Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-11 Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday the crowds gathered to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem. It was the start of the festival of unleavened bread and in less than a week Jesus would be killed. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” It was a Messanic term  acknowledging the eternal reign of a king in David’s family line.

They said all the right things on Palm Sunday, but those words were hollow substitutes of the reality that was truly in their hearts. They went through the motions, showed up at church, and thought they were honoring God. They looked so good. 

Where were those voices on Good Friday when Pilate asked, “Who then should I free”, and the crowd cried out, “Give us Barabbas".

It is very easy to see the murderous Barabbas as a dysfunctional person. But the one we need to watch is Caiaphas. Barabbas was a murderer and his faults are evident. Caiaphas, however, was a religious man. He protected the religious system. He did many good works. He was zealous for Judaism. I'm sure he gave alms to the poor.

And he led Christ to his death.

Both men were killers but at least Barabbas knew what he was. Brothers and sisters the potential for self deception is real. We can mask our lives with all kinds of “good things" and all kinds of religious fervency and never truly know the one we claim to know. It is so easy for me to have a "center" other than Christ and not be aware it has occurred.

The most troubling things that we place as our center are the ones that appear as something good, clothed in light, but all the while they slowly push Jesus out of the way.

There are a myriad of ways we do that.

We might accept a challenging ministry over making more time to cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ. He wants to change you in the very ordinary and often obscure life you lead. It might not be glamorous but that’s ultimately what Christ wants from you.

We might serve well but not put in the same effort to serve Him. Our first service to Christ is prayer to him and cultivating a deep friendship with him.

We may be gifted in a special way to share Christ but that gift subtlety becomes more important than the giver of the gift.

We might be so religious that we follow the precepts and over time have stopped seeking Jesus. Those precepts replace Jesus. Us Catholics are especially vulnerable to this.

Today I am reminded that my center is often skewed. In my heart I believe I’ve placed Christ at the center of my life, however, that is often not the case. I can replace Christ with so many “good” things. The bad things are easy to catch but the skewing of the "good" often lies concealed and hidden from me.

I am not talking about the Barabbas that might exist in my life, that is, the overt things in my life which I know are skewed. 

I’m talking about the Caiaphas in my life. The “religious” things that suddenly occupy a greater place than Jesus in my own heart. Some of those “other things” can be so deeply ingrained in our lives it takes a work of grace, a real miracle, to uncover them.

Weeks before Jesus’ crucifixion, He asked his men this question, “Who do they say that I am?”

The public face of Israel could accept Jesus as a reincarnated John the Baptist or Elijah or even a risen prophet of the past. But as Messiah?  Most could not accept that, nor can our culture today. 

Christ was not what they expected. These people attended church, and knew scripture well. But their closed minds and pride kept Christ away. They wanted Christ's visitation to align with their expectations. We can often do the same thing. 
Religious fervor is not a substitute for a personal relationship with Christ. It never should be either.

We must not allow the authority of books, education, religious leaders or institutions to replace the authority of knowing Christ personally. 

We can easily stand with that crowd on Palm Sunday and say all the right things, acknowledging that Christ is our center, and by Good Friday replace Jesus with something that might look good to us but is not authentic.

Lord search me and know me.

Try me and see if their be any wicked way in me

And lead me in the way of everlasting.

Psalm 139