Tuesday, March 11, 2008

reflection on Palm Sunday

Our journey is coming to Jerusalem. The crowds are gathering as Jesus prepares to encounter his passion. The crowd had many differing expectations regarding Jesus and who he was. Imagine if you were part of that crowd. What are your expectations of Jesus? This Sunday we will have the opportunity to reflect on our expectations. Take time for the rest of the week and examine honestly your feelings regarding Jesus.
Many people have a variety of expectations of Jesus then and now. I know that even in my life there have been times that my expectations of who Christ was may change depending on my life situation. To often we look to Christ only in times of trouble rather than times when life is easy. We are studying the parables of Christ and his passion. One of the lessons talked about the tower builder and the king going to war (Luke 14:27-33). One of the aspects of this parable dealt with counting the cost of something before one would commit to a decision to do something. What we discussed was, would we be willing to commit ourselves to Christ if we knew that the cost would be the cross. Not just a cross or slight sacrifice but facing the cross that Jesus took upon himself for us. The Way is not just a "not a spiritual get-rich-quick scheme. It is the cross (Parables and Passion, John Indermark 2006, 94)."
Would our understanding of this effect our discipleship and our expectations of Jesus? This Sunday we will continue our journey from the garden to the cross and beyond.

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