The Call: Don’t Stop At Palm Sunday - Go All the Way!
Scripture Reading
John 2:13-16 (NRSVUE)
“The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!’ ”
Introductory Remarks:
On this 6th Feast Day, known in tradition as Palm Sunday, Jesus issues the call to Jerusalem (habitation of Peace), as an act of resistance and self-mastery. We are called to resist the way of the world to masterfully live the ways of God. Intentional resistance paves the way to spiritual mastery.
Spiritually, Mastery is the Goal. This means we must go all the way and not stop at Palm Sunday.
Major Points of the Lesson:
Palm Sunday reminds us that like Jesus, we can resist:
Rome’s power over God’s reign
Commerce’s noise over the sacredness of God’s presence.
We are more likely to ‘go all the way with Jesus, from trial to triumph’ if we:
Walk in GRATITUDE! - When God calls you, God equips you. You can MASTER all that is before you because of God Within YOU!
Abide in the eternal promises and purposes of God and not the short-lived pleasures of the world. - Abide in the Truth, not the facts. Truth overrides every seeming challenge.
Walk with God. - Through it all, I walk in the Presence of God. All is well.
Quote:
As we walk with Jesus during Holy Week, we walk in triumph, not defeat. We walk with Jesus and not with fear. We walk in trust and not doubt. God has prepared us not only to go to Calvary, but to grow through the experience of Calvary and rise triumphant.
ASSIGNMENT:
Jesus calls you to walk with him as he leaves Jerusalem and confronts the Roman Empire, the Jewish Leadership, as well as betrayal and abandonment by his students. Will you walk with Jesus all the way to Calvary?