Lent
March 28, 2021
Scripture Reading:
John 12:12-16
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ –John 12:12-16
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more. –Zephaniah 3:14-15
Kings do not ride on donkeys. Yet here we have the King of Israel riding on a donkey. Donkeys were work animals and the transportation of the poor. Roman leaders arrived in Jerusalem with much pomp and circumstance. They flaunted their power with prize horses decked out in the finest tack, often leading an army. Jesus seems to be goading the powerful with this act. Early in the book of John, Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple (John 2:13-16), upsetting the leaders of the Jews. What are we to make of these examples?
Civil rights leader Senator John Lewis died July 17, 2020. The history of his life has been in the news ever since. He was the son of a sharecropper. We probably all have seen the pictures of him being beaten on a bridge in Selma, Alabama marching for civil rights. He was both a gentleman and a gentle man who championed the idea of Good Trouble. He was a non-violent Christ-follower and a strong advocate for God’s righteousness and justice. He was perhaps prophetically named John, as he may have adopted his Good Trouble theory from the modeling of Jesus recorded in the book of John.
We must decide in this 21st Century, are we modeling our lives after the Pharisees, the Romans, the Pharisees in collaboration with the Romans, or Jesus as we strive for God’s righteousness today.
Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, as we approach the Cross during Holy Week, open our hearts and minds to doing your justice. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.