Peace In Heaven, Strife On Earth

As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Luke 19:37-44

Today is Palm Sunday. According to tradition, today we celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, surrounded by His followers and disciples.

According to the Gospels it was quite a large crowd!

All were praising His name. All were giving glory to God.

All had heard Jesus’ teachings of mercy and forgiveness and felt uplifted by them. All celebrated Him as the Messiah, as the Christ. All looked longingly and passionately to Him for redemption, for forgiveness, for mercy….for salvation.

All were sinners.

On this the Sunday before Easter we often hear much about Jesus, about His coming to Jerusalem, about what awaited Him—arrest, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

But what about the people? What of the ordinary men and women who made up His following, the regular people who were cheering Him as He entered Jerusalem?

What shall we say of them?

That they were sinners is self-evident. All men are sinners. None are perfect, none are blameless.

Did they consider their sinfulness? Did they simply ignore their imperfections as they sang “Hosannah” in Jesus’ name?

Did it occur to them that it was Man’s state of sin that brought Jesus into the world to walk among men? But for sin, there would be no need for salvation, no need for redemption, no reason for Jesus to come into the world.

As His disciples heard Jesus speak time and again of what awaited Him, did any of them understand that all that was unfolding was due to their own sins, their own errors?

If Jesus is the light shining in the darkness, is not that darkness the consequence of our own constant sin, our own habits of error and imperfection, our own corruption?

As we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the capital city of Israel, what recognition should we give to our weaknesses and faults which caused Him to come down to us?

Do we simply ignore them? Do we put thoughts of our own flaws and failings off for another time?

Certainly singing praises is preferable to sorrow over sin.

But sin remains. It remains in me, and it remains in us all. Even as we proclaim our own salvation through Jesus we remain sinners. Even as we are redeemed we will continue to make mistakes, continue to fall short of the glory of God. Being saved does not transform us into saints. We are not made perfect by our faith.

Is it wise to ignore this reality?

What becomes of the imperfection we choose to ignore? Does it vanish? Does it grow and become magnified? Do we make the inevitable consequence better or worse for our inattention?

If, as we celebrate Jesus coming to Jerusalem, we do not ponder the role our sins play in bringing Him to Jerusalem, are we making our situation better or worse?

If we turn the blind eye to our sins now, will we be able to turn a discerning eye towards them later?

Jesus made it clear what was to happen because the people in Jerusalem turned a blind eye to their wickedness: Jerusalem would be overthrown…again. The city would be laid waste…again. The people would be conquered and enslaved…again.

History tells us that within the century after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the Romans would indeed lay waste to the city multiple times as they brutally crushed Jewish uprisings. The Jewish people would be scattered, and the Temple destroyed.

Did any of the people celebrating Jesus that first Palm Sunday give any thought to the ruin that was yet to come, or why that ruin had to come?

That God forgives is the constant promise throughout the Scripture. That Jesus redeems us on the Cross is made plain by the Gospels.

Yet even though we are forgiven, even though we are redeemed, we are still sinners. Even as we stumble towards the light we are still in the darkness. Our hearts might be changed, our spirits might be transformed, but our flawed nature remains flawed.

Surely we do well to always be mindful of this. Surely we do well to remember that, though we are redeemed today, we will need to be redeemed yet again tomorrow. Surely we do well, as we sing “Hosannah” to Jesus on this Palm Sunday, not to ignore the sinfulness that is yet within each of us, and the sins we will yet commit.

In Jesus, we are redeemed. Of that there is no doubt. But neither is there any doubt that we continue to need redemption. Neither is there any doubt that we are still a corrupt part of a corrupt world. Neither is there any doubt that our redemption is never complete so long as we are in this world.

Neither is there any doubt that while peace prevails in Heaven, strife still prevails on Earth.

On this Palm Sunday, I pray all people will be mindful of this, our daily need for salvation and redemption. I pray all people will be mindful and repent of our sins, both those we have done and those we yet will do. I pray all people will be mindful and will therefore sing “Hosannah” not just on Palm Sunday, but on every day, celebrating that each day we are redeemed.

Today is Palm Sunday. According to tradition, today we celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. As we celebrate, we do well to remember that while peace prevails in Heaven, strife still prevails on Earth.