9 April 2017 - did ever such love and sorrow meet

[ Today's Readings ]

Let us welcome Jesus with shouts of joyful praise. He comes to deliver his people from bondage. He comes to set right that which has been wrong since Adam first sinned.

"Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest."

He is a prophet and a king. But he is also a priest who comes to offer his own flesh and blood for our sakes. Let us follow him. Let us not turn aside when the response of the crowd changes from joy to persecution. When times get hard, when suffering comes, let us continue to follow Jesus on his way.

Jesus himself shows us the way. Even as he suffers more than we can grasp he has a well-trained tongue that can speak a word to our weary hearts to give us the strength to follow him on his way. Even though he meets those that beat him, spit on him, and pluck his beard, he has enough strength not only for himself, but also for those who follow him.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Let us follow Jesus as he empties himself of the glory that is his by right of his equality with God. Let us be willing to become like slaves in our obedience, even to the point of death. Jesus shows us the way. If we cling to our lives we inevitably lose them. But if we lose our lives for the sake of Jesus and his gospel we save them. Jesus brings our old sinful selves to the cross that they may die. But he does this because of his trust in the Father, that he won't be abandoned, that we in turn won't be abandoned.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name

Jesus wants us to stay awake with him. He wants us to witness his love for us, the blood he sweats and the suffering he bears for our sakes. He wants us to see this love so that we may open ourselves to it and surrender to it that we may be transformed. We are able to enter into the depths of the Passion and not be crushed because we know what happens on Easter Sunday. We see the deepest suffering and sorrow and the most tragic death all from the point of view of a hope that cannot be taken away.

I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
"You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"