Secret sadness and public celebration

The little group of twelve disciples, had been three years with Jesus and they were experiencing more sorrow than they had expected to. After they finally realised that Jesus was God made man, come to teach and show them the kingdom of God, Jesus had surprised them by saying that was going to be killed at Jerusalem. Peter, you remember, had argued against this, and Jesus had been angry because he did not accept the fact that Jesus, the God-man, was going to make of himself an offering to God. Sometime later, Jesus told them again; this time they did not argue but they began to be sad.

Many of the people who crowded around Jesus had left, offended because he made himself equal to God, a sin amounting to blasphemy. Jesus asked the disciples, “Are you also going to go away?” Peter, acting as spokesman, had replied, "Where can we go, only you have the words of eternal life? So, already, before they saw the end of the story, this little group of twelve men (and the women who travelled with them) were convinced that Jesus was the teacher and giver of eternal life. They stayed with Jesus, fearful and bewildered, but nevertheless convinced that he was trustworthy.

Their sadness and fearfulness increased during the days of the passover celebration. One reason for their bewilderment was that Jesus was alienating the powerful. The priests challenged Jesus by questioning him in public. His answers put the priests on the defensive so often that they stopped questioning because by his answers Jesus was convincing the people listening he was indeed the future king of Israel. Although this should have made the twelve disciples happy, it did not because Jesus was still talking of his death and had begun to warn them that his followers would suffer persecution. What a welcome to the Kingdom of God! Sad amongst the joyful crowd, bewildered amongst the certainties of the powerfully ligious; they followed Jesus and hoped that one day they would understand.

Jesus remained a Jew, even though he pointed up the weaknesses of the religion as it was being practiced at that time. A Jewish prophet had said, that God requires three things; doing justice (which did and does. mean cting with equity) loving kindness and walking humbly with the Lord our God. Then as now, people think that being humble means not questioning. For Jesus humility towards God meant examining faith; examining what it believes and how it is practiced. Jesus respected the Jewish law in a way the priests could not understand, he had come to put it into action.

The festival meal commemorated the Jewish nation being led out of slavery and into freedom. Jesus celebrated the meal with only his twelve close followers. He had made plans that ensured no one knew where the group were eating. Jesus took the flat-bread and broke it saying, “This is my body that is broken for you.” He drank from the cup of wine and said, “This is my blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins, This do in remembrance of me.” The word ‘remembrance’ signified to the disciples that their three years with Jesus was ending, but they did not know how. They sung hymns and went out into the street.

There was another secret gathering, the gathering of the priests. They too were fearful, but not sad. They were afraid the masses would try to make Jesus into the king of the Jews. That was a risk that the nation could not take, because it would offend the Roman empire and bring the Roman soldiers to work vengence on the population. Without knowing he was prophecying the high priest declared that it was better that one person die for the good of the nation, than that the whole nation suffer. Jesus was pre-tried, and condemned; just as he had known he would be. One man would die for the good of many and the many would be made free from sin.

Jesus sat on the hillside with his disciples, they were exhausted mentally and physically, but Jesus was still preparing them for his death, they heard and remembered the promise, “After I am raised up I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” They watched for a little while as Jesus prayed and they noticed how greatly he had to struggle in order to continue his submission to the will of God. Then they fell asleep.

Matthew chapters 22 to chapter 26 verse 44.

God, the invader of his own territory

Suddenly the temple, that sacred, orderly, space, the apex of religious worship and the pinnacle of religious power was in turmoil. Jesus, the so called gentle Jesus, was creating chaos. acting alone, disregarding the dismay of his companions, the outrage of the priests and the bewilderment of frightened pilgrims he began to empty out the merchandise of religion. Tables full of money were up-turned so that their contents mixed and spilled on the ground. Tethered animals, waiting to be sacrificed were untied, and their tether cords turned into a whip with which to drive them through the crowded temple into the street. Why did no one stop him? We know there were temple guards, where were they? What about the priests, were they reluctant to contaminate their ceremonial robes? What about the merchants of religious commodities, surely they were not helpless against this one man.

When it was over, Jesus thundered out his explanation: It is written: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves."

"A house of prayer for all nations." What a dream! Religion is an easy tool with which to separate nations. Religion is used to incite people to kill in the name of God. Religion blindly practiced makes leaders so blind that they lead their followers into evil. The preachers of religion delight in making laws about the way the Almighty must be served, thus producing a harvest of guilt where God intended righteousness. Freedom is not a holy word to religious leaders; freedom is thought to be an enemy which will change the security of tradition. Some religious leaders even, storefront preachers, demand unquestioning obedience to their own interpretation of the will of God bringing man down to the level of herded animals.

Standing up in the middle of the temple mess, Jesus, the itinerant preacher. dares to remember God's dream and identifies God's hope. The temple shall be a house of prayer for all nations.

So it shall come to happen. Because God said it would be so. All nations shall be united by the praise of Allah rather than killed by the anger of the prophets. All nations shall be united by desiring the simple basic laws of Moses and Jesus, and there will be no more need of religious lawyers to help us evade laws or condemn the forgiven. All nations will be united in the equity of the rule of God and will no longer satisfy their wants at the expense of others. Peace the dream of God will happen, but all the efforts of the religious will not be able to place God on the throne. He will do that himself, when he is ready.

The temple that Jesus purified, only lasted for 30 or 40 years after his death; not even the ruins remain. Now each man's heart is a temple for God, if he is given entrance. When God has no entrance the Spirit of God continuously whispers around the hearts of humanity. And repeatedly Jesus must clean out the extremities and lies of every man's religion. He enters, often invited, but sometimes unexpectedly to expose mixed motives, discover deceits and unmask cowardice. Since he has done it in the temple of our hearts we are not afraid, but very uncomfortable, when he does it in the gatherings of our various religious groups. Whether we can stand upheaval or be ruined by it, God continues to save his worship by changing it's patterns, opening eyes gone blind and identifying self-indulgence. God has a dream.

One day all nations will agree, one day we will not be worried about how to portray what we inwardly perceive. The laws of God will have become as pleasant as the laws of breathing and eating. Until that time let the religious not shrink from God's correction. Let them not obstruct the visitation of the itinerant preacher when he disrupts whatever has become corrupt. Knowing that God is merciful, let us not fear the anger of God the destroyer of evil.

Who is this?

It is Jerusalem, during the seven day festival of Passover. Pilgrims have come to Jerusalem from distant places. Frequently they have been met by the citizens of Jerusalem, who came down the road to welcome them and escort them into the city. Together greeters and greeted sang sacred songs as they journeyed towards Jerusalem, enraptured by their first sight of the great temple that Herod had built for the worship of God.

On the day that we are reading about, while the pilgrims are preparing for worship in the temple, they hear it whispered that 'He' is coming. As people hear this, women children and men rush out of the town eagerly, laughing and excited. Who are they going to meet?
In order to find out the pilgrims follow the crowd. On the way they receive snippets of information. "This is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." 'He is a teacher." "He is the healer; he brought a man back to life after he had been dead for three days. The man who was dead is still alive and some of us have seen him, he lives just two miles from the city.'
As the procession comes into sight, people begin to rip off their cloaks, laying them down on the road to make a welcome carpet for the prophet to ride over. People wave huge palm leaves, shouting loudly, "Save now, save now" children jump and dance around clapping and shouting.

The man they are cheering looks very ordinary, none of his followers carry a banner, and he has no emblems on his robe, no uniformed retinue walk beside his horse, which is not a horse but a young donkey. This is Jesus. He is not smiling and acknowledging people like a celebrated person would, he does not ride with the proud posture of a monarch, actually who could do that while riding on a donkey? He does not wave and smile at the crowd around him. There seems something almost grim and determined about his expression, but what is he determined about?

Jesus stops riding and gazes at the city, the crowd stops and waits, and is suddenly amazed. The man they are giving a delirious welcome to is crying. Crying aloud in public. These are no quiet tears, like this man is reputed to have shed at the grave of his friend. No; these tears are accompanied by loud, lung wrenching sobs. The kind of sobs people weep in the time of tragedy. What is he weeping about? He is weeping about Jerusalem, city of heartbreak, scene of tragedies past and more to come. But why weep about the city, is he not the miracle worker, can he not remedy all and any of Jerusalem's tragedies?

"If only you knew,” Jesus says, speaking to the city he is looking at, "if only you knew what makes peace for you, but it is hidden, and your peace will not come, because you did not recognize the visitation of God."

He resumes riding and the mystified crowd moves with him. Those going in front and those following behind shouting out "Blessed is the coming reign in the name of our father David." As they come near to the city the priests come out and tell Jesus to keep the people keep quiet. Jesus gestures at the rocks around the city and says, “If the people keep quiet the rocks will shout out.” Nobody knows what he means.

During the days of the great feast of Passover Jesus remains in the neighborhood, sleeping in the little town of Bethany and returning daily to preach in the temple. He preaches in the various courtyards, and even called out loud in the temple itself. Making incredible statements like, “Whoever believes in me, living water will flow from his inner being.” Telling meaningful but not understandable stories about tenant farmers and vineyards, and visiting princes. Again and again people ask, “Who is this?” "Who is he really? They do not know, but on their answer to that question hangs their peace and their future.


Sources:
Wikipedia.org (Passover)
Alfred Edersheim: Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Pub Eerdmans
Wept over it: Luke 19:41
Who is this? Matthew 10: 10

Hymn. (This is not a link) Go to: http://www.cyberhymnal/. Look for title: Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.

You, God, have made me glad

Right now, not in the after-life but now and here. You, God, have made me glad. You have caused me to rejoice. How did you do that God? Not by making me that way, I was born like the rest of humanity into a world filled with arguments that got heated and people who got hasty. Unkind words bruised me from my early years, and my own inabilities frustrated me from the time I began to have desires. In spite of these things I rejoice. You gave me David, my best friend, my pastor, my guide and helper: and then you took him away and I expected to follow but did not. In spite of these things I rejoice. Because you have made me happy.
This happiness which is a result of your unceasing involvement in my life is a sample of what the rest of my living will be with you.
Because you have changed me in this way I have evidence that you are the Great Restorer. You are slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, restoring the likeness of God in humanity. I have received from you a loyalty which I can rely on. You have sent all people out on this journey called life, and have placed us in this deformed and broken environment we call our world. You have not said that we will not suffer but you have said that you will always answer us when we call for help. You have said that you will continually stay with those of us who request you to. Because I have experienced your trustworthiness when I called for help, because I experienced your kindness when I was longing for a friend; because of these things I have confidence in you for all the future. Your love will not let me cease to exist, and you have said that you have a plan to remove all that breaks or makes sad. Life is a journey, and often I fear the next step; where will I journey, and what will happen that I cannot prevent? But I look at my past and see that joys I never dreamed of have happened to me. I have come to places I did not think I would ever reach. You have been good to me, and your prophets and your followers tell me you will always be good. Therefore I sing praises to you and declare your loving kindness. May the sorrowful traveller hear and and may the longing lonely know that you are a friend who helps us when we can help ourselves and when we cannot help ourselves.

Psalm 92 (extracts) It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises, to declare his loving kindness and his faithfulness every morning and every night. For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work; I will overcome through the actions of your hands.