A GATEWAY MOMENT IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF A LIFE… SOMETIMES IT IS A DECISION OR A CHOICE ONE MAKES… SOMETIMES IT IS AN EVENT OR A TIME WHEN SOMETHING IS FOISTED UPON US… A GATEWAY MOMENT CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING! GATEWAY MOMENTS COME IN ALL SIZES AND SHAPES… GATEWAY MOMENTS ARE OFTEN A CROSS ROAD IN OUR LIVES – A CROSS ROAD WHEN THINGS COME TOGETHER OR ARE BROKEN APART… A TIME WHEN WE COME TO A NEW RECOGNITION ABOUT SOMETHING…
THIS MORNING LET US LISTEN TO ONE PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE ON THAT FIRST PALM SUNDAY PARADE… LET’S JUMP ON A MAGIC CARPET & TRAVEL BACK IN TIME NEARLY 2000 YEARS AGO… LET US LISTEN IN ON ONE WOMAN’S REMEMBRANCES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ONE WARM SPRING DAY OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM… A LONG TIME AGO… ARE YOU READY? ///
YOU’LL HAVE TO FORGIVE ME IF I DON’T RECALL ALL THE DETAILS… IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO - A VERY LONG TIME AGO… I’M A VERY OLD WOMAN NOW… I’VE LIVED A LONG LIFE… AND IT’S BEEN A GOOD LIFE – FULL OF WONDERFUL PEOPLE & WONDERFUL TIMES… LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A DAY WHEN I WAS STILL JUST A LITTLE GIRL…
I DO REMEMBER THAT IT WAS A WARM SPRING MORNING – A MORNING MAYBE A LITTLE WARMER THAN TODAY… I LIVED IN THE SMALL TOWN OF BETHANY WITH MY PARENTS & MY BROTHER, REUBEN… BETHANY WAS A TOWN JUST OUTSIDE OF THE BIG CITY OF JERUSALEM… AND WHAT I’M GOING TO TELL YOU IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED JUST OUTSIDE THOSE CITY WALLS OF JERUSALEM…
I REMEMBER THAT IT WAS GETTING NEAR TO THE TIME OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE JEWISH PASSOVER… PASSOVER IS ONE OF THOSE IMPORTANT HOLIDAYS FOR JEWISH PEOPLE – IT WAS ALWAYS CELEBRATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BARLEY HARVEST… MY FAMILY & OTHER JEWISH FAMILIES ALWAYS HAD A SPECIAL FEAST TOGETHER… AND I DO REMEMBER THAT BEFORE WE COULD HAVE THAT SPECIAL MEAL WE HAD TO HELP OUR PARENTS GET THE HOUSE ALL CLEANED UP… OF COURSE WE EACH HAD OUR DAILY CHORES AS WELL…
I THINK I WAS PROBABLY ONLY 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD THAT YEAR… MY BROTHER, REUBEN, WAS JUST A YEAR OLDER THAN ME…
THAT MORNING I REMEMBER WE WERE HURRYING TO FINISH OUR CHORES… REUBEN & I HAD WANTED TO GO WATCH ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ARRIVING FROM EVERYWHERE GOING INTO JERUSALEM…. PEOPLE CAME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO WORSHIP AT THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM AT PASSOVER…. OUR PARENTS HAD TOLD US THAT IF WE GOT OUR CHORES DONE WE COULD GO SEE!! OUR TOWN - BETHANY – WAS ON ONE OF THE MAIN ROADS INTO JERUSALEM… CROWDS OF PEOPLE HAD BEEN STREAMING PAST OUR HOUSE FOR DAYS.
SO REUBEN & I WERE HARD AT WORK GETTING OUR CHORES COMPLETED SO WE COULD GO SEE ALL THE PEOPLE AND JOIN IN THE EXCITEMENT!
IT WAS REUBEN & MY JOB TO FEED AND WATER OUR ANIMALS… WE HAD JUST FINISHED GIVING THE MOTHER DONKEY AND HER YOUNG COLT SOME FOOD AND WATER OUT ALONGSIDE OUR HOUSE…
WE HEARD THE NOISE OF A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE COMING UP THE ROAD. AND WHEN WE LOOKED AROUND THE CORNER OF THE HOUSE, SURE ENOUGH, THERE WAS ANOTHER GROUP OF TRAVELERS HEADING TOWARD JERUSALEM FOR THE PASSOVER CELEBRATION.
AS WE WATCHED THE CROWD WE SAW SOME OF THE MEN TALKING TOGETHER… SEVERAL OF THE STRANGERS LEFT THE CROWD AND CAME RIGHT TOWARD US… WE WONDERED WHAT THESE STRANGERS COULD WANT FROM US!
THE STRANGERS CAME RIGHT UP TO REUBEN AND ME AND THEY SAID (AND I CAN REMEMBER THESE WORDS SO CLEARLY), “WE HAVE NEED OF YOUR DONKEY!”
ALMOST BEFORE WE COULD SAY ANYTHING THE STRANGERS HAD STARTED TO UN-TIE OUR MOTHER DONKEY AND HER COLT.
I REMEMBER THAT I SPOKE RIGHT UP AND SAID, “PLEASE, SIR, MY FATHER IS IN THE HOUSE. LET ME ASK HIM.”
SO I RAN INTO THE HOUSE AND CALLED TO MY FATHER, “FATHER, COME! SOME STRANGERS ARE HERE AND THEY WANT TO TAKE OUR DONKEY AND THE COLT.”
WELL DADDY CAME OUTSIDE RIGHT AWAY AND HE ASKED THE STRANGERS, “WHY DO YOU TAKE MY DONKEY AND HER COLT?”
THE STRANGERS JUST SAID, “THE LORD NEEDS THEM!”
AND I REMEMBER THIS VERY CLEARLY TOO – FATHER JUST TOLD THESE MEN, “WELL, TAKE THEM THEN.”
WE COULD NOT BELIEVE OUR EARS – FATHER WAS JUST LETTING THESE MEN TAKE OUR DONKEY AND HER COLT… HE DIDN’T EVEN SEEM WORRIED OR CONCERNED!
SO THE MEN WENT AWAY LEADING THE DONKEY AND HER COLT… AND WE WATCHED AS THEY JOINED UP WITH THE CROWD WHO WERE GOING DOWN THE ROAD… WE WATCHED UNTIL THEY WENT AROUND THE BEND IN THE ROAD TOWARD THE CITY…
WELL… REUBEN & I GOT READY TO GO INTO THE CITY AS QUICKLY AS WE COULD! IT WAS ONLY A SHORT WALK FROM BETHANY TO JERUSALEM. WE KNEW THAT THE ROAD WHICH WENT OVER AND THEN DOWN THE MOUNT OF OLIVES WAS A ROCKY AND STEEP ONE… WE KNEW A SHORT-CUT SO WE CUT THRU & DOWN OUR SECRET PATH & WE MANAGED TO CATCH UP WITH THE CROWD...
WE SEARCHED & SEARCHED IN THE CROWD FOR OUR DONKEY AND HER COLT… WE SUDDENLY SAW THAT A MAN WAS RIDING ON THE BACK OF OUR DONKEY!
SOMEONE HAD PLACED A CLOAK ON OUR DONKEY’S BACK… AND SHE WAS WALKING QUIETLY AND CAREFULLY DOWN THE STEEP AND ROCKY ROAD WITH HER COLT FOLLOWING ALONG BESIDE HER…
THE CLOSER THE CROWD GOT TO THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM THE NOISIER AND NOISIER THEY GOT… AND PEOPLE WERE SHOUTING…AND MAKING LOTS OF NOISE! AND IT WAS NOT ANGRY SOUNDS THEY WERE MAKING!
MORE & MORE PEOPLE WERE COMING IN FROM OTHER DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS TO JOIN IN WHAT HAD BECOME A PARADE!! AND PEOPLE WERE SHOUTING THINGS LIKE: “HOSANNA!” AND OTHERS SAID, “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN GOD’S NAME!” OTHERS WERE SAYING, “HAIL TO THE KING OF ISRAEL!!”
SOME PEOPLE HAD EVEN TAKEN THEIR COATS OFF AND WERE THROWING THEM DOWN ON THE ROAD – IN FRONT OF THE MAN ON OUR DONKEY… PEOPLE TOLD US THAT ONLY A KING RODE ON A DONKEY!! THE PEOPLE WERE GIVING THE MAN A ROYAL WELCOME! AND OTHER PEOPLE BROKE OFF LIMBS OF TREES & WAVING PALMS BRANCHESOVER THEIR HEADS…
REUBEN AND I LOOKED AT ONE ANOTHER AND WE ASKED: “WHO IS THAT MAN RIDING ON OUR DONKEY?”
REUBEN SAID, “I DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS BUT ALL THESE PEOPLE KEEP SHOUTING AND TREATING HIM LIKE A KING! MAYBE HE IS A KING!”
PRETTY SOON WE NOTICED THAT MORE & MORE PEOPLE WERE WAVING & CHEERING THE MAN AS HE RODE TOWARDS THE CITY. SO WE PICKED UP SOME OF THOSE BRANCHES AND WE WAVED THEM ALONG WITH THE OTHERS – SHOUTING “HOSANNA!” EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE!
WE RAN ON AHEAD TO STAND IN THE SHADE OF A TREE TO WATCH THE CROWD GO BY. AND WHEN OUR DONKEY CAME BY US, THE MAN ON THE DONKEY SPOKE TO US AND HE SAID, “YOUR DONKEY HAS MADE MY JOURNEY EASIER TODAY! SHE WAS CALM IN THE CROWD AND SUREFOOTED ON THE ROCKY ROAD. THANK YOU FOR LENDING HER TO ME.”
I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT WE SAID… I DON’T REMEMBER THAT WE SAID ANYTHING REALLY…
WE DIDN’T KNOW WHO THIS MAN WAS… PEOPLE WERE SAYING HE WAS THE KING… AND THE KING HAD SPOKEN TO US! WE WERE PROUD THAT THIS MAN, THIS KING, HAD RIDDEN ON OUR DONKEY!
AND I STILL REMEMBER THAT DAY… EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO…
WE RETURNED HOME TO TELL OUR PARENTS ALL ABOUT THE KING AND THE PARADE AND ALL THE THINGS PEOPLE HAD SAID ABOUT THE MAN…
OUR PARENTS TOLD US THAT THE MAN’S NAME WAS JESUS. THEY SAID THAT JESUS CAME FROM THE TOWN OF NAZARETH… AND THAT JESUS SOMETIMES STAYED IN OUR TOWN OF BETHANY -THEY TOLD US THAT JESUS WAS FRIENDS WITH MARTHA & MARY IN OUR TOWN…
WE REALIZED, THEN, THAT WE HAD HEARD STORIES ABOUT THIS MAN JESUS… WE HAD HEARD STORIES ABOUT HOW HE WAS A HEALER AND A MIRACLE WORKER… WELL WE WENT OUT THAT DAY & WE TOLD ALL OUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE KING WHO HAD RIDDEN INTO JERUSALEM TO A ROYAL WELCOME – RIDING ON OUR DONKEY…
AND I DO REMEMBER THAT WE HEARD LOTS OF OTHER STORIES ABOUT THAT MAN JESUS AND THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO HIM IN THE DAYS AFTER THAT PARADE INTO JERUSALEM…
THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS A KING… THERE WERE THOSE WHO DIDN’T BELIEVE THAT HE WAS A MIRACLE WORKER OR A HEALER… THERE WERE THOSE WHO DIDN’T WANT JESUS TO BE TREATED LIKE A KING…
AND I REMEMBER THAT THINGS GOT VERY COMPLICATED IN JERUSALEM THAT WEEK… OUR PARENTS WERE UPSET AT SOME THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN JERUSALEM… THEY TOLD US LATER WHEN WE WERE OLDER ABOUT ALL THAT TOOK PLACE THAT WEEK...
AFTER THAT I GREW UP AND I GOT MARRIED TO A LOCAL BETHANY GUY AND WE HAD OUR OWN FAMILY… I LEARNED MORE AND MORE ABOUT THAT MAN JESUS WHO HAD RIDDEN INTO JERUSALEM THAT DAY…I LEARNED MORE AND MORE ABOUT JESUS AND HIS TEACHINGS AS THE YEARS WENT ALONG…
I BECAME A FOLLOWER OF JESUS… WE CALLED OURSELVES FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY… SOME OF US GATHERED IN HOUSES AND SHARED A SPECIAL MEAL TOGETHER… WE BROKE BREAD AND SHARED THE CUP - AS A WAY TO REMEMBER ALL THAT JESUS OFFERED US…
I LOVED THE FEEL OF THAT PARADE SO LONG AGO…
IT IS STRANGE TO REMEMBER THAT JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM THAT DAY CELEBRATED & HONORED AS A KING, WITH ALL THOSE PALM BRANCHES WAVED AND ALL THOSE SHOUTS OF PRAISE FROM THE CROWD… YET, BY THE END OF THAT SAME WEEK I LEARNED THAT JESUS WORE A CROWN OF THORNS…
AND THAT HIS ONLY ROYAL THRONE WAS A CROSS…
ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO NOW…
I HOPE YOU KNOW THE STORY OF JESUS… I HOPE YOU KNOW HOW HIS LIFE GOES ON AND ON STILL - IN SPITE OF ALL THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO HIM THAT LONG WEEK IN JERUSALEM SO LONG AGO…