"The Mind of Christ"

Jesus Christ comes to us in quiet self-sacrifice, setting the model of the Christian life to live generously, humbly and for the benefit of others.

            The epistle lesson for Palm Sunday is the same every year. It begins with an invitation from the apostle Paul, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” These words raise a question. What was Jesus thinking? What was on his mind?

            We remember the story for today. The days were drawing near to Passover, the great feast of freedom. All the faithful who could make the trip returned to Jerusalem. They celebrated how God called Moses to bring them out of slavery. Now in their freedom, they returned to remember. Moses said, “Let my people go.” Pharoah replied, “Make bricks without straw.”1 Moses declared God would send 10 plagues to change Pharoah’s mind. And it was so. In that terrible 10th plague, the angel of death passed over the Israelites’ homes. Then God brought out all the people of Israel. The sea split in half and they walked right through. Remember?

            Over a thousand years later, the Jewish people still returned to Jerusalem. It was the festival to celebrate their freedom, even when the Roman Empire’s army occupied their land. As Jesus and his disciples came to celebrate Passover, all the people of Israel were thinking about freedom.

            But what was on the mind of Christ?

The Palm Sunday story

            According to the gospel accounts, Jesus has been on the move. In Luke’s story, he has moved toward Jerusalem since the end of chapter 9.2 His steps have been slow and steady, as he instructs his disciples on good Samaritans and returning prodigals. He speaks in challenging parables, salting his speech with invitations to repentance. As he teaches about God’s generous grace, even a few friendly Pharisees warn him of upcoming danger.3 Yet Jesus does not slow down or turn aside. He keeps moving toward the city that has killed God’s prophets and will reject him, too.

            What was he thinking? What was on the mind of Christ?

            We have a good clue from a moment on Palm Sunday, as we hear him say to two friends, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”4 For today, he does not choose the white horse of authority. He does not ride the limousine of prestige. He does not strut his stuff by riding the tank of power. No, God chooses the young, unused donkey.

            There is irony here, with a hint that the crowds did not understand. They spread their cloaks on the dirty street ahead of him, a poor person’s red carpet. The crowd broke into loud song, singing a psalm of deliverance and acclaiming Jesus as king. Some religious leaders told Jesus to silence the crowd, perhaps out of fear that Roman soldiers would perceive him as a threat. His response? “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”5 It was a big moment, a loud affirmation that God was doing something powerful in Jesus of Nazareth.

            Yet then, as he nears the city, he quietly weeps. He knows the inevitable conflict that lies ahead. His ministry has been one to give life, and Jerusalem will take his life. The city will not welcome him. They will not recognize who he is or what he was born to do.

            Then he nudges the donkey into motion and rides his way toward the cross. What is on his mind?

            Call it Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, today is a day that turns the world upside-down.

This is not a day about power and authority, influence and persuasion or strength and pushiness. It is about the God who comes to us by another way, on another road.

The apostle Paul sings an early hymn

            The apostle Paul remembered this. In our epistle passage, he quoted one of the early hymns of the church, a hymn that narrates the story of Jesus. To paraphrase the song,

Jesus lived in full equality with the Father.

He had the power and the glory forever and ever.

Yet he did not cling on to that.

He emptied himself, humbled himself, and followed God’s way completely to the cross.

That is why he now rules with authority over heaven and earth.

            The apostle Paul knew what we know: that the world tries to get us to think differently. The world wants us to believe there is great power in the white horse, the limousine and the tank. The world proclaims the perfect job is the one where we can push other people around and be rewarded for aggressiveness. The deep mystery of Jesus Christ is that he does not come to the world that way.

            Jesus arrives hidden at Christmas, revealed only to his mother, her husband and a few shepherds whose names were never written down. He stays hidden for 30 years, learning a trade and absorbing the faith of psalm and temple. He shows himself only to a prophet named John, somewhere near the wilds of the Dead Sea. Other than the occasional “you had to be there” moment, much of his work is out of sight. This is God’s way.

            It is so easy to miss. At the end of this week, Jesus was condemned by people who did not understand him and crucified between two thieves. He was buried in a borrowed tomb and broke out somehow a few days later. And there were reports of him appearing here and there, even speaking. But since then, like God the Father who sends him, when Jesus helps us, it’s not always obvious.

The hidden Savior has come among us

            There is a marvelous rabbinical tradition about the hiddenness of the powerful God, declaring, “When God does something in our lives, there is always more than one explanation.” James Forbes, who preached in New York City’s Riverside Church, talks about something that happened during one of his sermons. The Holy Spirit was thundering through him when a man on the front pew suddenly had a nosebleed. It became messy very quickly. A nurse next to the man went out to get a cold cloth to apply pressure. Somebody on the other side placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and began to pray. Forbes decided to keep preaching. When the nosebleed stopped, Forbes says, all three of them took credit.6

            Where is God in the middle of the world’s healing? It is not always obvious.

            Think of what we say when someone is baptized in the church. We announce God is here, that God calls this beloved one by name, that God promises to bless and protect. We declare God is going to give the new baptized one a holy purpose. This is said with a splash of water and a few words. No wonder it is so easy to miss. God often refuses to be obvious.

            That is not the way we might run the world. Left to our competitive urges, we would want to do something good and write it in the sky. Publicists would be hired to book media appearances. Billboards would be scheduled to announce all the good intentions that pave our way. We would broadcast all our promises, attempting to replace all the bad news with good news. Wouldn’t we want God to do something great and make it known to everyone?

            Yet Palm Sunday reminds us that God is curiously uninterested in public relations. If there are any press releases, they are left to us. As for God’s part, what we see today is Jesus moving downhill toward an unruly city, riding an unimpressive animal in a way that is far humbler than any of us can understand.

            So, what is Jesus thinking as he rides into Jerusalem today? What’s on his mind?

            Maybe he is thinking that he doesn’t need to be impressive to do God’s work. What he needs to do is to stay as faithful as he can.

            Maybe he is thinking the ways of peace are more important than the violent resistance that peaceful action will provoke.

            Maybe he is thinking life is not about clutching but giving. Not about grabbing but loving. Not about playing it safe but risking everything he has to make the world better for everybody else..

            What is on his mind? What is he thinking? Here is the Good News: Jesus thinks the world is worth saving. So, he rides in humility all the way to the cross, because even there, the ugliest human impulse is met with God’s infinite love. The worst sin is canceled by God’s amazing grace. This is the mind of Christ.

            And if we belong to him, let us have this mind among ourselves.

1 Exodus 5:1-9.

2 See Luke 9:51.

3 Luke 13:31-35.

4 Luke 19:30-31.

5 Luke 19:40.

6 As told by the Rev. Dr. Charles Rice in a preaching seminar, January 1994.

***