Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9 a NRSV Bible
Philippians 2:5-11 NRSV Bible
Mark 15: 1-39 NRSV Bible
Worship theme: Behold Your King
“Never A King Like This”
A reading from the Gospel of Mark, Mark 15 verses 1-39, it is found on page 928-29 in the pew Bible. . . Read passage
We all have people that we look up to. There are people in our lives that we may even aspire to be like. They seem perfect in our lives but then something happens. . . something that is unexpected. We may find out that they are not all what we expected. We may find out one of their “dirty little secrets” that leave us disillusioned. We see it TV personalities. . . in government officials. . . in our friends and in our families. It can be heart breaking and leave us confused. . . not sure what to believe any more.
We are getting towards the end of our Lenten journey to the cross. We have talked about and heard many different things on our journey of faith. We’ve talked about new beginnings and how each season of Lent we can renew our journey of faith. . . to start a new chapter so to speak. . . a chapter that is closer to the one that the Author has written instead of our own. We’ve pondered on the promises of the Cross and the price of that promise. We’ve even looked at the ways that laws compel us to meet their demands. And we’ve sat in the throne room and basked in the Amazing Grace our Creator gives to you and to me. We’ve even talked about how Christ had to die in order for you and me to have a new life in Him. . . a new beginning redeemed and esteemed, ready to follow His “carbon foot print” in the world.
We have now come to the beginning of passion week. The week that changed the fate of humanity. . . A week that was pretty confusing for those who lived in Jesus’ day. They were expecting a Messiah. . . someone who would take Rome by storm, but what they got was a humble man who went Golgotha’s Hill and died on a cross. . . but we can look back in history and know that the cross was not the end of the story but the beginning. . .
The people were looking for a king that would free them from the tyranny of Rome but what they got was something completely different. They got something that was nothing like the kings of their day. . . I am sure they thought of King David and were expecting Jesus to be that type of king. In this king there was tragedy and triumph all rolled into one but they couldn’t see it at the time. . . but at the end of the week they would see victory in the face of death. . .
In the scriptures that were read this morning, we see how different this king really was. In the Isaiah scripture this morning we didn’t hear about a king who fought back against His oppressors. . . but we hear of one who turned the other check. . . did not hide from the insults spat at Him. He was not rebellious and fight as He could have but He trusted in what God was doing in and through Him, even to the point of dying on the cross. There was never a king like this one. . .
In the Philippians scripture this morning we heard about how a King who humbled Himself and became a slave. . . and suffered as one. Christ was both human and divine and He didn’t think about being deity but thought about His purpose in life. . . to bring about a new way of living. . . a way that leads into the throne room of grace. As a matter of fact, during this week of Christ’s Passion, He became as a slave and washed the feet of the disciples to show them a new way of living. . . To live as servants to those around them instead of expecting to be served. He emptied Himself of all that He could be and became that Passover Lamb for you and for me. There was never a king like this one. . .
And the Mark passage I read this morning. . . this king, suffered death on the cross. Something that no king would stand for and would not go to the cross without a fight but this king went humbly and quietly. He could have claimed His throne. . . He could have called down legions of angels to save Him. . . but He never said a word. The same people who were so excited that their king had come. . . the ones who shouted loud hosannas in the beginning of the week. . . by the end of the week were so “disillusioned” that they began to cry “Crucify him” five days later. When Jesus took His last breath. . . the curtain was torn. . . the veil began to fade away. . . even the centurion standing by the cross had to admit that “Truly this man was God’s Son!”. . . Victory in death. . . victory for you and victory for me. There was never a king like this! We have victory in Jesus!
There has never been or ever will be a king like this, for He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Our King is the King of Love. . . The King of Hope. . . The King of Joy and the King of Peace. This Passion week begins in loud Hosannas then there is a change in the attitude of the crowd. . . yes and we were part of that crowd. . . The loud cries of joy turns into the shouts of anger. . . shout of despise. . . shouts of death. And just when it looks like all is lost. . . just when there looks like there is no hope. . . just when it looks like humanity will have no savoir. . . the tide changes to one of victory. . . no, there has never been a king like this. . . but then again, our King is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Yes there truly is victory in Jesus!
AMEN!
April 1, 2012
Mark 15:3
Mark 15:1-39 (NRSV)
Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)
Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: Behold Your
King
Call to Worship
Unison Prayer (Abington
Worship 2012)
Prayer of Dedication (Mark
14:1-15:47)
and sermon, “Never A King
Like This”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
Palm Sunday
April 1, 2012
All of my
poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights
reserved. Contact me at Ray
Foss for usage. See all 36,680+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
No comments:
Post a Comment