Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11, Mark 14:53-62, Isaiah 50:7-9
On that first Palm Sunday, the people may have been
rejoicing, but I seriously doubt that Jesus was focused on the praises that
they were offering Him! He knew very
well what was awaiting Him within the next few short days. There would be arrest and false charges
brought against Him; there would be lies told about Him in Sanhedrin court; one of His
own disciples would betray Him, and another would deny ever knowing Him, and
many others would hide in abject fear for their lives; there would be
indescribable pain from an agonizing beating; then a humiliating and excruciating
crucifixion on Calvary’s Tree; and a human death that God had never
experienced before.
And Jesus knew that it all was planned and necessary
since the beginning of time, that His suffering would become the hope and redemption
for creation’s people. He also knew that
many of them would also have to suffer in the same way that He would soon have
to, but that the Father’s love and glory was waiting, not only for Him, but for
all who would trust in the way that He had been proclaiming and living during
the past few years.
But through it all, He knew that it had to be done,
for the Father was counting on Him to be Redeemer and Savior for those who had
no other way open to them - even though they would struggle and doubt and
hesitate to love and trust in what He was about to do for them. And it would be the love that He, too, would
show to the world, that strengthened and heartened Him to carry out the plan of
salvation for those who would simply believe and trust in all that would come
to be in those next few days.
Read Philippians 2:5-11
Jesus, Son of God and glory of heaven, left it all
behind in order to become nothing in Himself, and everything for you and
me. What kind of God would do that – to
diminish Himself in order that He could become more for His creation? The gods that we create in our lives are
nothing like this, and never can be! But
the One and Only true God, the One who gives glory to heaven and earth, is
that kind!
And what is there about Him that makes Him so
different? It is the perfect love that
fills and inspires our eternal God, it is the creative desire within Him that
has become the driving force behind all that He is about. And this is reflected in the Godly longing to
be with us and to encourage us to be with Him.
We see Him talking with Man in the garden (Genesis 1:28-29), and later, trying to find that being when they had
sinned and had hidden themselves from God’s sight (Genesis 3:8-10). So Jesus humbled Himself and became “nothing”,
as well as a “servant”, for the sinful and unworthy likes of us!
Paul writes that we should take on the same mantle
of humility in our walk with Christ, that Jesus did when He came to walk with
us. But when we, too, become a servant
for others, the Father will grant us His pleasure, just as He did for His Son. For when Jesus had fulfilled His
responsibilities here on earth, He returned to take His rightful place with the
Father.
And on that Day of Jesus’ return to this place, and
when He reveals Himself to ALL of humanity, EVERY knee shall bow, and EVERY
tongue shall proclaim that He is truly Lord and God, for all. But for those who had never given their life
to Him in His Right, it will be too late to make amends on that day.
Read Mark 14:53-62
Why did Jesus open Himself up to this barrage of
lies and insults? After all, He could
have done away with this entire rabble of thieves and liars with just a word,
but He never did. Because the ordeal
that He was about to undertake was for the salvation of those people, too – IF
they would come repentant to His gift of forgiveness!
And condemnation of those who denied and denigrated
Him would never be His in any possible way (John 3:16-17). Godly love is so great that He would gladly
forgive the worst of people, if they would just give up their prideful way and
accept the better way of humility through Jesus. And even in this passage from Mark’s gospel,
Jesus offers no justification or rebuttal to the lies that were spoken against
Him. The only comment that He makes that
night is to affirm His right and true identity.
No arguing, no justifying testimony, no counter
charges, nothing that even had the remote possibility of releasing Him from the
task that lay before Him. In His darkest
hours, the Lord Jesus never backed away from creating the way for our
salvation. Never even a thought of
hatred for those who were telling such heinous lies about Him – only the
possible thought that if even one of them would come to His way, it would be
worth it – and that one would be Nicodemus (John 19:38-40).
Read Isaiah 50:7-9
This passage is a sign that Isaiah was struggling in
much the same way that Jesus would be many years later. But considering the peace that seems to be
sustaining the prophet, we need to know that he has received a promise from his
Jehovah God that He will be with him through whatever comes against his way (Isaiah 50:4).
Jesus had that assurance, too, that His Father never leaves anything
undone, and never leaves His obedient servant alone during anything that would
try Him in heart and soul.
And perhaps our lesson is contained within these
words, too! Jesus knew, and the prophet
proclaims, that no one can ever do what God has denied – they can only do those
things that the Lord has need of. Jesus,
the Son of God and Son of Man, who, in the glory of this Palm Sunday and in the
agony that He knew awaited Him, was confident that the Father would help Him
through this ordeal, and that the mission that had led Him to Jerusalem this
day, would be completed – not in death and failure – but in life and victory,
and that word is also given to each one of us. (John 14:12-13).
Who can stand against us when the Lord is on our
side (Psalm 124)? No one!
This promise from Psalm 124 is essentially the same one that Jesus knew
so very well. He was not only the
“suffering servant”, but the obedient one as well. And in our obedient following and
trusting in what the Lord is asking of us, we, too, will know the love and joy
of God firsthand.
In our humble submission to the way of God,
regardless of what that may require of us, our acceptance of the world’s
“nothing” will bring us the joy and pleasure of Almighty God. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be
asked to go through the same trials that Jesus did, but it does mean that we
must see the world’s accolades in the same light that our Lord did – that they
are “Nothing” when compared to the “Everything” that Our Almighty and Gracious
God has already prepared for each and every one of us.
May our eyes be fixed on Jesus, and the way that He
has already lived on our behalf.
