April 5th, 2020 Matthew21:1-11
Jesus comes in on a colt of a donkey, not a war horse. So he has different image and role. Jesus comes as a king yes, but also a priest and willing to sacrifice. There is more humility in coming on a colt of a donkey than a war horse.
And yet the phrase the people are shouting: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ Matthew 21:9
My thought was; does this seem similar to the Christmas Gospel; Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace and good will among people. Luke 2:14
The Christmas one is the angels telling the shepherds and the Palm Sunday one is the people shouting this to Jesus.
I cannot help thinking as we are dealing with isolation and lack of contact with others, how much we were taking for granted before this.
It may be that we can feel and focus on how much we are missing and have taken for granted in this time in our relationship with others, but following the words from the angels and the people, we may forget that we have value and are missed and are important to each other.
I have said before on a number of occasions that what happens to Jesus, and is said about Him is also said about us.
I have said about Epiphany, that the gifts given by the Magi are also for us.
The gold, that we are all royalty with the responsibility of gathering the kin or family together.
The frankincense, that we are spiritual and a people created for prayer.
The myrrh, this means we are to care for one another, and can be asked to sacrifice for others.
I am also reminded about what Marlo Morgan in “Mutant Message Down Under” says. She talks about and the end of the day after walking, gathering in a circle around the fire, how she realized that the reason why she admired the people she saw on the other side of the circle, across the fire, were also showing her that she too had at least a little bit of the qualities she admired in the person across the circle.
So this time not only show how much we are missing being with others, but Palm Sunday, reminds us how valuable we are to the community as well. At this time as we feel the loss of what and who we are missing contact with, and it is easy to forget how important we are to both God and each other.
Your may have other thoughts about this, and you can e-mail me if you would like,
Bryce