Introductory Talk
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29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. -
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The preparation for Holy Week usually starts on Palm Sunday and then drops in on the Last Supper with foot washing on Thursday maybe I Last Supper meal then a walk of witness on Good Friday and an hour at the cross later before a quiet Saturday and then a special Sunday.
But what was that week like for Jesus? From the Friday before Palm Sunday to the Friday after - Good Friday.
Looking back from Palm Sunday to the Friday before. His walking and talking with the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. We hear about his last miracle and the conversion of attacks man that was a miracle indeed. And a very moving account of the anointing both for jesus's burial and his coronation.
There is so much more than the usual holy week reflections and I'm looking forward to sharing with you.
It's not all talk after talk there are plenty of opportunities to reflect and fellowship and to enjoy the wonderful hospitality of this community over the next few days at nights.
One of the questions that will come up from time to time is’ which crowd are you in?’ Usually there is an obvious correct - the one that loves Jesus and follows him. But if we are truthful sometimes we find ourselves in the wrong crowd. So for example when the woman poured a year's wages worth of pure nard on Jesus - if we are truthful we may have been in the crowd that moaned about it and the waste of money.
I found myself in the wrong crowd when I was in Sweden in Malmo a few years ago. On every lamppost where are the posters inviting you to a reggae concert. The roster colours were all over it. It was in Swedish but I fancied a bit of reggae in the concert in the park on our first Saturday afternoon one of the musicians in between songs went into a long speech with everyone cheering and I was mocking and cheering too because I didn't understand a word he was saying until he asked us all to raise our hands and say Allah Akbar. It dawned on me then I was in a radical Muslim rally I did not feel safe and quickly made a getaway. I was in the wrong crowd.
There were crowds involved in the healing of the blind man on a couple of days before Palm Sunday. Most of the crowd saw him as a nobody told him to stop shouting out to get jesus's attention. That could have been me. Don't interrupt me I'm doing the Lord's business. But the Lord is in the business of interruptions. It is so easy to be in the wrong crowd and miss read a situation to think and think you were doing God's work but you've missed an opportunity to share the love of Christ with someone who needed it.
I was having my lunch at the hospital refractory when a couple came up to me and said are you the chaplain? - ‘Yes.’
‘Our daughter is on one of the cancer wards and we are born again Christians and our daughter has turned her back on it all. Would you visit her?’
I visited the daughter later that afternoon, Denise had two daughters and let me into her life story. Her parents had been quite pushy, judging her for a marriage break-up, pressuring her to go for prayer about her cancer. I shared with Denise that I had felt a similar pressure from my own mother when I was first injured.
Over the next few weeks, Denise welcomed the opportunity to pray and to cast her fears and cares on the Lord and open her heart door to the Lord in a personal way – Hallelujah. It's so easy to be in the wrong crowd, thinking you're in the right. My lunch was not more important than Denise’s eternal well-being
These are tasters of what we will get up to over the next few days.
Enter into as much of it as you can, but don't exhaust yourself. This is a time away for peace and quiet. Enter into the worship the prayers, and I hope to see you at some of my sessions and if none of that interests you there's always the truly scrumptious food and the hospitality!
