Come let us go up to Jerusalem!

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.  He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him;  they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."  The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about. Luke 18:31-34 NIV

Shortly after  is the start of a journey for Jesus which will lead to his death and resurrection.

But it starts triumphantly, the crowd rapturous, waving palm branches "the whole crowd of disciples joyfully giving praise to God"

A journey that in some eyes can be seen as a demonstration of how fickle we can be as humans. They say "a week can be a long time in politics..." but in the Spirit led life of the Son of Man a week was the difference between the excitement and adoration of the crowd, and them baying for his blood.

If we run with the crowd we can be very contradictory! We need to be independently minded and led by the mind of God. Not swayed and washed around by the tide of human opinion.

For example in the readings for the procession it says that as Jesus entered Jerusalem the crowds that processed with him were all shouting:

  "Hosanna to the Son of David
  Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!
  Hosanna in the highest heavens!"

When the people who were already in the City saw this they started asking, "Who is this?" The answer was,"This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Yet, as I said we know less than a week later the crowd turns on Jesus and cries out for his blood.

There is a message for us in this. Political leaders like Pilate are pragmatists and like to go with the crowd.  Although they may try and influence and move opinion, ultimately for them the majority opinion rules.  The crowd shouting "Crucify him" about  Jesus, swayed Pilate.

I think that the message for us is that we should be sure to listen to God's voice and let it be present in our lives.  God does not speak in a strident way and we need to discover how to let his truth filter into our hearts so that we are people who are constant and in tune with the will of God in our lives.  If we are like this we will be able to stand firm in our faith and stand in the "truth of God" which is present in our faith and not to lose sight of it.  When we are in the "eye of the storm" we will be able to hold onto what we have already discovered to be true and not be blown off course and lose sight of God's insight into our situation.

The irony is that in their procession with the palms the crowd had correctly identified Jesus' ministry.  They give him honour and called him a prophet.  Remember they said "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee".  A prophet is one who speaks God's truth into a a situation (to people) allowing  God to have a say in the affairs of men. They treated him as a King too! And that is true he is the King of a spiritual Kingdom of God.

Christians are called to be Kingdom Builders.

One of the psalms says of God "indeed you love truth in the heart" and elsewhere it says, "wear your integrity like a blanket."  I think that this means we should be taking care to be so anchored in God that when we are in the crowd we can still keep sight of what God wants in our lives.

We pray as we start Holy Week that we will be able to focus on what God is saying to us at this time. That he will be present to us and that we will find new meaning in our faith.

We are blessed to be living in a time when our faith can be set to "expectant" - they say "May you live in interesting times" - well Jesus means to challenge your preconceptions and your contentedness with a life that is bitter tasting to him. Why would you accept a life that is second best when you can become a son or a daughter of "the living God"

Dear Lord, strengthen and renew our faith this Easter, may we be challenged by the enormity of the journey that you took from Palm Sunday to resurrection. May we understand that there is a place on that journey for us too. Bless us O Lord, may we surrender our complacency and come to know you as you really are! Amen