SermonStudio

Sunday was a day in Jesus' life that started the week off with palms and praises -- a week that ended with persecution and passion.

Today is a strange day. I do not know if I should be happy or sad. If I were with the crowd on that first Palm Sunday, I think I would be happy, publicly shouting the praises of Jesus as he came riding into Jerusalem. If I knew at that time what the rest of the week would bring, I think I would be sad, knowing that Jesus would end up on a cross and buried in a borrowed tomb.

It is a strange day. Should I celebrate? Or should I weep? Maybe what I should do is not ask questions of myself, but ask questions of Jesus. He is, after all, the central figure in the entire drama of Holy Week. What is Jesus about at this time in his life? Did he feel like celebrating? Did he feel like weeping? Were the palms or was the passion most on his mind?

In the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are conversations of Jesus recorded before Holy Week, conversations that predict his tragic crucifixion. Jesus knew what awaited him in Jerusalem; yet, as the Scripture says, "He set his face to go to Jerusalem." Jesus had been given a mission in life and he would be faithful to that mission; he would be obedient to the will of God.

Paul also writes this about Jesus, in what some have described as the Christ hymn of the early church. Paul describes Jesus as emptying himself of his heavenly glory and taking the form of a servant. Jesus is born on earth; he humbles himself and becomes obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Jesus, the Son of God, accepts the death sentence, so that we might have life. Remember that he died because of our sin. Paul writes this truth elsewhere, that "the wages of sin is death."

Personally, this is what it means: I am a sinner, therefore I must die for my sins. My blood is the price I must pay for my rebellion against God, like Ceausescu paid for his sins against the Romanian people. The problem is that once I have paid for my sins, I am dead, finished, no more. God, not wanting me to perish, sent his son to pay the price for me. He shed his blood and died in my place, for my sins, that I might have life in his name. As that gospel verse within the Gospel of John expresses it: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

Jesus' mission was to pay the price of sin. He knew that the price would be his own life, his own blood. Yet, he did not turn aside from his mission. He was obedient, as Paul writes, "Obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."

There certainly were opportunities for Jesus to back out of his mission. He could have avoided Jerusalem altogether, simply not have gone there. He could have headed to the hills of Judea or up into the back country of Galilee and lived out his days in peace and quiet. He did not. He was obedient.

When he entered Jerusalem and the crowds welcomed him with palms and praises, he could have excited them to revolt against the Romans and also the established religious order of Jerusalem. In this way, he could set up his own little kingdom. He did not. He was obedient.

After Sunday's parade when things quieted down and he started to realize that the masses would not follow him into the Garden of Gethsemane and through the trial and onto Golgotha, he could have slipped out of town and set up his own commune of faithful, though few followers. The Essenes did this, living in the wilderness, separated from society while they waited for the day of judgment. He did not. He was obedient.

On Thursday evening, when he went to the garden to pray, he could have told his Heavenly Father that enough was enough. "You cannot expect me to do this, Father. It is beyond my capabilities. I would rather continue my mission in another way. Let's see if something else would work to bring your people back to you." No! He did not. He prayed instead, "Not my will but yours be done." He was obedient.

When they came to arrest him in the garden, one of his disciples drew a sword and attacked, cutting off someone's ear. But Jesus said that if he wanted he could have called to his Heavenly Father for twelve legions of angels to come and deliver him. He did not. He was obedient.

In the trials that followed throughout the night on into the early morning, Jesus had opportunity to renounce his mission and do obeisance to Caesar. That would have put an end to it. "Not guilty." He would have been set free as a loyal citizen of Rome. He did not. He was obedient.

On the cross he could have given up in despair, cursed his tormentors, cursed God for deserting him, and cursed himself for being so stupid as to get himself into this mess. He did not. He was obedient.

To the very end, Jesus was obedient to his mission. In his last dying words he forgave those who killed him and he committed his spirit into God's loving hands, which he believed were there for him even in the darkness of that afternoon.

There were so many opportunities for Jesus to back out of his mission to die for the sins of the world. He did not. He was obedient, "obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."

During Holy Week we are called to pay attention to the work that Jesus accomplished for us. He said on the cross, "It is finished." The parade is over. The trial is completed. The execution is final. The wage has been paid. What now?

You have heard these events. You are witnesses. Now, the Holy Spirit is calling upon the witnesses of these events to believe. Accept that Jesus was obedient unto death, even death on a cross for you. So much does God love you that he sent his only Son to die on the cross for your sins. A fellow sinner by the name of Paul writes, "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." This is what Jesus was all about.

We who are witnesses to these events are called upon to live our lives one holy week after another. Every week is holy when it celebrates the triumphal entry of Jesus in our hearts. Every week is holy when it is lived under the shadow of the cross. From palms to passion, from joy to sorrow, every week of our lives can be wrapped in the love of God, when we live each day of the week in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who was obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross for you and for all. Amen.