[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Saturday, April 12, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all on, for most of us as this is being written, the day before Palm Sunday.  I hope and pray that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that you are all doing well.  For you in Australia and New Zealand it's already Palm Sunday, and I pray that the day with its sermons etc. will be a fruitful one for you.

Here is a Palm Sunday reflection written several years ago by Matthew Brooks, co-pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Mankato MN, simply entitled "Palm Sunday, The Humble Savior Rides Into History," rendered as follows:

When you consider the magnitude of what Jesus did on Palm Sunday, you can't help but have a feeling of awe and appreciation.

Imagine that you are a soldier and are commanded to go on a mission.  You are being told to fly a military plane into a war zone.  But your plane is not a bomber.  In fact, the plane you fly does not even have any defensive weapons on it, not a single gun or missile.  You are going on a rescue mission to deliver food to desperate and needy soldiers.  With nothing to defend yourself, you are sure to be killed, though your delivery of food will save many lives.

In many ways, we can compare Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to that rescue mission.  Jesus' mission was to fly into a war zone.  He knew that the result, just five days later, would be certain death.  His mode of transportation, a donkey, would not help to defend Him at all.  But that animal was the means that God chose to deliver the necessary goods.  Jesus rode into the capital city that day to deliver Himself into the hands of the enemy.  His entrance would save many lives.

And the people responded with praise and thanks.  They shouted their hellelujahs and haled Him as the Messiah (Mark 11:1-10).  Just as the airstrip was cleared for your military plane, so did the people that day make a path for the Savior to enter.  If you can imagine what feelings you would have on your mission, then you might be able to imagine how Jesus felt on that day.

Your mind would be focused on your one and only task.  You would probably have a solemn look on your face.  You wouldn't be very talkative.  You would sacrifice, you would know you must do it.  You would feel like the weight of the world was on your shoulders--such an important mission.  Lives would be saved, but you would die.

But why? Couldn't you just let those hungry soldiers go without food another day? Perhaps someone else could do it, and then you remembered that this command came from someone in authority--in this case, the president.  In a feeling of mercy, your heart went out to those who needed food.  Without it, they would not survive.

In the same way, we are hungry and desperate--even dead in trespasses and sins.  God's Word says that we are "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3).  Yet from eternity, Jesus saw our plight, our miserable condition.  He chose to act.  That's what prompted Him to get on the coarse and uncomfortable back of that beast of burden on Palm Sunday.  Like a soldier entering the crosshairs of a terrible battle, He pressed on.  He knew that it was God's will that He should go, and yet He also went because it was His will to do so.  In mercy, He saw our need, and His heart went out to us.  Five days later, the result of this modest entrance would be death.  It was a death to save us from our sins.  This rescue operation would be remembered for years to come by other faithful soldiers.  It was a ride into history.

And there you have Pastor Brooks' reflection on Palm Sunday which I hope and pray, even in a very small way, gave you a sense and appreciation of what Jesus did for _you, _voluntarily.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be the weekly Bible game.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul