Palm Sunday: A peace march according to the example of Christ!

Palm Sunday: A peace march of the Man who comes in the Name of the LORD, to bring salvation!

On the first Palm Sunday when Jesus rode on a foal, the colt of a donkey, into Jerusalem, the crowds that gathered for the Passover, sang from Ps. 118. They expected the Messiah to come and believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised King. When we read these words from the CEV translation, we clearly see why they chose this song of praise:

Psalm 118: 26 – 29 (CEV)
God bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD!
We praise you from here in the house of the LORD.
The LORD is our God, and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
March with palm branches all the way to the altar. The LORD is my God!
I will praise him and tell him how thankful I am.
Tell the LORD how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful.

The waving of palms and laying down of clothes were signs of achievement and victory.
Jesus encouraged the honour bestowed on him. (Otherwise the stones would shout it out!) He claimed to be the One who comes in the Name of the LORD. He marched with the palm waving people to the altar in God’s temple, to cleanse it from greed and to judge those who turned it into a robbers’ den.

He deliberately came into the city in this manner, to fulfil the words written in Zechariah 9: 9 – 10:
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the revert the ends of the earth.

But did the marching crowd remember that the prophet said that under this King’s rule the war horses of Ephraim (Israel) will be taken away and their bows would be broken? No, because they craved a political and military hero, they quoted the prophecy out of context. They only took from it what suited their own whims and desires.

But Jesus came to fulfil the prophecy within the framework of God’s announcement through Zechariah. That being lowly, he rode on donkey and claims victory by proclaiming peace to the nations. Through the gospel of peace and reconciliation, between God and man, and man and man, his rule through granting salvation, would extend from sea to sea!

The humble donkey became a throne for not only a King, but for the Son of God himself. Jesus used what was considered of little value, in this case a donkey, to be elevated to carry even God himself, our Lord and our Saviour. For our God saves as a peace maker and triumphs through sacrifice and suffering for our sake! The Son of God came into Jerusalem in peace and humility and he rode on a donkey to symbolise the character of his victorious kingdom.

We have to believe that evil is overcome by peace and humility. We have to believe that justice is restored through sacrificial love.

Jesus liberates from all our enemies, from the source and root of our problems: sin, evil, and death itself! This is the rule and reign Jesus Christ had in mind when he allowed the crowd to hail him as the son of David, the glorious Messiah of God and to wave their palms and throw their clothes on the road before him. He entered the city to triumph over evil by being crucified, buried, resurrected, and returned to heaven.

People of God! On Palm Sunday wave your palms! Take courage and proclaim God’s victory over sin, judgement, corruption, poverty, disease, and war. Overcome the real enemy of the people – evil, sin, death, selfishness, greed and lies, in the Name of the King of peace who rides on a donkey.

On Palm Sunday wave your palms! Remember their call to you:
Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
He is indeed the Prince of Peace.
Can you see that he brings peace? Look! The Lord of the universe rides on a donkey!

Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday is a universal Christian feast celebrated on the Sunday before Easter, one week before the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This feast commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his arrest. This entry is mentioned in all four Gospels, which indicates significance ascribed to it in the church during the time when the Gospels were written. (Mark 11:1–11, Matthew 21:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19).

According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, to fulfil the prophecy that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem in this manner. The celebrating people laid down their cloaks in front of him, and also laid down small branches of trees. They sang part of Psalms 118: 25–26 –“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” In Eastern tradition a donkey is an animal of peace and a horse an animal of war. The triumphant entry of Jesus on a donkey proclaims him as a King, but as the promised Prince of Peace.

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week when we remember the last days before the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Music that hails Jesus as Saviour and King is sung and we celebrate that the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God arrived at the altar on Golgotha to be slaughtered during the Jewish Passover, to die for our sins and set us free to serve in the Kingdom of God.

Hymns for Palm Sunday.
While children carry in the palm branches, the congregation may sing the following song from Songs of Fellowship 189, while the children wave the palm fronds:

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!
Lord, we lift up your Name,
with hearts full of praise;
be exalted o Lord our God!
Hosanna in the highest.

Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Lord, we lift up your Name,
with hearts full of praise;
be exalted o Lord our God!
Glory to the King of kings.

The following classic Palm Sunday Hymn is sung to the music of “The Church’s one foundation”:

All glory, laud, and honour
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou art the King of Israel,
thou David's royal Son,
who in the Lord's Name comest,
the King and Blessed One.

The company of angels
are praising thee on high;
and mortal men and all things
created, make reply.
The people of the Hebrews
with palms before thee went;
our praise and prayer and anthems
before thee we present.

To thee, before thy passion,
they sang their hymns of praise;
to thee, so high exalted,
our melody we raise.
Thou didst accept their praises:
accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest,
thou good and gracious King.

Our closing hymn on Palm Sunday is sung to the music of “Glorious things of thee are spoken”. (My lyrics, but feel free to use them).

Jesus Christ, o Lord almighty,
David’s son, yet holy, free!
We will always praise, adore Thee,
God for all eternity.
Praise our Lord, He is our bounty,
our inheritance is He.
Sing hosanna, bring Him glory,
laud his gracious majesty!

Jesus Christ, o Lord, almighty,
reigns with God eternally.
Who forever aids and helps me,
saves His Church so graciously.
Sing hosanna, bring Him glory,
merciful and great is He!
He who leads His chosen people -
worship Him, praise ceaselessly!

The message of the kingdom of God that Jesus taught, led to his crucifixion – part 2

At the heart of the message Jesus taught while on earth, was that God’s rule and reign has come. We read in Mark 1 :14 & 15 that Jesus said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news”. The priests murdered him for this. They wanted to hold on to their privilege and control – and Jesus led his church to become part of God’s rule and reign. Thus Jesus died as a result of announcing the Kingdom of God and then he inaugurated it through his cross and resurrection.

If Jesus came to establish the reign of God on earth, if he proclaimed this message in words and works, and if, in the end, this message led him to the cross, how does his Gospel impact on what we believe and how we follow him today?

1. We should live every moment realizing that he made us part of the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). This call is still applicable today. When we accept God’s rule, we also accept his values. His priorities, so radically different from what the world aspires to, I need to make my own, because if I am in the kingdom of God, I should live accordingly.

2. Jesus came to change the world and redeem the lost. Like Jesus, we too should seek the kingdom of God. We should proclaim that when we are part of his kingdom, we are both redeemed and changed to become people under God’s reign. We then live to heal both people and our world, to love our enemies, heal the sick and rehabilitate the paradise, our planet, which God gave us to enjoy and protect. This we do by living faithfully as an active member of the community of Jesus.

3. We who live in the community of Jesus must not want to lord over others, but to serve our King in serving our fellow believers. We do not live to build our own kingdoms anymore, but we live to the glory of the great and almighty King.

4. In the kingdom of God we live in the power and hope of the resurrection. The message, miracles and cross of Jesus would have been long forgotten if he did not rise from the grave and is now alive to exercise his royal authority. We put our trust in Jesus today, and we too die at the cross, in order to live, through the Holy Spirit, in the glorious kingdom that Jesus came to announce and establish. This hope sustains us as continue to live in the “already and not yet” of the kingdom of God. And we know that one day the kingdom of God will come in full power and the victory of God will be complete.

The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. Amen!

The cross of Christ - for decoration or salvation?

The saving power of the cross of Christ
(Read Mark 15:25-39)

Religious actions and symbols sometimes become the enemy of Christianity. There obviously is a place for some of it, but too often these things hold a primary place in one’s life, instead of a secondary one. When too much emphasis is placed on the symbols of Christianity rather than on the substance of it, the symbols themselves become useless and meaningless.

Crosses are the most important examples of this. Many thousands wear crosses of gold and silver. They often are beautifully decorated – even with precious stones! But one can wear a cross, and remain completely unaware of the real meaning of the true cross, the irreplaceable cross of Jesus Christ. The cross can so easily become just another item of jewellery and decoration. It can become only be a trademark of the church, a mere symbol or logo of the Christian faith, and nothing more.

But there were no jewels in the cross where our Lord died for our sins. I am afraid that many lost the true understanding of the cross. How about you? What does the cross on which Jesus died mean to you?

You may be involved in religion, yet never come to understand the true significance of the cross on which the Saviour died. You may end up with little more than a sentimental feeling inspired by a beautiful golden ornament, rather than a rugged, cruel instrument of death and punishment that revealed the love of God. for sinners

In order to understand the real significance of the cross, we have to listen to the Word of God. There we find a radically different picture of what the cross really means. In the Bible we see a picture which, if received in faith, has the power to change your life. It is a picture that changed human history.

The true cross, a Roman instrument for executing the death penalty, on which the Saviour paid for my sins and reconciled me with God, has immeasurable faith power and immense promise.

Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, we can have hope, faith, love and salvation. Because of the cross of Christ, we receive forgiveness. Because of the cross of Christ, our lives find purpose and meaning. Because of the cross of Christ, we are made whole. In the cross we find healing and freedom. The cross of Christ has saving power.

Paul said: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." The cross of Jesus should make a radical difference in your life.

What does the cross of Jesus mean to you? Does it impact on your whole life and set you free from the slavery of evil?

Jesus stumbled and fell on his way to the cross. But there is no doubt that he intended to be crucified on that cross. He was born to, and lived, to die on the cross. He knew that the cross was his purpose and his calling. He knew that it was God’s will for him and that it was God’s way to redeem his people. The cross was the highest priority for Jesus Christ. It had precedence above anything else in his ministry.

What does the cross mean to you? Have you experienced its power in your life? Is the cross only a decoration to you, or have you received salvation through its saving power that would change your life? Have the old "you" died at the cross, in order to bring the new "you" who lives for God, to life?

At the foot of the cross stood a Roman officer. He had witnessed many crucifixions, but this one was completely different. The officer saw something he had never seen before. He saw how Jesus, the Christ of God, died.
When we see the death of the Saviour on the cross, we may, through his resurrection power know that he truly is the ever living Son of God!

Jesus loves me! He who died, heaven’s gate to open wide!

Jesus loves me! This I know,
for the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes! Jesus loves me (X3)
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! He who died,
heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
let His little child comes in.
Yes! Jesus loves me (X3)
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
close beside me all the way;
Then His little child will take
up to heaven, for His dear sake.
Yes! Jesus loves me (X3)
The Bible tells me so.

How did the teaching and ministry of Jesus lead to his crucifixion? – part 1

What was at the heart of the message Jesus taught while on earth?
Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. We read in Mark 1 :14 & 15 that Jesus said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news”.

What did Jesus mean by the expression “the Kingdom of God”?
According to the form in the original language, Jesus referred to the presence and power of God’s reign, more than the place of his rule. Jesus spoke about God exercising his authority, in our lives, in heaven and in all aspects of life on earth.

How did Jesus choose to proclaim God’s rule and reign?
Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God through his teaching and parables, but also through his miracles, healings and casting out of demons. He showed in his acts, his supernatural works, that our God reigns.

When is the Kingdom of God coming?
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God, his dominion and rule, has both come and also is coming in our lives and our world. He taught that it has come, and is still coming as well, because it is not yet fully here. Like in the case of a pregnant mother, where one may say that a new baby exists, yet it has not been born yet.
The Kingdom comes in our lives and world, yet we are not perfectly obedient yet and grows daily in obedience. The Kingdom has come on earth, yet evil still impacts vastly on our existence.

How is the Kingdom of God coming?
According to Jesus, the reign of God will come through his death on a cross and through his glorious victory over the grave. Through his sacrifice he would take God’s judgment upon himself and give himself as ransom to redeem us from the rule of sin. And through his victory he would grant us deliverance from being slaves of evil.

How did his message, teaching and ministry lead to the crucifixion of Jesus?
The priests, loyal to Rome, misunderstood the words of Jesus and feared that it would cause an uprising that threatened their privileged position within society. The priestly hierarchy in Jerusalem believed that to overthrow the rule of Rome was a threat to the fragile peace of Judea and therefore to the temple worship that the Romans freely allowed, as long as the Jews accepted Roman rule. The Jewish priests sought to crucify Jesus, to get rid of him and to warn others not to follow in his footsteps in proclaiming the rule of God as passionately as Jesus did.

In closing: Although the message, the cross and the resurrection of Jesus always impacts on society through the words and ministry of Jesus and his followers, it does not strive to replace the rule of those with earthly authority, but proclaims the rule of God over all of our lives and our institutions and governments. Jesus demands that both people, the church and governments obediently surrender to his divine heavenly authority.

(In part 2 of this devotion, next Wednesday, we will ask how we should follow Jesus who both announced the Kingdom of God and inaugurated it through his cross and victory.).

The envy of the priests

Because Pilate believed Jesus was innocent, he offered to release Jesus. The reason given was, according to Mark15: 10, "For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered him up because of envy."

The envy of the priests kept them from receiving Jesus as Christ and Saviour.

Envy is a powerful emotion. It drives a person to do terrible and ungodly things in order to pursue selfish gains and purposes. To envy is to desire to have what someone else has. Envy is an evil and resentful desire to have the blessings someone else enjoys. It leads to lies, gossip, division, anger and hatred.

This is the desire the religious officials felt towards Jesus. And just as envy kept them from Jesus, so it can keep you from him. Beware of it.

Instead of envy, we must have humility.
Instead of disappointment in God, we must replace it with surrender to his perfect, sovereign will for our lives.
Instead of cowardice, we must have boldness.
And instead of prejudice, we must have love:
The love that comes from God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Lenten Hymn 2

To mock your reign, o dearest Lord,
they made a crown of thorns,
set you with taunts along the road
from which no one returns.

They did not know, as we do now,
that glorious is your crown,
that thorns would flower upon your brow,
your sorrows heal our own.

O gracious Lord, a scorching lake,
a symphony of pain,
when God and man you did forsake -
for love and mercy’s reign!

They did not know, as we do now,
though powers rise and fall,
your kingdom shall not cease to grow
till love embraces all!

Jesus died, that we my be truly alive – part 3 - final.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

Receiving a new life in Christ does not mean that I am perfect now. I still sin as a result of my weak human nature. But if my attitudes change, and my view of whom I am in Christ Jesus change, I will find that this new identity inspires me to seek to be obedient to my Lord. What changes, is that I now live by faith in the Son.

Even when a donkey lives its whole life in a stable with horses, it will not change into a horse. It is possible for a person to live a whole life in the Church and never become a Christian. And it is possible for a Christian to live a whole life with the knowledge of being a new creature in Christ and never enjoy the resurrection life.
Only those who have faith can be obedient, and only the obedient, have faith!
We need faith that what the Bible says about us becoming new people who are alive in Christ, to be true and in obedience seek to walk the talk. This is what God desires for us.

To be crucified with Christ and raised to live his life with him should have practical implications for everything we do.

If you understand what it means to be “crucified with Christ” and that you became a new person through his resurrection, you will not be able to forget this truth. Because you received salvation when you realized that Christ died for you and you acted upon it. Because you received salvation, you will never be the same person again. When we in faith begin to expect the Lord to live in us and through us, our lives will change and we will desire for ourselves what God always desired for us.

Expectations mean a lot. Children most often become the people their parents tell them they will become. Telling a child that he is naughty most probably will inspire disobedience, but making him understand his true potential will increase his performance and positive life choices.
In the same way, we all have seen that those who accepted God’s expectations for them change and give them the will and inspiration to grow spiritually in order to live the life that Jesus provided through his cross and resurrection.

What a joy it is to me that more and more members, often our younger members, come to see me to ask how they can grow spiritually and desire to become what Christ expects them to become and to sacrifice what God expects them to. Accepting in faith what the Word tells me the Lord thinks and dreams about me, is powerful. It is life changing and it is exciting.

How others see us is important for our self image. But how God sees us is essential. And how we see ourselves is vital. If we see ourselves as people whose old self, the disobedient person, died with Christ and that we are alive with Christ, we can never be the same again.

By faith in Jesus we see that by the grace of God the old self has been put to death. This is my daily inspiration to seek obedience to my Lord. It inspires selfless prayers to discover God’s plan for my life. It arouses a need to learn more and more about Jesus. It makes me thirsty for being truly alive in terms of God’s definition and in terms of Christ’s expectation for me. This is why we say with Paul "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself up for me."

This is truly who we are - crucified with Christ and raised up to live and do as those who contain the living Lord, who is our life. May we discover this Lenten Season why Jesus died for us. And how we may live for him. And may we be truly ready to celebrate the Eastertide!

During Lent: remember that Jesus prayed for the Church.

John 17:15-19: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

We need to pray for the church. We need to pray with the same heart that Jesus did when he prayed for his Church in his darkest hour, as he prayed on the way of suffering.

Jesus prayed for his Church in Gethsemane and his prayer had an urgent intensity about it. Here in the garden he reached the difficult place of choosing God's will and not his own. The way of suffering, the cross and death were before him, and yet his prayer was for the Church.

What did Jesus pray for?
1. Not for the absence of suffering, but for protection from the evil one.
Jesus did not pray for the Church to have an easy or prosperous life, but for the safety of those who follow him. Therefore, we as the church may be in the wrong place if we only experience peace and serenity. We are not of the world, because we are sanctified by the Truth. We are sent into a world where the Truth has many enemies and Jesus prayed that we may be protected as we spread the Word about him.

2. Jesus did not want to see the church become like the world. No, we are to become more like Jesus. Our sanctification is a process where we become more Christ-like, in spite of the resistance of the evil world around us.

3. Jesus prayed that his Church will go into the world, in spite of the dangers that want to rob us from the Truth of Christ. We need to, like Christ, serve the world as the humble servants of God and of the needs of the world, as Jesus did! We are changed into the likeness of Christ as we give ourselves for the salvation of the world.

4. As Christ sends us to work for him for the sake of a lost world, we are always under the cover of his prayer that we may be protected!

Jesus died that I may be truly alive - part 2

Devotions during Lent
Jesus died that I may be truly alive - part 2

Galatians 2: 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

All of us want to be alive. More than that, we want to know that we are really living and enjoying the complete joy of those who truly live. Here in Galatians 2:20 we find the secret of how to really live. We find here that only by being dead can we become truly alive.

Christians everywhere struggle with the challenge to be alive with Jesus. The struggle comes from having a sincere desire to belong to Jesus, yet realizing that we are, in our own strength, powerless to live for him. The good news is that God does not only know this need and struggle, but also provided for our struggle. He made a plan, and according to Gal 2: 20 the plan is that true life only comes out of death.

If I have been “crucified with Christ”, my old self with all its limitations has been put to death. This helps our understanding of who we really are, now that we are in Christ. It releases us from the struggle to live the Christian life in our own strength.

The solution is not to be found in the renovation of the old self. You can clean up the old self, change it, and in every way seek to improve it, but it remains the old self! We need to become a new person. The way God has chosen to deal with the old person, is not to improve it, but to remove it. This is what it means to be “crucified with Christ.” We have been set free from the old self and Satan no longer has any right to claim us as his own. We received a new identity, because we are crucified with Christ, and a new person rose with Jesus from the grave when we received him as our Saviour.

It is like a glove. A glove cannot do anything by itself. It needs a hand to fill it. When the glove has a hand inside, it is able to do all sorts of things. We are like that glove. What we need is the Lord to fill us with his presence, and therefore with his power. Jesus fills us with his presence through the Holy Spirit that gives us the faith through which we accept Jesus and the power through we live for the Lord.

The first step is to receive Jesus in faith. The second step is to live in and for Jesus through faith in him.

And the good news is that, as God’s children, we have Christ living within us through his Spirit. The old person, who deserves only judgment, has died – has been crucified with Christ. I am now a new person, in Christ.

(In part 3, next week, we ask the practical question – if this is so – why do I still sin?)

Judas!

Luke 22:47-48: While Jesus was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?"

It was the custom that a student would greet his teacher with a kiss in Biblical times – to show respect and to show submission. It would be similar to the kiss of a son given to a father today! Judas chose to use this sign of respect, to betray the Lord
How many times did we reverently confess Jesus as Lord, yet we are continuously reinforcing ourselves as the real lord of our lives? How many times have we worshiped Jesus, saying and singing that we are in awe of his sacrifice - with our mouths - not with a kiss but with words, only to again abandon him in our souls and in our works?

Prayer:
“O Lord, as much as I hate to confess it, there is a bit of Judas in me. Forgive me for the times when I pledged allegiance to you, made promises to you, (even in church with the congregation as witnesses) only to discard you in the way that I live. Help me to see where my message to you is a mixed one, where worship and praise and betrayal and deceit live in the very same heart. Deliver me oh Lord, for what I do, is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing!
Through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen."

Lenten Hymn

Jesus, who this our Lententide,
of abstinence hast sanctified,
be with Thy church in saving power,
in this her penitential hour!

And as thou dost, forgive the past,
Thy sheltering arms around us cast
that we may in Thy grace remain,
and fall not back to sins again.

Make, Lord, this Lenten discipline,
a penitence for all our sin,
and through these days,
ourselves prepare,
the joys of Eastertide to share.

or

Make Lord your death remembrance day
a penitence for all our sins.
And through this day
ourselves prepare
the joys of Eastertide to share.

Harvard University Hymn Book 146