Friday and Saturday Lent devotions 15. Palms and Hosannas Friday

Read: Matthew 21:1-16
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" (Mt:21:9)

There He is, riding into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. A
borrowed donkey, no less, which gives one reason to pause. The Son of God is
so fully human that He has need of the animal to take Him into the city; yet He
remains fully divine so that all things, donkey included, really belong to Him.
But Jesus isn't ruling by force and power, taking what He wants; He comes in
mercy, with grace and truth. So He borrows a donkey and fulfills prophecy
when He rides into Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9).

Unlike His birth when most of Bethlehem slept and didn't care, it seems the
whole city is turned out. It's Passover time, and many pilgrims have come to
celebrate Passover and sacrifice their lamb, but all of that is forgotten for now.
They gather along the Lord's route, casting coats and palms on the road so that
even the donkey's hooves need not touch the dirt. They wave more palms in the
air and cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

“Hosanna,” they cry—“Save now!” They identify Him as the Messiah, the
Son of David who comes in the Lord's name. Forget the lambs and sacrifice—
the King is here! Let Him take His crown and robe, His staff and throne. Let
Him save the people, and let Him do it now!

Ah, but Jesus comes in mercy, not force and power. He comes at Passover
because He is the Lamb to be sacrificed. The celebration of this day will be
short-lived. By Friday, He'll wear a royal purple robe and a crown, though the
robe will be forced on by jeering soldiers who jam the plaited thorns on His
brow. They'll take the staff they've placed in His hand and beat Him with it; and
when they lift Him up on His throne, they'll nail Him to it to make sure He can't
come down.

Where are the Palm Sunday crowds then? They're either shouting, “Crucify
Him!”, or saying, “We thought He was the Savior.”

Whatever they think doesn't change who He is. He is the Savior, and the
cross means that He's answered the Hosannas they've prayed. On Calvary, He's
saving them now. He's delivering the world from sin—again, by mercy and
sacrifice, not force and power. He offers Himself up as the final Passover
Lamb, sacrificed so that the Lord will pass over your sin.

The birth of Immanuel looked wholly unremarkable; His triumphal entry
into Jerusalem looks like a guy on a donkey in a happy crowd. His death looks
remarkably repelling. When the Lord works in service and mercy, His work
often appears ordinary or unattractive. But no matter what eyes see at Golgotha,
there He is, saving now. And likewise, in those ordinary looking means of
grace, there He is, saving you.

16. The Last Supper Saturday

Read: Luke 22:7-20
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This
is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. Likewise He
also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My
blood, which is shed for you” (Lk. 22:19-20).

The time has come for the Passover [Lamb] to be killed; but before He dies,
Jesus desires to eat this Last Supper with His disciples. The Lord who needed
to borrow a donkey now needs the loan of a room. But this is how our Savior
works, through means: He uses people as His instruments, and gives His gifts in
things we can point to.

The disciples have been with Jesus for about three years now; and in recent
months, He has predicted His suffering and death several times. Things seem to
be building to a climax in Jerusalem, and Jesus' death is less than a day away.
Whether or not the disciples realize, here is a question that needs to be
answered this night: the Lord has been present with His people throughout
history, be it walking in Eden, the burning bush, the pillar of cloud, tabernacle
or temple. For the past three decades, He has also been present with His people
in the flesh. That flesh is about to be nailed to the cross; then Jesus will rise
from the dead and ascend into heaven. So, in the future, how will the Lord be
present with His people? Where can they say, “There He is!”? Jesus answers.
Before His death, He gives His last will and [new] testament.

He takes bread and gives thanks, breaks it and gives it to them, saying,
“Take and eat; this is My body which is given for you. This do in
remembrance of Me.” Then He takes the cup and says, “Drink ye all of it:
this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you, for the
remission of sins. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.” So
it will be until Jesus returns in glory: He is present with His people in the
Communion where He visits with forgiveness. The bread is His body and the
wine is His blood, just as He said.

Many Christians today believe that it's just symbolic bread and wine, that
Jesus really meant, “This bread represents My body...this wine represents My
blood.” They may not know, but this argument is largely based upon an old
principle that says, “The finite is not capable of containing the infinite.” Thus,
bread and wine can't contain the infinite Lord. This may be good physics, but
it's bad theology. Throughout the Scriptures, the infinite Lord fits Himself into
a burning bush, a cloud, a 30'x30'x30' Holy of Holies...even a human body.
What would prevent Him from being present in bread and wine, for the
forgiveness of sins? It is possible, because He says it is true; and as the angel
explained the mystery of infinite God in a finite unborn baby to Mary, “With
God all things are possible” (Lk. 1:37).

As we'll discuss in coming days, what a comfort you have as a Christian, for
the Lord is not far away. There He is, at the altar, given for you.  ¶ 3/10/2007 09:58:00 PM 0 Comments