Who Is This?

Dear Friends -

Yesterday's Gospel reading for Palm Sunday worship was Matthew 21:1-11. It tells the story of the festive parade that Jesus and his disciples experience as they enter into Jerusalem and officially kicks off holy week for the liturgical church.

In my sermon yesterday I focused on the crowd - especially those who are watching this palm-waving parade and see the country preacher on a donkey and ask, "Who Is This?" This is a question that all of us who claim to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior need to be able to answer. It is part of our story as a people of God.

Who Is This?

In the coming weeks I am going to be asking some of the members of Community Presbyterian Church to share their answers to this question during worship. But since I don't want to ask my people do to anything that I am not able to do myself, here is my answer.

Who Is This? This is Jesus, our Christ. He is my Lord and my Savior. He is my hope and my healer. Jesus is the one who has shown me - by his life and his death - about God and God's love. Because I know Jesus, I know how great and big and amazing is God's love. I know myself and I know just how short I fall from the glory that God intended for me. But I also know that in Jesus my past has been forgiven and redeemed. Because of Jesus my past does not shape my future - but my future belongs to God and I will follow (gladly and willingly!) into that future with God as my guide, leading me every step of the way. To know Jesus is to know how much God desires my life to be transformed into a life of love - where I am able to love, to forgive, and to share with others as Jesus has loved, forgiven, and shared with me.

Your turn. How would you answer the question - Who Is This?

Faithfully,
Pastor John