Sunday Message for March 24, 2024

PALM SUNDAY

Today is Palm Sunday. Five days before Passover (John 12:12-19) the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord - the King of Israel!"
   14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: 15"Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!
   16His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. 17So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. 18It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. 19The Pharisees then said to one another, "You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!"^a

METAPHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING
Jesus was going from Bethany where he had been staying with his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

The word Jerusalem comes from the root word Shalom. Jerusalem, the Holy City, symbolizes, within us, the habitation of peace, possession of peace, vision of peace, or abode of prosperity within us.^b

In us, Jerusalem is the abiding consciousness of spiritual peace, which is the result of continuous realizations of spiritual power tempered with spiritual poise and confidence. Jerusalem symbolizes the great nerve center just back of the heart. From this point Spirit sends its radiance to all parts of the body.

A feast in Jerusalem is a receptive state of mind toward all spiritual good. When we get deep down into the silent recesses of our soul, we realize a stillness and a sweetness beyond expression. There is a great peace there, the (Philippians 4:7) peace of God, which surpasses all understanding^c and fills the whole being with satisfaction. This is the point in consciousness where the inflow of original substance takes place. The substance center is physically a nerve center just back of the stomach; spiritually it is the soul's realization of the unfailing substance of Divine Mind

The one way to Jerusalem, the city of peace, is the Christ way--perfect expression of all the mental faculties (disciples), under the dominion of the I AM. We all long for the state in which we shall have peace. Jeru, the first part of Jerusalem, means founding, constituting; Salem, the latter part of the word, means peace, quiet, safety, harmony, prosperity. We are on the way to the attainment of peace when we identify ourselves with the Christ idea, originally called Jehovah. I AM

Jesus' going up to Jerusalem means taking the last step in unfoldment preparatory to the final step, when the personality is entirely crucified and the Christ triumphs

Jesus' riding out from near Bethphage (Beth fage) into Jerusalem signifies progressive unfoldment, the fulfillment of the time when the spiritual I AM takes control and lifts all the animal forces of man into the spiritual plane of mastery, purity, and peace. It is the season for transmutation, transformation.

The hosannas of the rejoicing multitude and the spreading of their garments and branches of trees before Jesus, represent joyful obedience and homage that all the thoughts in one's consciousness give when an error state of mind is overcome. "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord"

Many people wonder why they do not develop divine love more quickly. Here is the reason: They make a wall of separation between the Jew and the Gentile, the religious and the secular, the good and the bad. Divine love sees no such difference between persons. It is Principle and feels its own perfection everywhere. It feels the same in the heart of the sinner as in the heart of the saint. When we let this truth into our heart and pull down all walls of separation, we shall feel the flow of infinite love.

THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
Before Jesus was crucified, he stopped to consider all those around him and went into prayer. Fortunately for us, this prayer was recorded in the Bible. This intimate conversation between Jesus and his Father/God is recorded in John 17. It is commonly referred to as "the high priestly prayer," because it depicts for us how Jesus intercedes on our behalf just as a high priest would have done in the temple.

Jesus' words allow us a personal glimpse into his heart and his passion. He prayed first for himself, and then for the disciples, and then he prayed for all others.

PRAYER FOR HIMSELF
(John 17:1-5) After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed."^d

Before he was arrested and sentenced to die, Jesus communed with the Father/God. He understood what he was about to face, but still his overriding desire was for the Father to "glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you." Jesus never denied that the agony of the cross loomed ahead of him. However, he was able to direct his mind's eye beyond that obstacle to the glory that would follow. Jesus did not plead for his own honor based on some egocentric need; he wanted God to honor him in order that the Father would also be glorified after Jesus was transformed.

Jesus prayed as a man, as the Mediator of his people, yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to God. He prayed first for himself, as we all should. We cannot help others until we are on firm ground with God ourselves.

PRAYER FOR HIS DISCIPLES
So, then Jesus prayed for his disciples. (John 17:6-19) "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Santify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."^e

Jesus prayed for those who had listened to his words and believed in God, those whom the Father gave the Son out of the world. The disciples were given to Jesus as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as patients to the physician, to be cured; as children to the tutor, to be taught.

He interceded for their protection, because he recognized that he would no longer be physically present with them and because he foresaw that they would be under direct attack.

Finally he prayed that they would be holy, a process that is vitally connected to knowledge of God's truth. God has provided us with his Word as the means for our sanctification. He does not pray that they might be rich or famous in the world, but that they might be kept on the right path, strengthened for their duty, and brought safely home.

PRAYER FOR US
Then Jesus prayed for all people. (John 17:20-26) "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
   25Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."^f

The most remarkable aspect of Jesus' prayer is that he also focused on us, interceding for all who would eventually believe in him. He pleaded with the Father for our unity in the faith, because oneness is a visible demonstration to a watching world that Jesus is indeed real, that he was sent by God, and that he still lives and continues to transform lives. When we demonstrate solidarity of passion and purpose, others witness the reality of Jesus and his love.

In the meantime we are left with a single task - to demonstrate our devotion to God through a bond of unity with one another. "I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

Jesus prayed especially that all may be as one body under one head, animated by one soul; by their union with the Christ within and with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. Thus, being joined to God by one Spirit, we might be filled with all the fullness of God and enjoy a blessedness of which we cannot now even conceive.

CONCLUSION     In the name of Jesus Christ I affirm, "The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus dwells in me, and I am made perfect."