We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Palm Sunday, Partisan Politics & the Power of the Cross
Today we’re sharing something from David D. Flowers that we found especially insightful as we approach holy week. We hope it blesses you and moves you to more fully manifest the kingdom that is not of this world.
~~~
We remember it in the church as Palm Sunday. This is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It’s the day when Jesus of Nazareth pre-planned a comical, yet prophetic event, in order to fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah (Zech 9:9).
Jesus literally acts it out.
It’s no coincidence. At the same time Pilate is parading in on the west side of the Temple to oversee Passover, ready to put a stop to any chaos that might ensue, Jesus decides to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. He’s not on a war horse wielding a sword, he’s on a donkey. And he’s not packing.
Think about that.
Not quite the entrance folks were expecting from their Messiah.
Nevertheless, the crowds give him a royal welcome. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
And all of this to the waving of palm branches, symbolic of Messianic deliverance to the Jews, clearly harkening back to the time the Maccabees threw off Greek rule in Judea. Everyone understands this scene.
This is it. It’s Jesus’ time to prove himself as the long-awaited Messiah, the son of God. Will he go to the Antonio Fortress, where the largest garrison of soldiers are housed in Jerusalem, where Rome kept an eye on things? No doubt, the crowd could quickly turn into a mob and rush the place.
But he doesn’t take a right for the fortress, instead he goes left through the eastern gate, and into the Temple. He goes in, looks around, and according to Mark’s gospel, he leaves and returns the next day for some prophetic theater in the spirit of Jeremiah. We all know what happens next.
He wasn’t “cleansing” the Temple. He was shutting it down.
By the end of the week, Jesus had pretty much peeved everyone off. And early Friday morning Jesus is standing before Pilate saying:
“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36 NLT
He said his kingdom is not of this world. Wait… what?
What does Jesus mean that his kingdom is not of this world?
Click here to read the rest of David’s thoughts.
Photo credit: Lawrence OP via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-ND
Category: General
Tags: David D. Flowers, Easter, Politics, Upside-Down Kingdom
Related Reading
Conservatives and Liberals in the Same Kingdom
Jesus did not allow the world to set the terms for what he did. For instance, he called Matthew, a tax collector, as well as Simon, a zealot, to be his disciples. Tax collectors were on the farthest right wing of Jewish politics, zealots on the farthest left. In fact, zealots despised tax collectors even…
When We Talk Politics
In this clip, Greg identifies a source of much of the conflict we experience in our conversations about politics, or other important topics. He does this by introducing the phrase, “your map is not the territory.” Your brain assembles and interprets the sensations you experience and forms maps of the world based upon those experiences.…
Is Telling Christians to Avoid Politics Like Telling Them To Avoid Hospitals?
In this episode Greg clarifies how politics can be dangerous and why some people might want to avoid it. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0045.mp3
The myth clouds our vision of God’s distinctly beautiful kingdom… [Quotes]
“Instead of living out the radically countercultural mandate of the kingdom of God, this myth has inclined us to Christianize many pagan aspects of our culture. Instead of providing the culture with a radically alternative way of life, we largely present it with a religious version of what it already is. The myth clouds our vision of God’s distinctly beautiful kingdom and thereby undermines our motivation to live as set-apart (holy) disciples of this kingdom.”
The Life and Death of MLK and What it Might Have to Say to Us
Tony Fischer via Compfight Here is an EXCELLENT reflection from Jonathan Martin in answer to a question that was posed to him on how he reconciles his rejection of the politics of this world with the social justice work of MLK. This is a must read. From the article: So to come to the question,…
A Blessing for Ash Wednesday
Sarah (Rosenau) Korf via Compfight For those of you observing the Lenten season (and for those of you who are not), we thought we would share this poem by Jan Richardson. Rend Your Heart A Blessing for Ash Wednesday To receive this blessing, all you have to do is let your heart break. Let it…