Courage In The Palm Of Your Hands - Palm Sunday

Courage and destiny

The courage of easter.

This week we celebrate a man about 33 years of age – not just a good man but a great man – Jesus – son of God – Young man with an extraordinary reach. His reputation had stretched wide and far. Politicians – Kings and other powerful rulers heard of him and were stunned. They itched to meet him. His reach went out and touched the hearts of the common man and lower than that they reached down into the hearts and illnesses and, yes, the brokenness of the poorly born, the sick and disadvantaged the rejects and untouchables. His love had reached out and touched lepers his seemless relationship with his Father meant Lepers were healed – blind men celebrated the gift of light and the deaf, once again engaged in the reception of the beauty of sound.

Young man - confident – popular - with his future ahead of him

But his reputation also stretched out to those who were the keepers of the faith. The religious bigots and leaders of his day. Sincere men, but sincerely wrong – They danced to a different tune and desired that this man this Jesus would just dance to their music also.

The tempo of the drum beat beat out it’s tune that day to an excited city. Jerusalem was preparing for the Passover. A day when the Jews remembered how God had blessed them in the past and surely would do so into the future again. Blood had been spilled and they longed to remember just how blessed and safe they were because God had passed them over and death had spilled into Egypt that day Oh so long ago but they, His chosen people had been spared and here they were as they had been and ever would be. The redeemed the favoured the beautiful people basking in the sun of God’s favour.

Or would they? Because He who came. This young man who broke all their conventions walked to adifferent drum beat.

No yesterdays song here.

This Jesus – sinless son of God walked to a different drum beat and this day would be no different. While the city anticipated – here he came. Not - flinching – apparently living in the moment and the drum beat was the clip clop clip clop of a colts feet on the Middle eastern cobblestones.

Just a day before knowing what would happen –( WE read

Luke 19:41-44English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem)

(41 And when) he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

What Jesus spoke of that day happened just 70 years later.

This was no ordinary day in Jerusalem God was now asking his people to march to the tune of a different drum. History was changing as it often does – here they were at a crossroads as people often are in history as we are at this moment history is beckoning Christianity right now at the crossroads of civilisations to a new courageous walk that is both ancient and new. But who will dare to walk to the new beat of God’s drum?

Habit – pride and stubbornness often combine to stop change but change was coming – Ready or not and Jerusalem was not ready. But are we?

Clip clop clip clop – the haunting sound of the colts foot prints on the cobblestones announced the change and people noticed and people responded.

Suddenly there was activity everywhere

8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna![a]”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]

10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

The scholars should have known Zechariah had encouraged them to watch for this moment:- (Zech 9:9 [NASB77]) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The city knew for a moment they glimpsed it, the King had come but in the blink of an eye distracted by normality they missed it. As Jesus had said, the results of temporary sight were profound - “ they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” This was the moment but people didn’t get it not really but The King had come he was in the city.