There were thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem who witnessed the glory of Jesus Christ. They witnessed Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Despite seeing His glory with their own eyes, they didn’t understand God’s glory. We sit in Church. We see the glory of God. We proclaim our faith in Him. Still, like the ancient crowd we just don’t understand Jesus for Who really is. Now is our chance to witness God’s glory and change our life to be with the King of Glory.
My brothers and sisters, in today’s celebration of Palm Sunday, I would like to suggest that we stop our pattern of life. We come to church, many of us every Sunday, for sure all of us every year for Palm Sunday. We come, we sit in church, we take our palms home, but we do not change our lives. Many of us are going to wake up tomorrow morning the exact same person that we are right now. That means we will not have understood the blessing that God has for us in this morning’s Gospel.
As I wrote in the bulletin, the week started like any other normal day for Christ. He was at dinner with Martha and Mary and Lazarus and the others. They were enjoying a beautiful dinner like any other time they would’ve been together, and then suddenly Christ began revealing to them His glory. They had just seen Lazarus raised from the dead by a mere word, and now some woman comes and she pours this ointment on His feet, valued so much money.
I want you to imagine for a moment. I don’t care how much money you make. Imagine spending one whole year of your salary on a little bottle of lotion. Do you have that in your mind, that value of that little bottle? One whole year of your salary. Then I want you to imagine what life was like 2,000 years ago in the cities. They didn’t have clean cities like we have today. They didn’t have indoor plumbing like we have today. Historians help us understand that the ancient cities, you could smell them miles away, they were so filthy. Imagine what Jesus Christ’s feet must have been like walking through that every day. And now imagine this woman who spends an entire year’s salary on one bottle of lotion, and she pours it on His feet, those nasty, smelly feet, and then she wipes it with her hair. That great love that is revealed to the people watching around because Jesus Christ is the king of glory.
And Judas, thinking he understood life, he says, “Why the waste? Why not sell this and give it to the poor?” He didn’t care about the poor. You see, he was standing in front of Jesus Christ, standing in front of God, standing in front of the king of glory. He just saw Lazarus come back to life, and still Judas didn’t get it. He didn’t understand the love and the grace of God. My brothers and sisters, we don’t understand His love.
We are good people, we’re obedient people, we come to church like we’re supposed to come to church, but when we leave these doors, we forget who Jesus Christ really is. We forget about His glory and we go on with our day like any other day. Well, this week is our chance to change. This week is our opportunity to live a different life for Jesus Christ, to understand finally. Doesn’t matter how old we are, it doesn’t matter what we did last year, it doesn’t matter what we did yesterday to finally understand God’s love for us, to finally understand His grace as our Savior, as our King, and as our Lord and to walk out of this church this morning not the same person that walked in, allowing the love of God to change the way we see life and to change the way we understand God. It’s not about money like Judas thought, it’s not about power like the Pharisees and the Sadducees thought, it’s about love and forgiveness and grace. Jesus Christ came into the city not on a giant white horse like kings were expected to ride, but on a humble donkey. And still the people didn’t get it. They celebrated, “Hosanna, the king is here.” And then with the little bit of pressure from the elites, they turned on Him. They gave Him up to be crucified. They rejected Jesus Christ.
My brothers and sisters, every time we go home and we forget who Jesus Christ is, we are the same people in that crowd. Every sin we commit, every time we deny knowing Jesus Christ… Later this week we’re going to hear about Peter denying even knowing Him. Every time we live that way in front of our friends, strangers, co-workers, doesn’t matter whom, we are no better than the crowd that turned on Christ because they didn’t get it. Not that they didn’t want to love God, but they were expecting something different from God. They were expecting a military savior, they were expecting an earthly king, and instead they got a spiritual savior and a heavenly king. And many of them couldn’t handle the difference.
Let’s learn from their mistakes. Let’s learn from their weaknesses so we can hear the gospel today and tonight and the nights to come for Holy Week to be in church every day this week with God so we can let it sink into our hearts so we can finally comprehend this great gift and the great love of God. And then my brothers and sisters, let the gospel change you. Don’t be so stubborn like Judas. Let the gospel change you so you can be with God in heaven, you and me and all of us together, not wanting what we God should be, but wanting and embracing what God really is, the king of glory, our savior.
Have a blessed Holy Week journey. Be in church every night, every day. Cancel the appointments if you have to cancel the appointments. Spend a week with God, and then allow that week to change your life. And I promise you we will all be the better for it and God will continue to bless us and to shine His light upon us so that when we are holding our lambada, when we’re holding our candle on Saturday night, it’s not just the candle that shines, but the life of our community. And the people, so many people of our city that desperately need God’s love, let’s light the way for them too so they can come and experience the king of glory. When you go home today with your palms, be proud of who we are, but don’t let your pride interfere with your understanding of God’s love. Glory to God for all things.
