4-4-2012 Oh, by The Way

As he was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."

Garden at Mount of Olives

He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Luk 19:37-44 

Elohim, I’m having some difficulty keeping the “lens” correctly focused. I’m not even sure my spiritual camera is pointed in the right direction.

It’s a memory I’m looking at:

Triumphant Entry Path

We’ve just come out of the Church of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives and we’re walking toward the Old City of Jerusalem.  Mike, our faithful tour guide mentions, “Oh by the way. This is part of the path that we believe Jesus took on his triumphant entry.”

Wait, stop. I look around me to capture the moment. The path, a narrow road…make that almost an alley…winds downward as we get closer to the bottom of the Kidron Vally. Cars are actually using this passage and as they come from both directions we have to squeeze to the side. I remember wondering if this is a two way road and what would happen if two vehicles came at the same time from opposite directions.

But here we are. You, my Savior, riding on a donkey, the crowds shouting “Hosanna”! This is when everyone expected you to step up to the plate and hit your home run, turning the Romans and the Ruling Class into puddles of nothing. This is where you wept.

Church in Kidron Valley

And yet it is considered an “Oh, by the way” moment? It makes me wonder, what else I’m minimalizing or missing altogether, because it seems secondary, when in fact, it could be the most important of things,

For instance, the Resurrection: No Father in Heaven, I’ve not forgotten that Jesus died on the cross and was raised again, but I do tend to mistranslate WHY it happened.

My temptation is to leave the focus of my lens on the fact that you, Savior, died for me and for all mankind, that I and the world might be saved. That’s not a bad thing…is it? But it begs the question: Saved…for WHAT?

Worshipers at the Western Wall

At Easter time our family gets all dressed up, we climb into the car and travel to a beautiful ceremony with lots of others who look a lot like us. There we sing and praise You for redeeming us and dying for our sins and all of that great stuff…but then we drive off in our cars with all that great stuff in our heads and…do nothing with it!

“:WHAT”, some may ask, “are we to do with this stuff?” I confess, Living God, I have asked this too.

Is it about us – what You have done for us? How we are changed, how we are secured for eternity? Was that the purpose of you Jesus, bringing your message, standing firm as God and Man, and not budging from that message even when bloodied and beaten and tortured and killed? Was it just so we could get a “condemnation pass” if we believe all that?

Or is the focus something else entirely? Could the focus be…You?

Maybe I’m making too fine a point here, Lord (I’ve been accused of doing so at other times), but I think, not – only because I know this one from scripture and experience. Even the ancient Israelites got wrapped up in their worship procedures and rules and their outcomes rather than their Creator. Even I get caught up in what benefits and privileges I get out of the deal, instead of…?

…Instead of living in a world where it is not I who receives the glory for what has been done. Shouldn’t I be glorifying You who did this thing? Shouldn’t that be my “soul” purpose, 24/7? The Crucifixion and Resurrection (parts of an intentional plan for the fullness of time, designed from a beginning we can’t truly comprehend); don’t they point with laser like focus to the one who did the dying and the resurrecting? Aren’t I supposed to be the one weeping (NOT YOU!) with my face to the ground worshiping Your magnificence? Is that what everyone else is doing and have I just missed my focus?

Sign on door inside Garden Tomb

Resurrection day is not about my bounty or my wish for You to change the world. The world IS changed, I AM CHANGED…but I’m living as if it’s not all that important. I excuse myself from telling anyone, EVERYONE, that YOU are GOD and there is no other! HURRY, come with me to the tomb – see? HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

The world tells me I am misbehaving when I speak more loudly than a whisper about You. I must be silent and courteous in order for my belief to be tolerated.

Oh by the way. 

You are The Way, The Truth and The Light. If Resurrection is to be about You, then I can’t validate any other god – not even myself.

If I believe this, I can’t live the other 364 days of the year as if You are still hidden in the tomb, afraid to come out, lest You embarrass or offend someone.

Sea Of Galilee-near Chapel of the Primacy

After all, I am your slave, aren’t I?

Tell me how to worship You, show me where to worship You. Convict me to put away my selfish desire, my fearful ways, and follow You, the Risen Lord Jesus, Savior and King of the Universe: no matter what, no matter where or when.

Resurrection Blessings to my Lord; my Focus,

Mark A. Cornelius