Rachel Sanders - April 2, 2023
Surrender my expectations
Surrender My Expectations Palm Sunday 2023 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.’” 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[d] 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.” "When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." - Luke 9:51 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:9-10) "He knows that the same people who are so impressed with him one day so as to want to make him king need very little altering of circumstance to begin the chant: Crucify Him! Amazement lies at the root of hype, ideology, groupthink, mob mentality, gang rapes, and crucifixions. Crowds do not think; they act out of a blind energy, and that carries immense dangers. Indeed, scripture scholars tell us that in the Gospels, most every time the word crowd is used, one could supply the word mindless." Ronald Rolheiser 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,”he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[f]” 14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” 17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. Matthew 21:12-17 Jesus came to declare that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, but it will not look like the ways of this world. Expectations tied solely to a pre-determined end will lead to a disillusioned faith. Jesus modeled for us surrendered prayer reliant on relationship not results. Jesus’ kingdom – the kingdom of God – is not about blessing things as they are presently arranged, but changing them until the present arrangement reflects the one God intends. Everything is at risk when Jesus begins his entry into Jerusalem. Tyler Staton
From Series: "Nevertheless"
"Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." (Luke 22:42 ESV) Gethsemane represents a place of surrender in the life of Jesus. It is the death before the death. It was in the garden where we see the reality of his struggle and how he prayed for deliverance and yet submitted himself to the will of the Father.