Hailed Yet Abandoned

[00:00:01] Mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [00:00:13] Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and the crowds threw in their lot with him. [00:00:22] They said, you're our King. Save us, please. [00:00:28] They gave him their allegiance. [00:00:32] They accepted his rule, his reign, and Jesus would lead them. [00:00:40] But not as they expected. Perhaps Jesus says, if anyone would follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me. If anyone would come after me. If we want to follow Jesus, it means taking up the cross. [00:00:57] Or as the epistle reading puts it, having his mindset. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus. You and I, as those who believe in Jesus, those who trust in him, those who follow him by God's grace, by faith, that's what we're doing. We're in Christ and we're accepting his cross. [00:01:22] We are having his mind as the Spirit gives it to us. And what is that mind that belongs to Jesus? What is Jesus mind? [00:01:35] Though he was in the form of God, he didn't count equality with God a thing to be grasped. [00:01:42] The highest deserves all glory in heaven and on earth. None of the earth. This is his by nature to hang onto. He deserves everyone's honor and praise. [00:01:57] But he humbled himself and took the form of a servant. This is the cross. [00:02:03] This is what we receive in Christ Jesus. This is our mindset. [00:02:09] If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me. [00:02:16] So this is Palm Sunday, and we celebrate his triumphal entry. But it's also the Sunday of the Passion in the lectionary. So we're already kind of skipping to the end of the week here. We get both, but both need to be seen together. Jesus coming into Jerusalem, being proclaimed king. And then Jesus showing his glory in his glorious condescension, in his taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [00:02:53] Both need to be seen together. [00:02:59] Now, as he went to the cross, people weren't ready to accept the cross. [00:03:09] His disciples, who had followed him throughout his ministry, who had become close to him, who called him Teacher, Peter, who called him the Christ, the Son of God, was not ready. None of his disciples were. They ran, they fled to avoid the cross that Jesus was taking up. [00:03:32] They didn't want to be seen with him. Peter denied knowing him. In order to escape the cross, Pilate gave in to the people. He didn't want a part of that. They were speaking too loudly. It wasn't good for him politically. He washed his hands of it. He didn't want anything to do with. With. [00:03:55] Well, he didn't want to be. He didn't want to suffer for Jesus sake. [00:03:58] Obviously, the one criminal on the cross railed at him. They joined everybody else. [00:04:15] But the other criminal, the other criminal saw himself as suffering justly and threw his lot in with Jesus. [00:04:27] Remember what Jesus said, today you will be with me in paradise. [00:04:32] See that criminal? [00:04:35] He kind of placed his own sufferings and his own cross under Jesus, not thinking that he was earning anything by it. This is just what I deserve. [00:04:44] But he was just. He was happy to be found in Christ. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Be my king. [00:04:53] You're my kind of king. [00:04:55] You could say, Jesus says, today you will be with me in paradise. [00:05:02] Brothers and sisters, in Christ, the way of the cross is our way as followers of Jesus. And we know that life comes after the cross. [00:05:11] The rest of the story is that Jesus rose from the dead. [00:05:15] And Paul says it poetically in Philippians 2, humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name that's above every name. So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Father. The cross led to glory, it leads to glory for you and for me. Not because we deserve anything for our suffering, so to speak, but because in Jesus we receive glory. [00:05:54] In Jesus we are humbled. In Jesus we lose everything by accepting the cross, by being united to him in his death. [00:06:05] And in Jesus we receive everything, being united to him in his resurrection. [00:06:14] So our way is the way of the cross, but when we say our way, we're talking about moving somewhere. Where are we going? What is our way? [00:06:24] Road, path in Greek and Hebrew. [00:06:28] Our way is the way of the cross. Well, so where are we going? [00:06:33] And every day we're going somewhere, we're headed somewhere. [00:06:37] Where is your mind headed typically? Where is it headed today? Where was it headed yesterday? Where is it headed this week or this month or this year? [00:06:48] In life in general, what are your aspirations? What seems important to you? What seems important to me on a day to day basis, kind of faced with that choice, consciously or unconsciously, and we follow a path, we have aims, we're aiming at something. What are our goals? What do we think is most important? What demands my attention right now? [00:07:15] And some of the time or a lot of the time, my priorities aren't what they should be. [00:07:23] And I'm not aiming in a purposeful direction. Well, what's a purposeful direction? It depends on your perspective. [00:07:32] You have the mind of Christ. [00:07:35] What's a purposeful direction? Well, just look at Christ, who didn't hang on to what he could enjoy, but humbled himself, took the form of a servant, became obedient to death, even death on a cross. [00:07:51] You and I have these opportunities daily to take up our cross and follow Jesus. [00:08:00] It means being crucified daily. [00:08:07] It means offering our bodies as living sacrifices, pleasing and acceptable to God. [00:08:13] It means taking up responsibility for the sake of those around us. [00:08:24] So here's a worthy aim. [00:08:27] Let's just skip to the most pressing of needs. You see that criminal on the cross saying, remember me when you come into your kingdom. There he is. He's lost everything. He's dying. He's on a cross. And he recognizes you know what I really need is for you to be my king and to receive everything you have to offer Jesus. And Jesus says, today you will be with me in paradise. That is of ultimate concern. [00:09:01] And you and me and everyone around you, this is their ultimate concern, whether they know it or not. [00:09:11] And so have you been given responsibility for children or do you have a spouse or neighbors? [00:09:26] God has given you a special role, special role. He's given you special perspective, the mind of Christ. Have this mind among yourselves and he's shown you what's of ultimate concern. As all the other concerns surround you and grab your attention. [00:09:48] All your other goals and the things that can seem important or worthy of pursuit, worthy of your fear or your love. [00:09:58] Amidst all those things, Christ says to you, well, repent and believe the gospel. [00:10:14] Repent and believe in me. Throw your lot in with me. [00:10:20] Set everything else aside. [00:10:25] And like his servant Paul, consider everything as loss for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Like we had last week. [00:10:34] Also in Philippians. [00:10:38] Our way is the way of the cross. [00:10:43] Our children, our friends, our spouse, our brothers and sisters in Christ. [00:10:50] We're made in God's image and are being restored in God's image through Christ Jesus as he gives us his gifts through faith. So what ought to be my number one concern on a day to day basis? What should I be spending my life on? My attention. What is my path? [00:11:15] Serving my children and my wife and especially aiming for their salvation. [00:11:24] Pointing them to Jesus, teaching them, building them up. And then I have a job and it happens to be focusing on you all. And what am I aiming at for each one of you? [00:11:36] Your salvation. That Jesus would say to you, today you will be with me in paradise, pointing you to Christ. And I have friends and family, and the same could be said for them. [00:11:49] Ultimately, the same is true for you. [00:11:59] I visited my grandfather yesterday, my grandma and my grandpa, and grandpa's in bed and he's dying, you know. And so it's like, talk about ultimate concern, you know, it takes the criminal dying on a cross, losing everything, to recognize what's most important and to say to Jesus next to him, lord, remember me when youn come into your kingdom. [00:12:27] For my grandfather, the same is true. And he's had a lifetime of pursuits and concerns, paths that he's taken. And here he is at the end of his race, at the end of his path, his earthly path, and dying in faith, looking to Jesus like, what's of ultimate concern? [00:12:50] One thing is necessary. [00:12:53] Jesus Christ, to be found in him with a righteousness not our own. [00:12:59] He's the one thing necessary. So here we are, we're going into Holy Week with one thing on our minds, Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean we're not doing the dishes, doesn't mean we're not serving in practical ways daily. But as we do anything else, we can have Christ at the forefront of our minds. We can wave our palm branches beneath his feet and lift him up and say, lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. In Jesus name, amen.