Make Us One

Do you ever think about the last words you’ll ever say?

I think about it, every once in a while. I think about who I’d be with if I knew time was short. I think about what I’d say – what I’d want them to know.

If you knew time was short, you’d focus on what mattered most, right?

Well, that’s what Jesus did.

He knew He was going to die. He came to die.

So, He spent His last night with those closest to Him. Wouldn’t you love to know what He said?

Fortunately, John, one of only twelve who were present, recorded it for us. He preserved the last prayer Jesus prayed with and for His followers.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one…

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:11, 20-23, NIV)

Jesus used His last night to talk about unity.

That may be more significant – and more relevant – than we realize.

See, Israel was under Roman occupation. They weren’t a free people. Matthew – one of Jesus’ followers – was a tax collector for Rome. He was literally employed by their oppressors. Simon – another of Jesus’ followers – was a member of a group that resisted Rome. He literally killed their oppressors.

And Jesus says to them, “I want you to be one. I want you to be united. Yes, you disagree on the best political course but because you follow Me, you’re a part of something much, much bigger than your current government. You are citizens of a different Kingdom. And that is what unites you.”

Friends, I don’t know where you stand politically. Unless you happen to be particularly close to me, you don’t know where I stand.

But if you follow Jesus, you and I are a part of the same Kingdom.

We may vote differently tomorrow.

But let’s be one.

Let’s be united in our love for one another.

Let’s not tear one another down – in person or on social media. Let’s not make snap judgments about anyone’s character based on how they decided to vote. Let’s stop setting up caricatures and start seeing individuals. Let’s have conversations – loving and gracious conversations – about our differences.

But let’s be one.

And, whoever wins, let’s commit to praying for our president.

Let’s commit to praying for wisdom and discernment.

Let’s commit to praying for compassion and grace.

Let’s commit to praying for decisiveness and strength.

Waving Palms

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, the people recognized His claim to be King.

They cheered at His arrival and spread their cloaks out before Him.  

They also cut down branches and laid them in the road. Listen to what the book of Matthew says:

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:8-9, ESV)

The book of John tells us that the branches the people used were palm branches. The book of John does not, however, say they spread them in the road. It’s not a contradiction, but it leaves open the possibility that they used them for another purpose, as well.

As we saw yesterday, the biblical writers often include details that provide incredible insights but are easy to gloss over.

Why does it matter that they used palm branches?

God instructed the nation of Israel to celebrate seven festivals throughout the year. One of those festivals was called Sukkot – or the Feast of Shelters.

On the feast of Sukkot, the Jews would gather and remember how God had sheltered them (and sheltered with them) in the desert after He’d led them out of their slavery in Egypt.

Sukkot took place at the beginning of the rainy season. So, they would gather together and pray for rain, waving palm branches, and shouting, “Hosanna!” which means, “God, save us!” Even as they remembered God’s salvation in the past, they would pray for God’s salvation in the future.

But we’re in Passover week (another festival that we’ll get to in a later post) – not Sukkot week.

This is like putting up a Christmas tree at Easter. It doesn’t fit.

So, why are there palm branches? Why are the people crying out ‘Hosanna’?

Indulge me in a little bit of history.

About 200 hundred years before Jesus’s time, Israel was controlled by the Greeks. The Greeks defiled God’s house. They sacrificed pigs in the Temple and slept with prostitutes in the Temple courts. A priestly family called the Maccabees rose up in revolt, defeated the Greeks, and cleaned out the Temple. They later realized that in the chaos of war they had missed Sukkot. So, they decided to celebrate it late that year.

There’s a real chance that Easter is going to look different this year. We may not be able to gather together as a church. We may have to delay egg hunts for the sake of social distancing. We may have to hold off on giving baskets of treats. What if we can’t celebrate Easter together until July?

We would never forget the year we postponed Easter.

Well, the Jews never forgot the year they postponed Sukkot either. And, consequently, the palm branches and the shouting of “Hosanna” took on a new significance. They came to represent victory. “Hoshana” (as its pronounced in Hebrew) came to mean not only “God save us from starvation by sending rain,” but “God save us from our enemies by destroying them.” It took on a political meaning, not just a religious one.

Let’s come back to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Israel was not free. They were occupied by Rome. This time around, it is not Maccabees revolting, but another Jewish sect. The Zealots.

The palm branch became the Zealot flag and “Hoshana” became the war cry.

So, when Jesus enters Jerusalem and is greeted by a crowd waving palm branches and shouting “Hoshana,” what are the people hoping for? Revolt. “Come on, Jesus! Let’s overthrow Rome! Let’s triumph over our enemies!”

The book of Luke tells us that as Jesus wept as He approached the city. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42, NLT)

They interpreted Jesus’ mission through the lens of the Zealot mission.

They waved the Zealot flag.

We all wave a flag. We all interpret Jesus through the lens of our own pre-commitments – to political parties, to media outlets, to cultural customs, to, well, just about anything.

The problem is that we all have it backwards.

Our pre-commitments do not shape Jesus. Rather, Jesus must be the pre-commitment that shapes everything else.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, NLT)

This is what it means to follow Jesus. It means to take up the cross.

But before we can take up our cross, we must lay down our palm branches.

Read John 12:12-16 (preferably in the English Standard Version, since it retains the use of the word “Hosanna”). Reflect on your “palm branches” – the pre-commitments you bring into your relationship with Jesus. What do you need to lay down?