The Gift of Time - Ephesians 5:1-20

Easter is past and we’re now in the church season of Eastertide. Good Friday and Easter remind us of the gifts Jesus has given us of forgiveness, grace, and acceptance; among others. In this season of Eastertide, we’ll be reflecting on a few gifts God has given us and how we can use them to grow more like Jesus and to build his kingdom here. This morning we’re reflecting on this passage in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus and how we allow the Holy Spirit to form us and how that shapes how we use our time. Each of us is given 24 hours each day and how we use these hours, how we walk through these hours, and what we focus on in these hours, shapes our faith and who we are.

Paul begins by encouraging the church to “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” The word “Follow” is not a command, but the way it’s written shows that this is what they are already doing, “Following God’s example right now at this time, walk in the way of love.” Paul’s reminding them that as followers of Jesus, our lives are all about being like Jesus, walking his way, the way of loving God and neighbour, giving our lives to God as our offering and gift.

As Paul, and other Biblical writers do, he shows us 2 ways of living and being, 2 different ways of using our time; one focused on walking Jesus’ way and the other focused on the way of the world. The ways and culture of Ephesus was very different from the way of Jesus. Ephesus was both a business and cultural center, connecting east and west. Ephesus was an influential center for magic and the practice of the occult, drawing mystics and exorcists from around the known world. It was also home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, goddess of the hunt, wilderness, nature, and childbirth. She was much loved by the people. The goddess was also a great source of income for businesses in Ephesus, which created a confrontation between Paul and these business people.

Luke tells of this confrontation in Acts 19, “About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Jesus’ way is different, as Carol Penner writes, “calling Christians to become part of the kingdom of Light, to give up with ways of darkness, to be different than people in the world. When people around you are greedy and are worshipping money, you are called to be a follower of Jesus. When people around you are treating their sexuality lightly and loosely, you are called to be pure, to treat these sexual gifts with reverence. When everyone around you is partying and getting drunk and using foul language, you are called to be a follower of Jesus, to be a light to the world.”

Paul calls the church in Ephesus to “be careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity… understand what the Lord’s will is… Be filled with the Spirit… always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Choosing how you’re going to live your faith out in the world was a big thing in the early church, they looked closely at the things they did during the day and week and began thinking about whether they aligned with who Jesus is and with what Jesus taught, using the idea of light and darkness, or day and night. They realized that what they believed shaped their values which then shaped how they lived and who they were becoming as followers of Jesus. It all begins with accepting Jesus as your Lord over Caesar or any of the other gods and goddesses. When we follow Jesus together as a church, then others will see a community of people who will have different priorities and values which determines how they use their gifts, skills, and time.

Followers of Jesus are always going to stand out from the culture around them. It’s no different today. Today we’re in a transition from the modern culture to a postmodern culture; our foundations of belief and value are changing. Jim Leffel of the Crossroads Project mentions some of the ways culture has changed over the past 20 years, and how people’s understanding of things has shifted. Reality is now in the mind of the beholder. Reality is what's real to me, and I create my own reality in my mind. There’s a growing assumption that people are unable to think independently because they’re molded by their culture and that we cannot judge things in another culture or another person’s life because their truth is just as legitimate as mine. There’s a lack of trust in authority since authority is based on someone else’s belief on how things should be. It leads to a lack of a solid foundation on which to build a life together as a community or society as everyone creates their own values and beliefs. One result is a growing lack of respect for others who think or believe differently from me.

If you look at how these changes in how culture sees and understands life, you begin to understand how some of these new beliefs and values have even entered the church today. All religion, including Christianity, is reduced to the level of opinion as everyone decides what’s true and real for themselves. This leads to a different idolatry today, we ourselves have become our own idols, we make ourselves the creators of truth, and deciders of who belongs to my community. God and Jesus get put to the side unless they affirm our beliefs and truths.

We find our identity, hope, salvation, meaning, purpose in Jesus and not in ourselves. But before we call others to follow Jesus with us, we need to truly embrace Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, to commit ourselves to following him in all areas of our life in a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude, completely giving ourselves over to Jesus and his truth and way. Christianity declares that it is unique and that it does matter what we believe, we believe that sin exists, sin has consequences, and anyone ignoring those truths will face those consequences. We believe in grace and forgiveness, that Jesus took all our sin onto himself in order to make us right with God the Father. Because of what Jesus did, we are now adopted children of God, precious children whom Jesus paid that huge cost to save, and this means serving him and not ourselves.

Because of how immense Jesus’ sacrifice is, faith and forgiveness is given to us as a free gift from God the Father, and our response is to accept Jesus as Lord and respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This shapes our lives and how we use the gift of time. Paul addresses this in verses 15-20, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Wisdom is rooted in God and the way Jesus called us to follow. Living as wise is about living well in relationship with God, others, ourselves, and creation. Wisdom looks like taking the teaching and life of Jesus seriously, understanding what the Lord’s will is, allowing Jesus to shape our priorities, our values, and how we live and use our time. Faith in Jesus forms what we believe, our character, and what we do. At the heart of our faith is relationships, loving God more than anything else, and actively loving our neighbour. In loving our neighbour by feeding them when they’re hungry, giving water when they thirst, clothing them when naked, visiting when sick or in prison, we are actively loving Jesus too.

Wisdom living is kingdom focused, asking ourselves, “How can we live out the values of justice, righteousness, shalom, hospitality, and being a blessing in our community so that it is a place of flourishing for all.” We can use our time to please ourselves, to focus on building our kingdoms, and following our dreams, or we can live in gratitude, thanking God for everything and using our gift of time wisely to raise our children and youth to know Jesus, to invest in others to help them see who they are in Jesus, and to create healthy communities, both in and outside the church, that help each person to discover and develop their God given gifts to benefit and bless each other.

Were You There… When He Arose - Mark 16:1-8

                

What does Easter mean to you? That’s a question that was asked of me this week and it made me think. Easter’s about resurrection and new life, it’s about renewal and restoration with God, it’s about hope and grace, it’s about the gift of forgiveness from our sins, and for me it also includes a certain amount of fear due to some of my own history and ways of understanding Jesus and God. For many of us, Easter begins with Palm Sunday, but for me it’s always begun with Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave a few days before that, so Easter is framed with the resurrection of Lazarus and Jesus. In between are lots of ups and downs spiritually and emotionally, lots of pain and uncertainty, and for me, a realization that I’m so much like the people we’ve been looking at the past number of weeks. I experience ups and downs in life and even faith, knowing how undeserving I am of what Jesus went through.

The love and commitment on the part of Jesus to walk that journey of taking all my sin on himself and experiencing the rejection and separation of God so I don’t have to, does scare me because I know that I can never live up to that love and commitment. As Tim Keller writes, “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” All I can do is accept his act of love with a grateful heart and try to let that love and commitment shape who I am. Gratefulness and hope is what Easter is for me.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, is the cry of the church on Easter morning!  The cross and the tomb are empty. Jesus was crucified and gave up his life while hung between heaven and earth on that tree, rejected so that we don’t have to experience God’s rejection due to our sin. After Jesus breathed his last breath, everything changed. Mark writes his Gospel to call us to see Jesus, to stand in amazement about who Jesus is. Mark wants us to go “Wow, that’s who Jesus is!” The women who come to anoint Jesus’ body are alarmed at the angel’s presence, but there's the sense that in their alarm, they're also amazed and overwhelmed with wonder at this young man in his white robes and the news he gives them. All these emotions are wrapped together. This is a normal human reaction to encountering the sacred, the unknown, the unexpected. When we first encounter the sacred, the unknown or the unexpected, it can be overwhelming, fear and amazement. These times to open ourselves to the unexpected, the possibilities that the unknown and sacred hold.

G.K. Chesterton describes this scene so well, “On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of a gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool, not of the evening but of the dawn.”

The young man speaks, "Don't be alarmed, you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him!" Where are you looking for Jesus, for hope, for direction in your life? This morning, are you walking to the tomb, the place of hopelessness and endings, looking for hope, for someone who understands you, who understands life? This is why Easter is such good news, because Jesus is risen, he's alive! Jesus' followers have mourned, they've grieved but now hope is given! The resurrection shows us that Jesus really is who he says he is and all his promises are true. Jesus forgave sins, he healed, he raised people from the dead, he encouraged and built them up to be more than they ever thought they could be, he told us that God is our Father and we are his beloved children. All these things we can trust because of Easter.

"But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" The ones being called to go meet Jesus again are the very ones who abandoned and denied Jesus; the ones afraid and hiding in an upper room are being called into the day to come see the one who gives freedom from fear and courage to move forward confessing their allegiance anew to their rabbi. Jesus is calling you to meet him, no matter what you’ve done, no matter how many times you’ve walked away from him, he invites you to come and follow him, walking with him through life, inviting you to give up your old life so you can have his new life. Repent and believe is all that Jesus calls you to do.

It’s believed that Mark is telling Peter’s story in his Gospel, and so it makes it special that the angel’s encouraging message is not only to the disciples, but especially to Peter. "Tell his disciples and Peter," Peter’s singled out by the angel. Brash bold Peter couldn't live up to his boasts, brave Peter turned out not to be so brave after all and now he cowers in shame and embarrassment. The followers of Jesus are called to go to Galilee to meet him there. They're told to remember what he taught them about himself.

The empty tomb is news that’s not meant to be kept to ourselves. “But go, tell,” The two verbs are command verbs. The angel is talking to the disciples through the women, Peter especially. Jesus is already going ahead of them to the place of his early ministry in Galilee, “there you will see him, just as he told you.” During the Passover meal Jesus had reminded them of what the prophet Zechariah wrote hundreds of years earlier, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,” but right after quoting Zechariah, Jesus goes, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” The disciples are the sheep who have been scattered in the painful events of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial; the shepherd is now gathering his scattered sheep, filling them with strength and hope again.

The women walked through the darkness of hopelessness and loss on Friday and Saturday, but now light is beginning to shine through. Just as the sunrise marked the beginning of a new day, this young man in shining white robes offers the light of hope to the women. It's a new day, it’s a new time in history with the resurrection of Jesus; the Holy Spirit is flowing out into the world, soon to be given personally as a gift to those who follow Jesus. It’s new covenant time, when the Law’s no longer simply commandments written on tablets of stone, but the presence of the Holy Spirit in each follower of Jesus.

Jesus' death and resurrection not only brings us freedom from sin and the washing away of the stains and disease of sin that infects us; it's new life and who you’re becoming as a follower of Jesus and child of God, free from your old identity shaped by shame and guilt into a new identity shaped by the image of God you're created in. As you embrace Jesus’ teachings, his life, and his Spirit, you start to look more like Jesus, to act like Jesus, and to even think and love like Jesus.

Jesus' death and resurrection is confirmation of God's deepest love and commitment to you; a sign that God never gives up on you and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to show you that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord," as Paul writes in Romans 8.

Mark goes on, "trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." The tomb is empty, the call is to go see Jesus. This is so not what they were expecting. Mark says they were trembling and bewildered, the words used also mean astonished and amazed; the reality of the resurrection is sinking in!

Francis Chan tells us, “By rising from the dead, Jesus proved his power over sin and death. The Father accepted his sacrifice on our behalf, and we are redeemed—restored to a relationship with him.” Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence is always with us. We’re never alone. We have God’s resurrection power in us. We’re loved. The resurrection reminds us that Jesus’ love gets the final say. That’s the best news ever. Jesus offers us gift upon gift in what he did for us. When we trust in him, we find new life and hope and in response, we’re called to worship and celebrate. At Christmas, we celebrated Jesus’s first coming and we now look forward to his return. During Easter, we celebrate everything Jesus has done for us and look forward to the ways we can gratefully serve him here. Just as the angel told the women to “Go and tell,” we’re also called to go and tell the world about the resurrection and new life found in Jesus. 

Were You There… Beneath the Cross - Mark 15:33-39

             

It’s Good Friday, a day like no other in the history of humanity, the day God dies on a cross because humanity doesn’t feel safe with God with us, with God moving into the neighbourhood, as Eugene Peterson translates John 1:14 in The Message, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” The world gathers under the cross to watch the Word silenced.

A darkness like no other darkness covers the land for three hours. The historian Eusebius writes, “Note how clearly was fulfilled the prophecy of our Savior’s passion. It was to be a day in which “there shall be no light.” “From the sixth hour to the ninth hour there was darkness over all the earth.” … This was also fulfilled figuratively by his priestly persecutors, for among them came darkness, cold and ice, following upon their indignities to the anointed One. Their understanding also was darkened, so that the light of the gospel did not shine in their hearts, and their love to God grew cold.” Jewish and early church teachers often used the things going on around them to describe God and our faith life, here pointing us to the darkness in our own souls because of our disconnect with God and Jesus due to the sin in us.  

In the darkness, it feels as if the light of the world has been extinguished, that evil has triumphed. For those beneath the cross, it looks as if Jesus just isn’t strong enough, yet appearances can be deceiving. Augustine talks about the power Jesus shows on the cross, “Those robbers crucified next to him, did they breathe their last when they wanted to? They were held fast by the chains of the flesh because they were not the creators of the flesh. Fastened by nails, they were tormented for a long time because they were not masters of their infirmity. But the Lord took on flesh in the virgin’s womb when he wished it. He came forth to humanity when he wished it. He lived in history as long as he wished it. He departed from the flesh when he wished it. This is a sign of power, not of necessity.” Jesus knows what he’s doing, he isn’t forced onto the cross, he isn’t forced to die there, Jesus chooses to do so in order to defeat Satan and death for us.

As the darkness lifts, Jesus cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani.,” My, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus is experiencing the loss of connection between himself and the Father and the Spirit for the first time in eternity; Jesus has never experienced this before. One writer describes it this way, “The longer the love, the deeper the love, the greater the torment of its loss… Jesus was experiencing our judgement day.” Jesus is forsaken by God so that we never have to experience God forsaking us; the judgement that is supposed to be ours falls on Jesus instead. Mark wants us to feel what Jesus experiences for us. Mark wants us to feel Jesus’ agony in verse 34, his point is not theological or doctrinal, though Jesus’ atonement for our sin is part of what’s happening here. Sometimes we need to simply hear and feel what the gospel writers tell us instead of interpreting them.

Scott Hoezee takes us to the Apostles’ Creed to help us understand what’s happening as Jesus cries out, “You didn’t want anything to do with me; you will never have anything to do with me, and that is the experience of hell, and that is what Jesus did. So, in the Apostles’ Creed, according to the Reformers anyway, when we say the line: He descended into hell, Calvin says that was this moment on the cross; not a literal descent into a place, but the moment of being abandoned by Father and Spirit, which is sin’s greatest and worst punishment.” We have pictures of hell being a place of brimstone and fire, but these images are not even close to what hell really is. Hell is separation from God: the God who is life and gave us life through his own breath, God who is unconditional love, a love we see lived out among us in Jesus. Jesus tastes the bitterness of hell for us.

The people beneath the cross hear Jesus wrong, thinking he’s calling out to the prophet Elijah and they try to ease his thirst, but Jesus refuses their offering. Then, with a loud cry, Jesus breaths his last. The unthinkable has just happened, God has died just like anyone of us, poetically, the universe bows its head and weeps. Mark tells us that when Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shakes and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the world is ripped apart and the Holy Spirit flows out of the temple and into the world. Tim Keller writes, “This is God’s way of saying, “This is the sacrifice that ends all sacrifices, the way is now open to approach me.” Now that Jesus has died, anyone who believes in him can see God, can connect to God. The barrier is gone for good.” The Spirit of God now flows into the world from the Holy and Holies, the earth shakes, and graves are opened as God’s life pours out of the Holy of Holies.

Jesus’ death is as extraordinary as his birth and life, so much so that even a Roman centurion recognizes what the Jewish people and leaders didn’t, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark begins his history of Jesus by sharing with us who Jesus is, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” and the whole point of Mark’s gospel is to get us to sit up and go “Wow! This is who Jesus is,” and he ends with a pagan, who has no theological training or knowledge of the promised Messiah, sitting up and confessing, “Wow! That’s who Jesus is!”

The saddest part is that the Jewish leadership, and even the disciples, have failed to recognize who Jesus really is. Up to this point in Mark, no one has figured out what the centurion has, that Jesus is the Son of God. The centurion is Roman, the only Son of God he would have acknowledged would have been Caesar; the Roman coins at the time were inscribed with “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” Yet this Roman soldier, who has seen horrific things, and done horrific things as a soldier and was very comfortable with people dying, confesses Jesus as the Son of God! Something gets through the darkness he has lived in, and through, and reveals to him Jesus’ identity; the Holy Spirit pouring out of the Holy of Holies makes his first stop in this man’s heart.

The Holy Spirit is still flowing through the world, sustaining it, restraining evil, and entering hearts and lives that are open to Jesus and seeking God. In the darkness of our sin, our brokenness, the Holy Spirit comes with the healing light and hope of Jesus. This Good Friday, allow the Holy Spirit flow into your heart, and know the forgiveness and grace found on the cross in Jesus.

Were You There… as Demonstrators - Luke 19:28-40

Were you there as Jesus rode into Jerusalem? It was a crazy day, so many people around for the Passover, and now the rabbi Jesus shows up and it’s like something straight out of the prophets; he’s riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, like a king of old. Wow! The people went crazy, can this really happen? It felt so good sticking it to the Romans and the Pharisees who were always trying to keep the peace for the Romans. Let’s go!

Jerusalem’s the centre of Jewish life. Here’s where David and Solomon ruled their empires. Here’s where the Roman governor has his palace as well. Even Rome sees Jerusalem is the centre of power of this area. But Jerusalem’s also the religious centre of Israel. The temple’s been rebuilt and Jewish pilgrims come here from all over. Every Jewish man dreams of making at least one pilgrimage to Jerusalem in his lifetime. Jesus is heading into the centre of both the political and religious centres of power in Israel, and he’s on a collision course with both.

Jesus sends two of his disciples into town to pick up a colt. We know from the other Gospels, that this colt is a donkey and has never been ridden before. We read over this quickly, but it’s all a piece of the parable Jesus is playing out in front of everyone. An animal dedicated to God for the temple or synagogue was never used for regular work, so this colt, which has never been ridden before, is now being used only for God’s purposes.

Jesus tells the disciples that if anyone asks why they’re untying the colt to say that the Lord needs it. Sure enough, the disciples go and find the colt, untie it and when asked by the owners, say exactly what Jesus told them to and they’re allowed to take it. The disciples take the colt to Jesus. They understand part of the parable Jesus is acting out. The disciples put their cloaks on the colt and set Jesus on them. Pictures from the Old Testament are running through their heads; Zechariah’s words are running through their head, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 

The king they’ve been waiting for is finally here. Jesus is the lawful heir to the throne of David. Thoughts of armies, battles and victories fill their heads as they begin to shout out and praise God for all the miracles they’ve already seen. The miracle they’re getting ready to celebrate is the miracle of defeating Rome and putting Jesus on the throne in Jerusalem. After-all, how can Jesus be defeated with the power he has; over nature, disease and even death! Didn’t he say that God’s his father? That means God’s on our side and if God is with us who can be against us.

I can see Peter and Judas talking with each other as they put Jesus on the back of the colt. Both are passionate supporters of Jewish independence and want Jesus to take control. I can hear Peter already saying, “Hey Judas, I think Jesus finally gets it, he’s going to claim David’s throne. Maybe we should send word out to the villages to tell the men to get ready.” Judas replies, “I thought Jesus would never see things our way. All that talk about loving our enemies. Finally, we’ll be free again.” Both Peter and Judas have dreams for Jesus and neither one understands Jesus’ talking about going to Jerusalem to die. They only hear what they want.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem as king. This is happening just before the Passover. For the Jewish people, Passover is more than a religious observance. It’s when they celebrate liberation from slavery. During Jesus’ time, they also used this opportunity to express their longing for political freedom from Rome. Jews who claimed to be “messiahs” in the past had often caused riots during Passover, so the Romans now brought extra troops into Jerusalem during the Passover season. The Roman soldiers did not hesitate to shed blood to keep the peace.

On the Sunday before Passover, Jesus comes out of the wilderness on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, where the prophecy said the Messiah would come from. People spread cloaks and branches on the road before him. Then the disciples “began, joyfully, to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.” The crowd begins shouting, “Hosanna,” a slogan of the ultra-nationalistic Zealots, which means, “Please save us! Give us freedom! We’re sick of these Romans!” The palm branches had been on Jewish coins when the Jews were free. The palm branches are not a symbol of peace and love; they’re a symbol of Jewish nationalism and the people’s desire for political freedom. The people don’t really understand what Jesus is doing.

They give Jesus the red-carpet treatment. The people take off their cloaks and lay them on the road before the colt. They’re showing Jesus all the honour they would normally offer the emperor or his representative. This is turning into a big and very public demonstration. Pilgrims are here from all over the empire, and many of them join in the parade, waving palm branches. The crowd becomes a royal escort for Jesus as they approach Jerusalem. This is like the picture that Paul has in 1 Thessalonians when he describes the return of Jesus when he comes to claim his kingdom.

Jesus and his disciples come near to the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, and the crowd begins to praise God for all the miracles they’ve seen. They shout, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The dreams of the people are clear, they want to experience God’s blessings again through a God appointed king. The hope is that Jesus is the promised saviour who’s coming to rule on David’s throne forever. They echo the angels’ words from the night Jesus was born, now proclaimed for everyone to see and hear.

The Pharisees tell Jesus to get things under control, but Jesus tells them, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” Jesus is accepting the crown of kingship the people want to place on his head. But Jesus is not the king the people really want. When David put Solomon on the throne, Solomon rode in on a donkey rather than a warhorse because Solomon was a king of peace, not a warrior king like David. Solomon was going to be the king without blood on his hands so that he could build the temple of God without defiling it. Solomon was a king who built, not destroyed. Solomon’s reign was characterised by peace, growth, and wisdom. Jesus is showing the people that he’s a king in the tradition of Solomon. He’s not here to battle the Roman Empire; instead, he’s here to bring peace and build something new and glorious to God the Father: the church.

Despite all the misunderstanding, Jesus knowingly rides into controversy, pain, and death. In the middle of all the hopes and dreams for a warrior king, Jesus rides in as a king of peace. However, the crowd is so blinded by their hopes and dreams for political freedom, that they only see Jesus as a warrior king. Demonstrators always have demands, they want change to go their way, they support those who promise to change things to what they want. Not much different today, we keep looking to political leaders, to organizations that come together to gain influence, to give us freedom and what we want, but all they do is use us for their visions.

Our freedom is freedom from sin, from the power of Satan, not freedom as our world defines it. We’re free to serve, to humbly be Jesus followers. We’re free to serve the kingdom of heaven, not get caught up in the kingdoms of the world, our kingdom is so much more! Freedom is free, joyful, satisfying obedience to God. But we’re not used to kings today and what a king requires of us. We choose our leaders and expect our leaders to please us and follow our desires; kings in the time of Jesus were absolute rulers and the people submitted to them. Absolute obedience was demanded. Are you willing to accept Jesus as your king under these circumstances, or are you more like the people shouting “Hosanna;” desiring a king who fits their wants instead?

Jesus brings in a new kingdom characterised by forgiveness and grace, rather than power and oppression, a kingdom where leaders get on their knees and serve, and where forgiveness is offered 70 times 7 times. Jesus turns the whole world upside down with his new kingdom. The question is, “which kingdom do you choose to belong to, the world’s kingdom of power and strength and oppression; or Christ’s kingdom of forgiveness, grace and humility?” Are you willing to follow Jesus completely? On Good Friday we’re celebrating the Lord’s Supper and Jesus calls us to reflect on our lives and our allegiance. In the Lord’s Supper, we declare that we choose Jesus as our king of peace and commit to serving him as he taught us to serve: humbly and completely, in every part of our life, and with our whole heart.