bit about that. (p. 246 in Ralph Milton’s book:  The Family Story Bible)

          So two important things happened at this “last supper”.  First, Jesus gave us all a way to remember him and his teachings.  Every time we eat a meal together we should give thanks to God for what we have to eat, and for the life and teachings of Jesus.  Secondly, we found out how Jesus would be betrayed by one of his own followers, Judas.

          Judas left the supper, and went to the rulers and told them where they could find Jesus to arrest him.  He did it for money some say, but some say he did it because he thought Jesus could save himself, and that would prove he was a Son of God.  We don’t really know why he did it – we just know that he did, and that somehow, Jesus knew he would.

          So Jesus went to a quiet garden with his friends to pray to God.  He was scared.  He knew what was going to happen and he knew it was going to be very bad.  He prayed a lot.  He asked God to find another way.  He cried and prayed some more.  Then he said, it’s OK God – if this is what needs to happen, then I am willing.

          The soldiers came to get him.  Judas was with them and he kissed Jesus so they would know it was him.  They tied his hands and took him away, even tho he had done nothing wrong.  They beat him and they made fun of him and they spit on him.  He was taken before the rulers, who could not find anything really wrong with what he had done, except that the people liked him more than they liked them.  So they said he was guilty, and he should be crucified.

          Being crucified was a way of executing people who were very bad in those days.  Jesus was not very bad at all, but the rulers wanted the people to think he must be bad, so they demanded that he be crucified.

          Let me read you a bit about how Jesus was killed (Ralph Milton, p.256).

          This is the bad news about “Good Friday” – Jesus died that afternoon and was taken down and put in a burial tomb.  Three days later was Easter Sunday – the day that the tomb was empty!  We’ll talk about that next week – about how something good can come out of something so bad.  Let’s go sing!

United for Kids:  Palm Sunday class

Discussion re Easter:  What does it mean to you?  (holidays, Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs)

Let me tell you how it all began:

          A long time ago, in a land far away, there lived a very special man – his name was Jesus.  He lived in a town called Nazareth – so they called him Jesus of Nazareth.

          He was a holy man, a Jew, a man who loved God, and everything that God made: all people, men, women, and children, birds and animals, mountains and lakes – everything. He loved everything, because God made it, and God loved it, and it was very good!

          Let me read you a bit about that. (“God makes a world.”  In Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)

 

          But most people in those days had forgotten that God loved them, and God loved the whole world – and so they were mean to each other, and did bad things like steal from each other and hurt each other.

          So Jesus came – a man who was so good and so loving that people just knew he must be from God.  He did wonderful things to show the people how great and powerful God is.  He healed a lot of people from terrible diseases.  He made people see again who had been born blind.  He even brought people back to life!  We call these things miracles, because most of us can’t do that!

          People followed Jesus around to see what he would do next – and then he would talk to them – teach them about God and about how they should live together in peace and harmony, and take care of each other.  He told the people to “Love God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.”

          And to Jesus – loving your neighbour meant looking after them – helping them if they needed help.  Giving them food if they were hungry – water if they were thirsty.

          ACTIONS  SPEAK  LOUDER  THAN  WORDS!

 

          But all this attention Jesus was getting upset some people.  The people who were powerful – who told the ordinary people how to behave and expected them to obey – those people didn’t like Jesus because he was teaching a different way – the Way of Love. Sometimes it’s hard for us to change the way we do things, and we can get very angry at people who want us to do something new and very different from what we think is right, and we are used to doing!

          So Jesus was in danger.  Some of those people wanted to kill him.  But the ordinary people loved him. And all this leads us to Palm Sunday – the beginning of Easter week in the Christian church.

          Jesus went to Jerusalem – the city where the powerful people lived, and where the main Temple was, and where all the Jewish people were going to celebrate the Passover – a special event in their history when God saved them from death and slavery.

          And Jesus knew they wanted to kill him – but he had to go there anyway – and we will talk more next week about what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem. 

Lets read:  (“Jesus goes to Jerusalem” from Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)

          On Palm Sunday we are hoping that you will come to church and help us celebrate Jesus entry into Jerusalem.  We’re going to learn a new song about it called:  “Hey now – singing Hallelujah!”