It is just a little past Palm Sunday, Monday as a matter of fact, but my mind is still on Sunday. Yesterday evening our choir performed the Cantata, “Jesus Saves.” I wept through much of it, tried to sing because I thought surely my big mouth would be missed, maybe not… but I was so caught up in the moment. My littlest gradbaby played Jesus with Mary and Joseph. Mary, who had forever wanted to play that role, but was never chosen as a child, yet as a young woman, God fulfilled her desire. I inwardly snickered at Joseph who was worried about OSHA regulations in the carpenter shop and refused to wear sandals but insisted on wearing his work boots. And then Jesus… played by a man our church had come to love as interim Pastor and continues to play an encouraging role even now. He came down the aisle to shouts of praises and Hosanna and in a twist of irony, his real lie daughter who played Mary had just left the stage. He was portraying Jesus, but more importantly he knew Jesus. There was a sense of worship on the platform, he broke the bread and shared the cup, pondered that day in Jesus’ life. He knelt and wept… and my heart was broken. How did that crowd go from shouts of praise to shouts of crucify Him?
Matthew 21:15-16
And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
The children were crying in the temple. They were praising God and having a shoutin’ good time. Kids can do that because they have no concern for appearances, they live in the absolute moment. I have a feeling it was young and old alike who were living in that moment as Jesus made His way down the streets of Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” John 12:13
But something happened at the church house.
Jesus had made it to the church house; and what did He find? Greedy religious people making money and unconcerned about anyone but self. He threw them out of the temple and justifiably so. But inside the temple there were still a few of them left. The children were in the temple praising God and celebrating the King and it upset the stiff necked religious leaders. So Jesus reminded them of the Old Testament words in Psalm 8:2 – Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
One sure fire way to tick off religious people is to catch them up in their own game. They were so wrapped up in the law and spouting off scripture that they stopped feeling it. They were now the enemy of the cross and were about to be stilled. Christ’s presence had Spiritually moved the crowd. They knew He was different but when it came to the church, they knew He changed things and religious people hate change. So they decided they’d get rid of the problem and changed the cry from Hosanna! To Crucify! By silencing the child, the one who has no concern for appearance, only truth; but not for long. The church was silenced for a few days…
But then something happened at the church house!
It changed no locations. It was no longer in a building but it dwelled within the people and it could not be silenced.
The tears that flowed down my face during last night’s Cantata was that inward child; the one in the temple crying “Hosanna, Blessed is the King Who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Don’t lose sight of that inner child this week…