We are just a week and a half away from Easter. I hope you’ve enjoyed at least one Reese’s Peanut Butter egg and if not, make some arrangements now to secure one before they are gone. As we enter this final countdown to Resurrection Sunday, I want to bring a couple notes of simple contemplation and self-examination for us in light of Jesus’ journey leading to the cross and going to the grave.
One of the biggest pieces of the entirety of the Easter story is the spectrum of events in the final week leading up to the crucifixion. We’re going to look at the entrance this week (John 12:12-19) and then the exit.
Palm Sunday is the day in the Christian calendar that is recognized as the celebratory parade of Jesus coming to Jerusalem. He rode into town on a donkey colt that had never been ridden. People had been hyped up and awaiting this new king holding on to the prophecies of the Old Testament thinking that they were about to see a total militant takeover of Rome.
The Roman empire had risen in power and the oppression had elevated to a level of suffocation. Hope has been deferred for so long that up until the last three years, many were ready to write off the prophets of old as heretics, false prophets, or wrong at best. With the arrival of Jesus into full force public ministry and miracles, hope had been stirred once again.
People talk and stories grow. People see things through the lens in which they are most comfortable with or at least most familiar with. In doing so, humans develop opinions based on limited experience while filling in the blanks as they see fit, taking cues from others and often discounting outlying details, omitting certain facts that do not fit, and/or compiling misinformation that backs their belief.
In the 1950s, a psychologist named Solomon Asch conducted an experiment on conformity and social influence. Participants were simply asked to judge the length of lines. Other participants in the study were staged and were told to only give wrong answers. It was discovered that many of the real participants began to match their answers to the groups despite their personal beliefs. They would give wrong answers along with the group for fear of being rejected or receiving disapproval. Asch concluded that people will conform to the majority thinking when they find themselves in the minority, as this leads to doubting their own perception.
So back to Jesus. There’s a party thrown and the majority find themselves a front row seat to this parade not wanting to miss being a part of the fulfillment of the promise of this guy, Jesus, doing something good for them. They waved and threw palm branches which would have been the equivalent of confetti and roses, balloons and banners.
Palm branches meant triumph, celebration, and honor. This crowd did all that – celebrating the coming victory. People bought into an idea instead of believing in the person. Today, I invite you to consider two things of yourself.
One: is there something that you have bought into simply out of group or social influence? Have you been sucked into the latest mob mentality – fashion, politics, economics, diet, health, etc. Let’s step back and think differently, think for ourselves. God gave us a brain to reason and think. Don’t take everyone’s word for it – check it for yourself. (Romans 12:1-2) As we engage in social constructs, may we have courage to hold to our conviction and check facts, steward information, and speak truth.
Two: have you believed in Jesus Christ for yourself personally? Have you just bought into the idea socially or culturally? Do you just go to church or subscribe to Christianity as it suits you and fits your needs? Jesus is way more than a parade, a bumper sticker, a celebrity, or a theory. He came to give you life and offers a different way of living and it’s not just a group think game (Matt 7:13-14).
This Palm Sunday, may you and I embrace Jesus as king in our lives, not just as another account to follow and trend to be complicit. May we find the truth for ourselves and the confidence to go forward in it despite the rest of the room’s decision.
#mobmentality
#donotconform
#paradetograve
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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