Friday, March 20, 2015, Day 27
Mark 11:1-11 (NRSV)
We have the entry into Jerusalem that is a bit cryptic.
Jesus seems to know about a colt that will be available for him of which the disciples were unaware. The way it reads today is as if Jesus had some underground network all conspiring to bring Jesus into Jerusalem as the Messiah. It seems very mysterious and lends a little to the idea that Jesus is really in charge the whole time, even as this seems to be leading to the cross.
The crowds welcome him as he rides upon the colt, recalling the coming of the Messiah from Zechariah 9:9 which reads:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Some people get caught up in the moment, ready to announce the Messiah. I've always wondered if some of the same people cheering his entrance were among those incited to cry for his crucifixion when he was charged by Rome.
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| "He Wept Over It" by Enrique Simonet, 1892 referring to when Jesus wept over Jerusalem before he enters it in Luke. I really like this painting. |
As we really consider Jesus as Lord, it would be better for us if we could welcome him more often than we crucify him.
John Wesley's Covenant Prayer speaks to this. It seems odd that we should ask to be empty or to have nothing. I believe that this means that we don't allow our things to define us and that we shall be God's regardless of circumstance. Sometimes this is easier said than done.
Prayer from John Wesley:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Picture by Enrique Simonet [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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