This upcoming Sunday we will celebrate Palm Sunday. Our Gospel Lesson is from the pen of Luke and it is the historical account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt. Luke actually doesn't even mention anything about palms in his account, but when we read this same account through the eyes of John, we are told that the people who gathered along the road to see this King ride in, took palm branches with them (John 12:13). (By the way, you have a beautiful stained-glass window depicting this very scene - it's too dark to appreciate it tonight, but make sure you take a look and enjoy it on Sunday morning). The name that we give this Sunday before Easter that kicks off Holy Week is obviously named after those palm branches that the crowd laid down on the path.
Tonight though, we're going to focus on a different kind of palm. I read a piece of trivia somewhere that over 1/3 of what is written in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) takes place in the 7 days of world history from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. This week is big, not only in its coverage in the Gospels, but also because this is the week that believers for thousands of years, all the way back to Adam and Eve, were waiting for! Because this is our final rehearsal before we celebrate and remember the events of Holy Week, let's take some time to review some of those events. Let's take some time to look at the 'Hands of Holy Week,' starting with the hands of Palm Sunday.
Picture the hands of the crowd gathered along the path to Jerusalem. Hands that removed cloaks and spread them on the ground to create what we today might call a 'red carpet.' (Luke 19:36) No one in the crowd realized that the path they were creating would lead this King, in less than a week's time, to where He would wage the greatest battle ever - and win, and triumph over sin, death and the devil.
Picture the hands of the Pharisees who who really wished they had enough hands to cover the mouths of those who shouted praises to the King. (Luke 19:39)
Picture the hands of Jesus - one hand feeling the fur of the donkey he rode on - one hand ushering the attention of the Pharisees to a stone that was on the path. The Pharisees told Jesus to get his disciples to quiet down and Jesus replied, Luke 19:40 "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Picture the hand of Judas in that upper room on Thursday of Holy Week. His hand open, palm-up, ready to receive a piece of the broken bread. (Luke 22:19) And then hours, maybe only minutes later - both of his hands, palms-up and open, greedily ready to receive the sack of coins that he decided was most important to him. (Matthew 26:15)
Picture the hands of Jesus at the Mount of Olives- folded in prayer, hands dripping in sweat as his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow. (Luke 22:44)
Picture the hand of Jesus in the middle of His arrest, when any other human would have been thinking only of themselves and about the injustice. His hand performed one more miracle as His hand touched the ear of the servant of the High Priest, miraculously putting the ear back together. (Luke 22:51)
Picture the hands of Simon Peter in the courtyard. One minute he was rubbing his hands together by the fire to keep warm. The next minute he was waving his hands to visually communicate: 'No, I don't know Him." And then again "No, I don't know Him." And then a third time, "No, I don't know Him." (Luke 22:54-59)
Picture the hands of those guarding Jesus - hands that were slapping and striking the face of Jesus, which was just a part of their fun and games. (Luke 22:63)
Picture the hands of the Jews in Judge Pilate's audience as their hands turned into clenched fists which they threw in the air while chanting, "Crucify Him!" (Matthew 27:22)
Picture the hands of Pilate. He heard from his wife and agreed that something wasn't right about what was unfolding in front of him, but because he was most concerned about his status in the eyes of Rome, he decided to try to figuratively wash his hands of this situation - and so he also literally washed his hands in front of the crowd. (Matthew 27:19 and 24)
Picture the hands of Jesus, as far away from each other as possible, on the end of outstretched arms - hands nailed to the tree - hands dripping with blood from the nails driven through them. (John 19:18)
Picture the hands of the women carrying supplies and spices to Jesus' tomb, which they found to be empty because it wasn't able to hold our Savior who was raised just as He predicted. (Mark 16:1) This scene reminds me of my favorite Proverb - Proverbs 19:21: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Those women had plans in their hearts as they headed to the tomb on that first Easter morning. Thankfully for them, and for us, their plans were foiled and God's purpose to save the world through His Son prevailed!
Picture the hands of Jesus when He appeared to His disciples once again - hands that now were marked with scars, hands that served as evidence that He accomplished what He came into this world to accomplish, hands that Thomas just had to see to believe. (John 20:27)
Tonight we have pictured a 'handful' of the events of Holy Week. During this week a number of prophecies made by Old Testament prophets were fulfilled, starting with Palm Sunday when the prophecy from our Old Testament Lesson for this upcoming Sunday which comes from the book of Zechariah was fulfilled. (Zechariah 9:9) The events of Holy Week didn't happen by accident, God was very much in control of the events. They happened exactly when and where and how He wanted them to. Think back to Palm Sunday when Jesus told the Pharisees if the crowd keeps quiet, the stones will cry out. In a way Jesus was saying that nothing the Pharisees could do would stop God from carrying out His plan. God could make stones cry out or do anything else that was needed to carry out His plan of Salvation. Or think of how Jesus responded to Pilate when Pilate told Jesus that he felt he had control of Jesus' fate, Jesus told Pilate: John 19:11, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." Or think of Jesus in Gethsemane when He was overwhelmed with the magnitude of what He was about to do, and He asked His Father God if there was any other way - Jesus also knew that it was God the Father's will that would be done. (Luke 22:42)
I can't help but thinking of a couple of different songs. One is a Sunday School Song - 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.' The other one is the refrain of a hymn from our Hymnal, CW#440, "And He will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand." Of all the palms we have pictured tonight, isn't this the most beautiful palm of all? How beautiful it is to be held in the palm of our God, who was in control of the events of Holy Week, who is still in control today, and who will one day take us from the palm of His hand into eternity - where we will sing praises to the King, somewhat similar to those the crowd sang to the King on that first Palm Sunday.
Dear God,
During this tough time, keep Graeme Aufdemberge and the whole Aufdemberge family in the palm of your hand. Remind us that Your ways are not our ways, and Your thoughts our not our thoughts. As hard as it is for us to understand, help us realize that this is part of your plan for the Aufdemberges. Thank you for keeping the events of Holy Week in the palm of your hand so that your plan of Salvation for us could be accomplished. Keep us all in the palm of your hand until you bring us to the safety of Heaven.
Because of what your Son did for us and in His name we pray,
Amen.
(Graeme Aufdemberge is the 11 year old son of Pastor Mark Aufdemberge who serves as the Pastor at Jordan. This past weekend the Aufdemberges were grilling out over a fire pit at the home of some extended family. The adults left the fire pit briefly to go inside to get the brats, the fire was going out, so Graeme and his cousin found a gas can in the shed. Graeme has 2nd degree burns on his face and side, has undergone surgery and has been recovering at Children's Hospital. Please keep Graeme and the Aufdemberges in your prayers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment