Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Today’s text

Mark 11:4-10

They went off and found a colt tethered near a door in the open street. As they untied it, some men standing there said, 'What are you doing, untying that colt?' They gave the answer Jesus had told them, and the men let them go. Then they took the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on its back, and he mounted it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others greenery which they had cut in the fields. And those who went in front and those who followed were all shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of David our father! Hosanna in the highest heavens!'

Reflection

When Jesus came to Jerusalem he came to conquer, but unlike those who came before him he carried no sword or shield. He rode no warhorse, nor was he pulled in a chariot by a prancing steed.

He bore no visible sign of power or empire; no military ensigns preceded him, trumpeting his arrival.

He came not to knock down walls or destroy his opponents but to conquer the human heart, to win allegiance to a new and holy kingdom where every living thing has its place, where all that breathes is loved and treasured, where the hungry have their needs fulfilled, where the broken find relief and blessing, and the forgotten feel how treasured they are in the hearts of God and all who belong to God.

His is a kingdom of peace where the heart of God becomes human reality, where the love of God flows like a fountain through every soul and the bliss of Eden is restored, where tears are wiped from the eyes of those who grieve and death is feared no more because every heart knows the love of God is stronger than death.

He comes in humility, seeking hearts who hunger for the kingdom of God, the rule of grace, the reign of blessed peace.

“Hosanna,” the crowds cried as he approached the ancient city of Jerusalem, already occupied by Roman, forces who ruled by fear and force, brutality and murder. The word is a prayer for mercy, “Save us, we pray.”

It’s a good prayer, as relevant now as then in our angry, violent, hungry age where the needy are oft forgotten and nations still believe peace comes through superior power not through commitment to justice and compassion.

Waving palms as Jesus passes is a prayer for God’s kingdom of compassion and peace. It is an act of surrender in which we turn from the way of the warhorse and give ourselves to his love that the holy kingdom might come … and come also through us.

Pr. David L. Miller