Throughout the course of humanity, especially during hard times, people imagine the possibility of a strong man who will take charge to force what isn't working into a better reality. This is reflected in the Biblical narrative, as again and again the people of Israel begged God to give them an earthly king. The message from on high through prophets and priests was that the God they worshiped had no intention of giving them a king because His dream didn't involve that.
It's almost as if the people wore God down over time and God said, "Okay, fine! This won't turn out to be the solution you think it will, but you're only going to learn by seeing how it won't work."
A defeated Israel with the kingdom in shambles once again hoped for a conqueror that would end the era of Roman colonialism so they could once again be free. They waited for a Messiah, and when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people waved palm branches shouting, "Save us," hoping this famous man with miracle powers might lead a revolution against Roman rule.
God showing up on earth was the same as He ever was before. He wasn't going to lead a violent revolution. He was going to bring peace into the hearts of people to truly set them free.
This week, Ray Waters is talking about the different way of Jesus to bring peace into our hearts regardless of the chaos all around us, even as authoritarians try to co-opt His peaceful message.
There is power that takes control through violence and force, but that's not the way of Jesus. Palm Sunday is when we really think about how different Jesus really was and how different we can really be when we follow Him.
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23 мар 2024
