Palm Sunday "A Beautiful Mind"

This week we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.

We had seen earlier that he had “set his face” toward Jerusalem…meaning, his vision was set. His mind was made up. His action was sure and clear.

Now….he enters in. The time has come.

Matthew recounts the story of how it came to be. In his version of what happened. He tells us that Jesus sends some emissaries ahead to get things prepared.

So, they go and will find an ass and a colt…..or some kind of beast that Jesus will ride on…into town.

What is noted is the OT reference to how it is to happen to fulfill the scripture.

It is also very much showing a contrast to the King of the Day…the Emporer.

Everyone who lives at this time and would read his letter knows that the King comes in on a Stead….A mighty horse of stature & grace.
Jesus, however, comes in on a humble mule.
The contrast is clear. The comparison….and therefore the challenge to political reality…to status quo is also clear.

Choose ye this day whom you will serve….The Roman Emporer, the ruling King… or,

The King of Kings & Lord of Lords.

So they bring the animal to Jesus and he rides into town. They drape their garments.

Everyone comes out of their homes and lauds his entrance. They cut branches from trees & spread them along the way.

Again…a clear reference to how the Emporer would be welcomed. But this is a different kind of King. One this world would not understand.

Having set his mind toward Jerusalem….
Having made up his mind…..

He enters in. Acclimation Now.
But oh how the tide can turn. Oh, how fickle the people can be. Oh, how quickly their allegiance can change….especially if they too could suffer.
I was reading this week about another entrance into Jerusalem. Here it is…..

“Two thousand years after Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, another visitor came to the city, Germany's last kaiser, Wilhelm II. His entourage was so grand that he had to have the Jaffe Gate in the old city widened so that his over-sized carriage could pass through. After the parade had ended, someone climbed up and attached a large sign to the gate. The sign read, "A better man than Wilhelm came through this city's gate. He rode on a donkey."
……What made Jesus a better man, do you think? What was it about him that compelled the people to spread their cloaks and wave their branches in the air?
What is it about him that still inspires millions of people to give their lives to him and even for him?
Nowhere has the paradoxical beauty of the mind of Christ been more eloquently expressed than by Paul in his Letter to the Philippians:
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." What made him a better man? It was his beautiful mind, which was nothing less than the very mind of God.
*His beautiful mind put him on the back of that donkey. * His beautiful mind gave him the courage to speak the message of salvation no matter what it cost. * His beautiful mind opened his eyes so that he could see the people who were being put down or shut out by unjust practices and selfish ambitions on the part of others. * His beautiful mind led him to overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple, led him to cure the blind and the lame. * His beautiful mind brought him to his knees before the disciples so that he could wash their feet on the night of his betrayal. * His mind led him to the cross where he poured out his life. "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus," Paul admonished his friends in Philippi. If you want to belong to him, the first thing you will need to do is get your mind right. Can we live that way too? Paul thought we could. "Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus," he said.
Friends, this day, this week, this life….
I invite you to “Have that mind that is in Christ Jesus”.
I invite you to invite Jesus into your heart.
To…Carry Your Cross, To….Lay down your life,
To…Set your mind, your heart, your life on things that are above. And in so doing, you will be like Christ.
But I would also remind you of this promise….
To those who carry the cross, will one day receive a crown.
To those who die in Christ, we have the promise that they will be raised in Glory.
This day, we celebrate Jesus’ Beautiful Mind.
And may that word go out to us as well…
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Amen.