Lessons From The Sunday Of Palms

SAT., MAR. 30, 1996, 7:05 AM
FARM, STUDY

Tomorrow will be the commencement of Holy Week, that recurring time of remembrance of the culmination of My earth life, as Jesus. You don’t have the expected emotions, for it is an experience you’ve had many times. And you know how it “comes out”.

This Sunday is the recall of a time of triumph. Yet it was more political than spiritual. Among the people of Jerusalem and its “suburbs” the word spread that a prophet, who just might be the awaited, and needed, Messiah, was coming. He had disciples, and they heard that he spoke well, that he had healed some successfully and had done other miracles. Perhaps he is the One. Surely He is the One.

Here’s an analogy I find interesting, from a portion of the current political campaign now past. You Americans are not ruled by a foreign tyrant, but there are some, even many, who feel that the present elected government doesn’t function well and should be “replaced.” The earliest voting primary was in New Hampshire and a candidate named Pat Buchanan was emerging as a contender. He was seen as an “outsider”, one who would change the way government worked. He was avid, and he appealed to many voters, partly because he was “different”… he might be the one to restore benefits to them… and partly because he seemed to have an integrity, meaning that he stood for some principles and wouldn’t compromise.

Buchanan’s victory in New Hampshire was not resounding and it didn’t represent many votes, but it was a victory. Here was the new contender. Dole, the expected front-runner, had faltered. Buchanan’s supporters in other states became energized and excited. Here was their candidate as the next President. He talked in opposition to the Establishment, both in the government and in the Republican party.

But these leaders of the GOP also came to life and began to work. The media gave Buchanan coverage, seeming to like the sense that this was a “race” and not one already “locked up” by Dole. Buchanan was more charismatic than Dole. But he also stood solidly for issues not popular with the majority. As other primaries came along Dole, the ultimate “insider”, who had “earned” the nomination by service and faithfulness to the Party, forged ahead. Buchanan, hailed almost as an “outside” savior, shrunk in importance. Some of what he stood for was ridiculed. Now he is no longer a viable candidate. His supporters see him now as a loser, with no benefits coming to them. They turn away.

You, and others, may not like the analogy, for I, as Jesus, was, on that day coming into Jerusalem, the Pat Buchanan who had won the delegates in New Hampshire. Some people truly wanted Me, but others just got caught in the enthusiasm for anyone, one not identified with the Jewish leaders, who could lead them out of the governmental situation they were in.

But the Jewish leaders were not to be overcome by this “outsider”. They had a certain amount of power, and they wouldn’t give this up to some itinerant preacher. He didn’t fit their “picture” of the Messiah, as they interpreted the prophesies (and you don’t see that He matched these either). This group of supporters, who welcomed Him with palm branches and clothing thrown on His path, had to be neutralized.