“Hosanna!”
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That’s what the crowd was yelling as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey.
“Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Yhwh, even the King of Israel!”
Game. set, match; the Romans are toast and Israel will once again be preeminent among all nation or will it?  What thoughts were running through Jesus’ mind as he rode into town that day?  Knowing the crowds hearts and the purpose for which he entered that city, I am certain that such praise and adoration seemed as empty as the echo of the word off the walls of the buildings around them.

“Hosanna!”  Save us from the Roman boot that enslaves us! That was what they expected, but Jesus was there for something far different and of much more importance than temporal rescue.  He had come to die; God in man, without sin, would become all sin of all time of all mankind and then be killed by the cruelest execution instrument yet devised.
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His apostles’ hearts must have swelled with joy and hope as they saw and heard what they thought was the fruition of all about which the prophets had spoken.  Being in the inner circle, I have to wonder if they imagined the glory and honors they were about to receive as Jesus’ apostles.  They too were in for something far different; one was to be dead within a few days by his hand; the others save one would die in various manners by the Romans they thought they were about to be rid of by Jesus.

“Hosanna,” we all sang at the Chapel Hill Bible Church (and so many others around the world) this past Sunday customarily referred to as Palm Sunday, commemorating their King’s return to His city.
Within a few short days, those cries of “Hosanna” would become “Crucify Him!” as they realized that He was not the Messiah they wanted, but a meek, humble Lamb come and be slaughtered.  The very ones who praised him would now condemn Him; we all shake our heads at such perfidy, but I wonder.  How many of us have done the same, perhaps not vocally crying for Jesus’ crucifixion, but in our actions daily replicating that horrid cry?
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I have; that very afternoon in fact.
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We are all far too prone to obey the call of our sinful nature; thankfully for those who are in Christ those sins are all paid for by the One the crowd vilified that Thursday.   All sins, of all time, of all mankind, were paid in full on Golgatha; even those this side of the cross. 
To some that seems insane, a license to do whatever you want whenever you want.  As one of the chaplains that I knew while in prison put it; “If you can honestly think that, then you better do a real heart exam because something is woefully wrong.”

“Hosanna!” “Crucify Him!”

Daily let us all examine our hearts in the quiet of the morning or evening and then speak with the One, who Loves us so much.  Grace is beyond understanding to the twisted, sinful mind of mankind, but Grace is the answer of Heaven to our failings. 

​Come Home, my friend; He is waiting.

So, what’s new with you?

Another 24 hour period passes and the world seems to pause to celebrate this particular day more than another simply because it marks the passing of one year (2015) and the beginning of yet one more (2016).  Spending multiplied millions (if not billions) on the gaiety of such an event and, with the new risks we face, add to that the billions in added security to protect the revelers who gather around the globe.

Why do we do this every year?  We eat special meals, supposedly to influence events in the coming year that will bring us additional money and good fortune all the while laughing off such and telling each other that we are not taking such folk-wisdom seriously.  But those meals are served with the same regularity as we light up the night sky with brilliant displays of fireworks each year. 

Multiplied millions share resolutions to at least attempt to improve their lives, if not that of some attempt at improving the world around them; such promises for change often forgotten in the passing of days (hours?) that the ‘new’ year brings.  We hope, perhaps, that this year can be different; that governments can work together, and that industry as well will work more for the benefit of the world and the people who live on it rather than chasing after the amassing of more and more in the coffers of those same governments and businesses. 

​But what is new with you?  Is it vain to hope for improvement as Jiminy Cricket once sang, “When You Wish Upon A Star?” or are we doomed to continue the same circling of the drain as we await the final push of a button to end it all with nuclear oblivion or some other form of destruction?  Can that be the underlying cause of such careless and hopeful abandon each New Year Eve?  We did not blow ourselves up (at least in the case of the majority) and can hope that such will be the case next December 31st all the while nervously watching the growing tensions between religious groups, countries, and individuals.

​Dare I say it?  Is there hope in something (Someone) outside of our control?  Events that I participated in while in the Navy back in the 1970s make me less hopeful of man’s efforts to obtain “Peace on Earth.”  As more countries and the despots who rule them become members of the nuclear club, it seems that we are indeed circling the drain of our demise unless there is Another who will, as the bartender in a pub I once visited in Scotland said, “All right, gents.  Closing time.”
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We have no means to stop our maddened rush to eventual destruction.  A perusal of any news media or just looking within our hearts will demonstrate this truth.  Mutual Assured Destruction Doctrine is no guarantee of peace (as I learned in the 70s) and the vehement argument between scholars of different (or the same) religions give me little cause for hope.  It is only in one Person that I can look and see hope; a baby born in a slum of a forgotten part of a subjugated people brought that hope to all mankind.  A baby foretold for centuries, who was born to die and lived his life in complete obedience to the Law of His people, then executed putting an end, the authorities thought, to this sect of Jews.

But hope arose and continued to grow despite the efforts of any politician or imam; the Light of all men provides a newness in the most despicable of us (and I have, at times, been such and will be again).  Scattered around the world, the followers of this One look into a future that is New and filled with a Hope that the world scorns.  As this ‘new’ (but far too much the same) begins, I invite you to consider this Jesus and ask yourself what answer He would give you to the question with which I began this.
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So, what’s new with you?

While I was in prison, still growing in faith, I had begun to record some of my thoughts about what Christ had done.  The following is one such article that I sent home and which Kathy faithfully preserved over the years.  More such will follow in the hope that others may be encouraged in their own struggle and find the solace and hope that I have in this incredible man named Jesus.

Gethsemane.

Olive trees covering a hill just across the Kidron valley from Jerusalem; a place of quiet especially meaningful amid the cacophony of this center of Judaism as Passover neared.  Frequently Jesus had come here with His apostles seeking refuge and rest; no noisome, demanding crowds, just a place to rest and recuperate.

But not that night.

The Passover.  A time of rejoicing and celebration for all Jews.  Even with the ever-present yoke of Rome upon them, remembering this glorious past deliverance from another world power kept alive within all hearts the hope that such a deliverance would again be theirs.  Jesus' entrance into the city earlier in the week had rekindled this in dramatic fashion as the crowds hailed his entrance in such a remarkable fashion that the religious leaders feared the fist of Rome descending upon them for such impudence.  "Hosanna!" they had cried while waving palm branches; hailing Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Father had promised their race through the prophets.  Their wild abandonment to their hope that the deliverance would come now (their cries of Hosanna meant just this, save us now!), was fueled by all that this man had done and said; if he were not the Promised One, then who else could they hope in?  Their expectations were to be quashed this week, however, as they realized that this Jesus was not the deliverer they wanted; He had come to free them, but not in the way they wanted.  This disappointment in Jesus would lead that crowd to scream a very different cry by the end of that week.

Knowing what was to come, Jesus' flesh shrank from the pain and horror of it all.  What Jew was not all too familiar with how Rome executed non-citizens?  Their perfection of crucifixion had become almost a perverse art form; a blending of shame and degradation together with unimaginable pain that could go on for days!  But much more than that, Jesus wrestled with the burden He would soon bear; far more horrific than the pain of crucifixion.

He struggled through the dark hours as He faced the unimaginable terror of the perfect Son of God becoming sin--for me!  Surrendering His place in Heaven to invade time, walking among His creation, all leading to this moment.  He plead with the Father that there be another way, yet knew there was no other.  His closest friends falling asleep and leaving Him alone while all the power of hell assailed Him.  So great was the struggle within Him, that He began to sweat blood, a condition medicine has labeled hematidrosis that can occur under severe stress.  Falling down in grief, crying out alone, yet He chose to obey the Father's will; by doing so, by learning obedience in the flesh and embracing the Father's way, He became the Way for me to enter eternity with Him.

Through the hours that followed He remained obedient to the Father's will.  Not once did He call upon the myriad of angels who must have looked on with horror as the Son of God was mocked, beaten and nailed to the cross.  Carrying my sin long before I was born, the One who was from eternity past Elohim became my sin and through His sacrifice paid my price.  As a result of the sin of all mankind for all time that He now bore, the Father turned away from Him and Jesus was more alone than any being ever was.

More alone than the person in the deepest dungeon, more alone than any ever will be outside of Gehenna; all He did because He loved. 

Allowing death to complete His ministry, His triumphant cry of "It is finished!" rang out over another hill, then died.

I cannot comprehend such Love for me; I do rejoice that I have surrendered to it.

Have you?