Great Beginnings
Originally scheduled for
April 5, Palm Sunday
We
celebrate beginnings. The birth may be in a secluded hospital room, but the
flood of grandparents and other relatives begins very, very quickly. (There’s
a reason God made them cute). Later in life we celebrate graduations, markers
in life of our children going “to the next level.” Then there are weddings –
celebrations of the union paralleled by that of Christ and the church. Have
you noticed, then, that all of these are accompanied by memory keepers – photos
and other souvenirs?
On the
original Palm Sunday, Jerusalem celebrated what they believed to be a great
beginning. They saw a new king coming to them, one who would throw off the
world’s ways and govern in God’s way. Indeed, this king was somehow connected
to the eventual coming of God on earth – the time when God would himself dwell
with his people. This, they knew, would bring in a golden age of peace and
prosperity that would never end. These expectations were disappointed; five
days later the new king would be crucified by the local authorities.
Or
were they really disappointed? Were those expectations so unreasonable after
all?
Did
they get a new king? Yes, they did. He wasn’t the king they expected, in the
world’s way, but a king as given by God. He is known as the Prince of Peace,
and his kingdom still grows to this day.
Did
they get the presence of God with them? Indeed, Emmanuel is his name to this
day – God With Us. In the person of the Holy Spirit he is with us still.
Did
his coming usher in a golden age? Perhaps not – but he is coming again;
perhaps it is just a matter of patience.
Celebrate
with us now the Great Beginning – the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. His
atonement gives us our redemption; his resurrection assures us of life
eternal. We do this until he comes again – the next great beginning.
