Then and Now

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday.  Here you can see religiously devout carrying around sprigs of pussy willows.  This became the custom in places so far north that palms could not grow.  Palm leaves were used to praise and honor Jesus on the first "Palm Sunday. 

 So the Sunday before Easter we remember the triumphal entry of Christ on the week of His crucifixion.  When you stop and think about it, it is quite a turnabout in the "opinion polls" to go from worshiping a man to screaming bloody murder at Him.  So what happened?

Actually, it is really a problem that is no different than today.  We want God to be who we want Him to be, do what we think He should do.  When He doesn't live "down" to our expectations, when He does things that are mysterious or don't make sense to our small, limited brains, we turn on Him.  "Take that!" we say deep in our hearts, as if we can manipulate Him with our lack of endorsement, praise, sacrifices, our petty acts that were really motivated from self-interest rather than a humble realization that He alone is holy.  He is God and He does as HE sees fit.  He doesn't need our counsel.  

So, if He is so great, if He is above our petty mood swings, how is it that He ended up hanging on a bloody, gruesome cross?  He chose to.  Once again, He dumbfounded our sense of logic.  Why would an almighty, all powerful, perfect God choose this?  His motive was love.  He loves you.  That's why.  He took on that bloody murder, those screams of rage, the bitterness in my heart, my stubbornness to forgive.  For all of that and even more, we deserve hell.  He wants us to experience relationship with Him, though.  The only way that could happen was for Him to stoop down, humble Himself and die in my place, in your place.  

For those fans of Lost who got a dose of the spiritual with their weekly entertainment, you may remember the priest telling Ricardo that he could not be forgiven of his sins.  He was to hang for murder the next day.  There was no chance for him to pay due penance.  Even a critic who reviews this show admitted that it goes against all logic and sense of justice to think that a murderer or rapist could just ask for forgiveness and accept grace at death's door.  How right that is!  

It goes against all sense of logic.  The reality is that even if I had an eternity to work off my sin, I wouldn't be able to do enough to "earn" God's grace.  I can't make up for my imperfections so that God will accept me.  If I do, it is no longer grace.  Grace is by definition an undeserved gift.  Jesus granted it to the thief on the cross and to this criminal living in Russia.  

How grateful I am!  Hosanna in the highest!