Flowery (Palm) Sunday: The Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem. Feast of our Lord.
Philippians 4:4-9; John 12:1-18.
Read Philippians 4:4-9
How quickly things can change. Hope can suddenly flip to disappointment. Repeated experiences like that can discourage our prayers. Today’s epistle reading tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always…Have no anxiety about anything,” because, “The Lord is at hand.” There was much rejoicing on the first Palm Sunday; the Lord was at hand then. But rejoicing quickly turned to much that people became anxious about. What happened? How can we sustain our hope in the Lord now?
Dashed expectations are the difference between, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” and, “Crucify him!” Living this side of our Lord’s passion, burial, and resurrection, we have the benefit of the fulfillment of those things which Jesus foretold to his disciples. We can understand better than they what Jesus meant when he said, “For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) But we are made of the same stuff as them. Preoccupation with our wants and needs can make us forgetful. Paul realigns our expectations and helps us to remember our hope.
“Let all men know your forbearance,” contains the clear implication that forbearance is required of us. We can expect the way of joy and peace to require that we put in the effort to restrain ourselves and do without.
But our way is not the way of grim stoicism. The revelation we are given to meditate on puts us in an active rather than passive posture. This is not a Christian version of The Power of Positive Thinking. True, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent things worthy of praise originate and find fulfillment in Jesus Christ, leading to thanksgiving, prayer, and the peace of God.