Readings for the Day:
The Liturgy of the Palms
The Liturgy of the Word
Sermon:
One of my favorite television shows is a British show called Doctor Who. It’s about the Doctor, a Time Lord who travels throughout time in space in his ship the TARDIS, which looks like a 1960s Police Callbox.
4 years ago now, The Doctor met up with his friends in the Western part of the United States. It was while they were there, they saw a future version of the Doctor struck down by a mysterious person in a spacesuit. They thought it would mean that the Doctor would soon face his end, and so they spent the rest of the season working with the Doctor to figure out how to avoid his fate. The only thing they learned was that this event was a fixed point in time, which means that it couldn’t be changed without dire consequences to all of time and space itself.
So it looked like there was nothing to do. That the Doctor would die. No if, ands, or buts.
When the Doctor is getting ready to meet his doom, he tries to finish up various business when he runs into a ship he had met before. A ship with a crew of shrunken people inside that can morph itself into the shape of any person it wants. And the crew is made up of people who have dedicated their life to traveling time and getting rid of the greatest evil doers imaginable.
When the crew meets with the Doctor to give him some information they tell him they are sorry that they can’t change his death. And they ask if there’s anything they can do.
The Doctor is out of the door at this point and decides to pop back in. “Actually,” he says “There is something.” He joins the crew and has the ship transform to look like his body. So when the mysterious figure attacks him, it’s actually attacking the robot ship. It may have seemed like the Doctor died, but in actuality, he faked his own death in such a way that no one would have been the wiser.
These are the kinds of stories we love. The story where the hero faces insurmountable odds and yet somehow still finds him or herself on top. Somehow the hero overcomes all odds, even death, and is victorious in the end.
Today on Palm Sunday, we have just celebrated Christ the Victor riding into Jerusalem. He rides into town on a donkey and is greeted like a king. Palms are dropped in the path in front of Him and the people shout “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The shout we ourselves gave this morning.
But Jesus’s victory is different. It isn’t one marked by a quick escape from
certain doom. It doesn’t involve a crafty trick to avoid something bad happening
to Him. Instead, Jesus walks knowingly into the trap that has been set for Him.
Jesus doesn’t walk away from this fight. Instead, He dies.
That is the paradox of the service today. We don’t celebrated a hero’s escape. We instead celebrate the victory of Christ that is somehow tied up in the fact that in the end He does die.
We celebrate a victory. And yet in doing so, it seems that we are celebrating something that is, instead, a failure.
But the thing is that death for Jesus is not a failure. Because His death was never about whether or not He succeeded. It wasn’t about whether Jesus was winning. It was always about us.
Jesus’ death was always the plan to save us from death. To help us make the great escape. To help us live.
It was always about taking our place. Because the way of sin only leads away from God. Away from life. Sin only helps us run away from God and towards death.
And so Jesus took that death on Himself for us, to protect us.
That is the paradox of the service today. We don’t celebrated a hero’s escape. We instead celebrate the victory of Christ that is somehow tied up in the fact that in the end He does die.
We celebrate a victory. And yet in doing so, it seems that we are celebrating something that is, instead, a failure.
But the thing is that death for Jesus is not a failure. Because His death was never about whether or not He succeeded. It wasn’t about whether Jesus was winning. It was always about us.
Jesus’ death was always the plan to save us from death. To help us make the great escape. To help us live.
It was always about taking our place. Because the way of sin only leads away from God. Away from life. Sin only helps us run away from God and towards death.
And so Jesus took that death on Himself for us, to protect us.
And it turns out death wasn’t strong enough for Jesus. It wasn’t strong enough to
snuff Him out, or His love for us. And so even though Jesus does die, He is able
to rise victoriously, as we will celebrate next Sunday.
And we take part in that victory with Him. Because as we are baptized in Jesus’ death, we too are bond with Him in the resurrection. Death and resurrection. Loss and victory. In Jesus, these two things are always bound together. Just as they are today.
During this Holy Week, we take part in those events leading up to the death of Jesus. Of His facing death head on and even succumbing to it.
And we take part in that victory with Him. Because as we are baptized in Jesus’ death, we too are bond with Him in the resurrection. Death and resurrection. Loss and victory. In Jesus, these two things are always bound together. Just as they are today.
During this Holy Week, we take part in those events leading up to the death of Jesus. Of His facing death head on and even succumbing to it.
We will eventually get the victory of Christ Resurrected as well. But for this week, stop and think. Try to take the time to live into death and suffering Jesus Christ experienced. Take time to understand that this victory we see in Jesus was not without cost. Be present with Jesus as He prepared for death with the disciples at the Last Supper on Thursday and as He experienced death on the cross on Friday. See the amazing love which The Son of God has and shows for us all. And let the realization of those events seep into your hearts and be thankful.