Palm Sunday 2001 

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world. Fill our minds with your peace and our hearts with your love. Amen. 

This morning, as we observe the Liturgy of the Palms, we hear Luke's story about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, with people throwing down their coats on the road and praising him, and shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the Name of the Lord." 

WeII, I don't know about you, but I have a hard time seeing Jesus as a king - for two reasons. First, Jesus never envisioned himself as king of anything. He was always careful to avoid any suggestion that he might be a king. In fact, Jesus was a peasant and the very thought of his overthrowing the Romans is downright funny. My second reason for not thinking of Jesus as a king is that I have never heard of a king who offered much forgiveness. Now, I know that many kings have loved their people; but, throughout history, when kings are crossed by others, they don't forgive them. They kill them. 

In our Gospel today, we hear this: "They seized Jesus and led him away. The men who were holding him mocked him and beat him, and blindfolded him, and cursed him. And they brought him before the chief priests and scribes, and they cried out, 'Crucify him!' And Pontius Pilate passed sentence that he should be flogged and then killed" ... and the Roman soldiers did just that. They crucified him. 

Yet, for those who persecuted and tortured and crucified him, listen to what Jesus says, even as he dangles from the cross. "Father, forgive them." "Father, forgive them." So 'yes, I have trouble imagining Jesus as a king who lords his power over his enemies. With this much forgiving love, he must be more than a mere king. With this kind of forgiving love, he must be the Incarnate God. And in this long Gospel reading, I think the message that Jesus wants us to hear is his prayer for forgiveness. "Father, forgive them." 

Of courses, it's hard to tell just for whom Jesus was praying. Was he praying for the Roman soldiers who drove the nails through his arms and legs? Was he praying for Pilate or King Herod, or the chief priests? Maybe the prayer was for his own people - the Jews - who could never see that they had called for the crucifixion of their own Messiah. But, regardless for whom the prayer was intended why would Jesus think that God would ever forgive those who crucified God's own Son? 

Maybe it was because Jesus himself was a devout Jew and faithful to the Hebrew Scriptures that taught clearly that "vengeance belongs to God alone." Or maybe it was because forgiveness was such a central characteristic of Jesus' own teaching. You see, forgiveness was a critical feature of the kingdom of God that Jesus always talked about. Jesus knew only one God, and that was the God of tender compassion and mercy - the God of steadfast love and faithful concern for all of God's people - the God who desires not the death of sinners, rather that sinners should turn away from sin and be saved. So, regardless of who was at fault, Jesus prays for God's forgiveness for all who make him suffer. 

Oddly enough, most Jews probably thought that Jesus was simply being punished for some kind of sin - that he was getting what he deserved. After all, the Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus. Pilate had sentenced him to death. Many people mocked him and spit on him. It would seem that the whole world was passing judgment on Jesus. But, when we hear Jesus, the One dying on the cross, praying that all will be forgiven, we come to realize that Jesus was really the one passing judgment -judgment on the Romans, on Pilate, on Herod, on the Sanhedrin, on the Jews, judgment on all people for all time, including, of course, you and me. 

Yes, the Crucified Jesus judges us, along with others, and the judgment is that, for all our sins, we are not condemned, but forgiven; not cast out, but restored and reunited with God. God's forgiveness lets us remember our sins, but comforts us with God's merciful love. We see in the Crucified Jesus the death of our sins, but not the death of our selves. We see Christ condemning our sins, but not condemning us. We are indeed forgiven. 

Now I know: Some times we're told that our sins are just too great to be forgiven, but to believe this is pure rubbish. For us to continue to wallow in our past sin is to deny God's forgiveness. We must never become so vain as to think that our sin can ever be greater than God's power to forgive. 

But, while God's forgiveness sounds wonderful and terribly convenient, we don't get off the hook that easily. You see, God's forgiveness is a gift - given in the spirit of mercy and love. The forgiveness of God also involves God's repentance. In Jesus Christ, God repents. God turns away from judging us as we deserve and turns toward us with a judgment of mercy and love. 

The difficulty, of course, is that we have to receive God's gift of forgiveness. And the only fitting way to receive God's forgiveness is with our own repentance - turning away from the things that separate us from God and our neighbors, and turning toward the life that God would have us live. Our only fitting response to God's forgiveness is to offer that same spirit of forgiveness, mercy, and love to our neighbors. We must receive God's forgiveness intending to pass it on to others; and our willingness to forgive our neighbors is the measure of how well we have received God's forgiveness. Truly receiving God's forgiveness will always lead us to forgive others as we have been forgiven. 

"Father, forgive them." In all his teaching, in all his life, and finally in his prayer from the Cross, our Lord makes one point crystal clear. When someone has sinned against you, and when you have sinned against others, giving and receiving forgiveness is the only action and attitude that is acceptable to God. And while forgiveness may be difficult, the Good News is that forgiveness sets us on the road that God would have us travel together. Forgiveness points us toward the life that God would have us live together. Forgiveness leads us toward unity with our neighbor and toward life eternal with God. 

Let us pray: 0 God, your Son commanded us to forgive and to love our neighbors, and even our enemies. Enable us to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to turn away from hatred and prejudice and cruelty and to turn toward compassion, mercy, and love. Make us see that to open our hearts in forgiveness to others is to open our hearts to you. Amen.