Rochester, MN UCC - "The Other Side of the Cross" - Mark 11:1-11
On the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the final time riding on a donkey’s colt, the crowds welcomed him as God’s Messiah, shouting, “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” We sing these very same words as part of our communion liturgy. We too sing in celebration at the presence of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God.
It’s likely that many of those present at the first Palm Sunday harbored hopes that Jesus would inaugurate a new kingdom of Israel in this world. A kingdom like other worldly kingdoms, marked by wealth, power, and status. These people were disappointed when Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem led to his death on a cross. There was not going to be a worldly kingdom, there would be no wealth and power to be shared as spoils of his conquest. In Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel, his kingdom is not of this world.
Unlike those people in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, we already know how the story ends. We know that Jesus is going to the cross. So why do we still follow? What makes us celebrate Jesus as the Messiah when we know that following him doesn’t lead to wealth, or power, or status? I think it’s because we know, sometimes better than others, that there is a hollowness to worldly wealth, power, and status. We know that these things don’t really fulfill us, they don’t really give us life. We follow Jesus to the cross because we believe that our destiny, true, eternal life and fulfillment, lie on the other side of the cross. It is when we have put to death our selfishness, our worldly ambition, our pride, and our shame, that we can begin to truly live. It is on the other side of the cross that we find our true identity in union with God. May we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry this Palm Sunday knowing that his journey to the cross is also our journey to eternal life.
Recognized as God’s chosen king, but following him doesn’t lead to a worldly kingdom, power, and riches… it leads to a cross… Why do we still follow… because we recognize that worldly power, wealth, and status, are empty and hollow, real true life, eternal life, comes in our union with God, with our putting to death our worldly ambitions and living for God alone…
Rev. Andrew Greenhaw