THEME FOR PALM SUNDAY: CHRIST’s TIME IS UP FOR THE CROSS
TEXT: JOHN 12:20-43
Grace, mercy, and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be multiplied to you on this blessed Palm Sunday.
Our text for this morning’s meditation is recorded in the Gospel according to St. John chapter 12:20-43.
Introduction:
One very important gift of God to mankind is the gift of time. This gift is distributed to everyone equally. Rich or poor, young and old alike. It is a gift that must be cherished and made good use of, and also be thankful to God for. More to that, scripture reminds us of the fact that there is time and seasons for everything under the sun: “Time to be born and time to die” (Ecc. 3:1). And for Christ, it was time for Him to go to the cross to die.
In our text today, we see that at the right time Jesus had entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the Holy Week. Again, at the right time, some Greek converts to Judaism had also come to see Him. “Sir, can we see Jesus,” they asked Philip. The Man who opened the eyes of the man born blind. The Man who raised Lazarus from the dead. The Man who just entered Jerusalem triumphantly.
As soon as the information got to Jesus, He stated, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”. In simple terms, the time has come for the Son of man to be exalted and given the highest place of honour.
The hour has come for the gentiles of the world to see with their own eyes and to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God and Savior of the world.
But before his glorification or exaltation, it was necessary for Him to go through the state of humiliation. As the saying goes, “No Pain No Gain.”
By this, Christ knew that the time was up for Him to go through a long road of painful process. In fact, Luke portrays Jesus as a master of his own destiny in a number of ways. First, he set Jerusalem as his goal, (Lk. 9:51), and predicted that he would be betrayed, (Lk. 22:21), denied, (Lk.22:34), spat upon, mocked, insulted and put to death. (9,22, 44;8:31-33).
It was indeed, a difficult road to travel on in order to achieve that glory. There was nothing like short cuts or protocol as many of us are always tempted to do.
More so, Christ knew that the time to the cross was fast approaching and therefore needed to explain further to the disciples to understand the real purpose for going to the cross. This is because their perception of Christ’s mission on earth was completely different from theirs.
If you remember, elsewhere in scripture, Peter had to rebuke Christ when He told the disciples that, “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer in the hands of the elders and chief priest and be killed and on the third be raised”. (Matt. 16:21).
No wonder, Christ had to explain to them by using what was common in their daily lives to help them understand why it was critical for him to face death. “Truly, truly, I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears many fruits.”(v.24).
Christ therefore is the grain of wheat that must be laid into the ground. If he had decided not to die, there would be no transmission of life. But because He made that bold move at the right time, the results to this very day are uncountable and unbelievable.
We are who we are today because of his death and resurrection and the sure hope it brings to us with regards to our own resurrection on the last day.
Brothers and sisters, you will agree with me that death is something unnatural. Indeed, man was not created to die but to live forever. That stranger and foreigner called death came into our lives as a punishment for sin.
As far as scripture is concerned, we know that Christ never sinned and therefore, He could have entered into His Father’s glory without going through death. But for our sake, He decided to go to the Cross so that “you and I, will be purchased and won from sin, death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his Holy precious blood” (Luther’s Small Cat. 2nd Article)
Again, as we journey through life, whether we like it or not, the thoughts of death will once a while flash through our minds. Please, let me know if I’m wrong. But if it’s true, then we can imagine someone who is sinless and needed not to die, but had to die.
Ghanaians, and for that matter, almost the whole world is currently going through difficult and challenging times because of the coronavirus… (the COVID-19 Pandemic)
In the first place, we don’t even know what will happen after this two weeks of partial lockdown. Indeed, Ghanaians must be thankful to God for the wisdom given to the President of the Republic for considering a Partial Lockdown.
Many countries in Africa and beyond are going through a complete total lockdown. The government of the United States of America has already extended the lockdown up to the end of April. The whole world is engulfed with fear of the unknown.
Brothers and sisters, unlike us, Christ knew exactly what was coming up against Him. And for that reason, his human nature was troubled and agitated. If the death of Christ was nothing but an event which came His way during the course of His Ministry, I believe He would have met it with joyful confidence.
However, I strongly believe that He was troubled because the time had come for Him to carry the sins of the whole world including yours and mine, to the cross.
Again, He was troubled because He was going to be separated from the communion with His Father. This is because, His Father could not stand to see His Son bearing the sins of the whole world, as He later stated on the cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) Looking at the weight of the sins, it was necessary for Him to ask the Father to save Him from the fatal hour of death. “Father save me from this hour”(v.27).
Brothers and sisters, today’s gospel opens our eyes to see that the glory of God lies in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to save us from our sins. All the teachings of the Bible focus on Jesus Christ. The law shows us our need for Jesus Christ.
The good works that the Bible encourages us to do are made possible because Christ Jesus freed us from the slavery of sin.
All the teachings of the Bible depend on the glory of God as expressed in the shame of the cross.
As we remember Jesus lifted up on the cross this week, we also remember how He continues to draw us to himself daily through His Word.
The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write, (Romans 6:3-4) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. The Holy Spirit works through Baptism to place faith in our hearts and put our feet on the way of the cross.
- All the way to the cross, He went for you and me.
- As we look to the cross, Christ continues to strengthen us through the power of the Holy Spirit to lead lives pleasing to Him.
- As we look to Him, we are confident at the right time He will be back in His full glory to usher us to everlasting glory.
As we look to Him in these critical moments of our lives He will respond to us at the right time to His glory. - To Him alone be the glory.
In His mighty name we praise!
AMEN.
And now, may the Peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN.