Our Lord has risen

Palm fronds are waving, people are shouting and singing praises. It is madness! From afar, it seems that everybody is rejoicing because Jesus has ridden into town on a donkey’s colt. But this moment meant very different things to some of the people in the crowd. Andrew, a man in the crowd:

“I am looking for a Master who can perform miracles. I have heard that he can heal the sick and make the blind man see. A friend of mine was there when Jesus called into the tomb, and some guy named Lazarus walked out of the tomb! He had been dead, and suddenly he was alive again. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I want to be there next time it happens.” Alexander, a Pharisee:

“This fool Jesus is upsetting everything. Why can’t he just stick to the nice rituals we have come up with? He had the audacity to tell me that I was making it impossible to please God because of the way I taught the Law! How dare he! It’s not my fault this rabble of Jews that live around me aren’t as holy as I am. Maybe if they tried harder instead of whining about the Temple not helping them, or complaining about the prices we charge for sacrifices. Hey, we have to make a living, too. I’m telling you, it is time to get rid of this troublemaker once and for all. Messiah? Prince of Peace? No, he’s no Messiah. He is just a dead man walking. There is no way we can let him live after this public spectacle. It is time to start pressuring the commoners…”

Judas, a zealot, and one of Jesus’ disciples:

“I have been waiting and waiting for Jesus to make his move. Finally, the people of Jerusalem have accepted and acknowledged who Jesus is! Now we can move on to the second phase of the operation, and kick the Romans out of our country for good. With Jesus on our side, those Romans are doomed! I have watched him cast out demons and heal sick people without even touching them. There was that one time that he spit into the dirt and rubbed the mud on a blind guy’s eyes. We were all shocked because it seemed kind of gross. Then the guy started screaming about being able to see again! If Jesus has that kind of power, imagine what he is going to do to Pontius Pilate and the rest of these good for nothing Romans. To think, I almost betrayed him to force his hand…”

Peter, one of the disciples: “Finally! Finally, Jesus is victorious over all of the doubters! Look at this crowd, this is what we have been waiting for. Now the Sadducees and Pharisees will have to acknowledge that Jesus is really the Son of God. There is no way they can deny him now. This is going to change everything…”

Only, it didn’t change everything. Within a few days the crowd that had cried out “Messiah,” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” would cry out “Crucify him. Give us Barabbas!”

In just a little bit of time, Peter would deny his savior three times, then weep bitter tears. Judas would be dead, felled by his own hand out of guilt and shame.

And within a week, Jesus would be hanging on a cross, bruised, beaten and dying. He would look down from the cross to the men who had put him there, and say, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they do.” No, nothing changed on Palm Sunday.

But within a week, Jesus would disappear from the tomb where they laid his lifeless body. Then the world really would change, all because of the empty tomb and the words, “He is risen.”

So thankful to serve a risen savior … Jerry.