The Best and the Worst We Can Be

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 24, 2024.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 21:1-11.

            It’s Palm Sunday.  We had the kids here in the morning service, walking around the sanctuary, waving palm branches.  We have some palm branches down here tonight, too.  It’s something we look forward to every year.  Every year, at this time, we celebrate Palm Sunday.

            But when you think about it, why do we celebrate Palm Sunday?  I mean, think about it.  What are we really celebrating?  Yes, we’re celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  And I’m sure that was really cool at the time it happened.  But the thing is, we know all the things that happened next.  We know that before the week was out, really in just a few days, Jesus would be arrested.  And some of these same people who were shouting “Hosanna” to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem would be shouting “Crucify”.

            So what, really, are we celebrating?  Why is Palm Sunday such a big day to us?  It’s got to be more than because it’s a cute spectacle for the little kids.  So what is it?

            Well, let’s look at it.  Jesus comes into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey colt.  We’re told that this was to fulfill what a prophet had said.  That prophet was Zechariah, who had said the king would come into Jerusalem in this way.  And most of the people who saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem in this way would’ve known what that meant.  They would’ve known that by coming into Jerusalem in this way, Jesus was claiming to be the king.

            And they got excited.  They believed, at least in that moment, that Jesus truly was the king.  And again, they were shouting “Hosanna”, which is a word that means save.  It was also used as an exclamation of praise.  So the people were praising Jesus and proclaiming that he was going to save them.  For that one day, at least, they were absolutely convinced of who Jesus was.  They know, without a shadow of a doubt, the Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah, the Savior, the divine Son of God.

            And maybe that’s what we’re celebrating on Palm Sunday.  The fact that, for one day, we all got it right.  For one day, everybody around knew who Jesus was.  For one day, everybody who was there accepted Jesus as the Savior.  Yes, it did not last.  Yes, some of them turned on him later.  But at last for one day, for one moment, everyone agreed on the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ.

            What we got, for that one day, for that one moment, was a glimpse of the world as it should be.  We got a glimpse, perhaps, of the new earth that we’re promised in the book of Revelation.  Jesus Christ, being honored.  Jesus Christ, being worshiped.  Jesus Christ, given the honor and glory he deserves.  Jesus Christ, being given the honor and glory that he always receives in heaven.  For that one day, for that one moment, he received it on earth.  

            You know, I’ve wondered sometimes what Jesus felt when he was riding into Jerusalem that day.  Jesus, of course, knew what was going to happen.  He’d told the disciples about it.  He knew that he would be dead before the week was out.  He knew some of these same people who were cheering him would be demanding that he be crucified.  So how did he feel?  How would you feel, if you were Jesus?  How would you feel, if you heard a big crowd cheering you on, and you knew it was all meaningless?

            I’ve thought in the past that maybe Jesus did not feel much of anything.  Knowing that it was meaningless, maybe he was just doing what he knew the scriptures required, what he needed to do to make the Old Testament prophecies come true.  And maybe he was doing it part of it, but I don’t think Jesus was doing it just for that reason.  I think Jesus truly appreciated the cheers of the crowd.  I think Jesus was actually pleased about the reception he got.

            Jesus was not fooled by it, obviously.  But I think Jesus knew that what he was seeing was the best of what human beings can be.  He was seeing humanity being what it can be.  He was seeing human beings truly knowing the greatness and the holiness of God and of His Divine Son.  He was seeing human beings truly showing faith.  And I think Jesus was happy to see that.

            And I think you and I should be happy about that, too.  I think that is something to celebrate.  Because you and I are not very different from those people who were cheering Jesus on when he came into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.

            Sometimes we say that as a bad thing.  Sometimes we focus on the end of the week, when the people were shouting crucify, and we say that we probably would have done the same thing.  And maybe we would have.  But we also would have done the same thing as the crowd on the first Palm Sunday.  We would have been cheering for Jesus.  We would have been proclaiming Jesus to be the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ.  We would have been shouting “Hosanna” right with the rest of the crowd.  And that’s a good thing.

            You see, sometimes we talk about faith as if it was a constant thing and an all-or-nothing thing.  If you have faith, then you always have faith, and you have one hundred percent faith.  And if you don’t have faith, then you never have faith, and you have zero percent faith.

            But for most of us, that’s not how it is.  We have faith, but we also have doubts.  We have times when our faith is really strong, when we are completely confident that God is there, that God is going to act, and that everything’s going to go the way it’s supposed to.  And we have other times when our faith is weak, when we wonder where God is, when we wonder if God is doing anything, when we wonder if God is ever going to do anything.  And in fact a lot of us, if we’re really honest, have times when we wonder if God really exists at all.  We may not talk about it.  We may try to not even think about it.  But in the back of our minds, buried deep down, that thought is there.

            And Jesus knows that, of course.  Jesus knew it then.  Jesus knows it now.  Jesus knows how our faith goes through ups and downs.  And Jesus knows that there are other forces at work, too.  In Jesus’ day, it was the Pharisees who were trying to turn people against him.  In today’s world, there are all kinds of forces in society who try to turn people against him.  And of course, Jesus knows Satan’s role in all this, too.  Jesus knew that Satan was active when he was on earth.  And, even though we may not talk about it much, Jesus knows that Satan is still active today, too.  Satan has not gone away, much as we might wish that was the case.  And Satan is still working to turn us away from Jesus, just like Satan was working when Jesus was on earth.

            And Jesus understands.  That’s the thing to remember--Jesus understands.  Jesus understands how hard it can be sometimes for us to keep our faith strong.  Especially in times when it seems like the whole world has gone sideways and things are falling apart, Jesus understands why we have a hard time continuing to believe.  Jesus understands it all.

            And Jesus forgives.  That’s the most awesome thing of all--Jesus forgives.  Jesus forgave the crowd for shouting “crucify”.  Jesus forgave Pilate.  Jesus even forgave the chief priests and the Pharisees.  Even while he was in miserable pain, dying in agony on the cross, Jesus asked God the Father to forgive the people who were killing him.  Jesus knew, in his own words, that the people who were killing him did not know what they were doing.  Jesus was seeing human beings at their absolute worst.  And he still understood, and he still forgave.

            But on Palm Sunday, Jesus saw human beings at their best.  Jesus saw human beings worshiping him as they should.  Jesus saw human beings at our best.  Jesus saw human beings as we can be, as we should be.  Jesus saw human beings recognizing that they needed salvation.  And Jesus saw human beings recognizing who the Savior was.  Jesus saw human beings humbling themselves before the divine Son, crying out to him for salvation, and rejoicing in the knowledge that they could receiving that salvation.  Jesus saw human beings showing complete faith in God and accepting him as the Savior.

            Jesus has seen human beings at our best.  And Jesus has seen human beings at our worst.  He saw it during the last week of his life, and he continues to see it today.  And Jesus loves us just as much in both cases.  Jesus loves us at our best, and Jesus loves us at our worst.  It’s such an amazing thing.  But it’s true.

            As we experience Palm Sunday, and as we experience the days to come--Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday--may we remember that.  May we remember that Jesus loves us just as much when we’re at our worst as when we’re at our best.  On this Palm Sunday, that truly is something we can celebrate!