The picture above is a scan from an old photograph taken at the "March for Jesus" in London about 1993. I like the old Police riot control van in the background!
(Excerpt from yesterdays sermon for Palm Sunday)
What would you do if you heard that Jesus was coming to town this afternoon, that He would be making a grand entrance and there was going to be a huge celebration? I’m sure we’d be straight on down there wouldn’t we? We would cancel any other plans that we had for the day and we would try and get as close as we could to where the action was happening. Not only would it be simply breath taking to see Jesus, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see the crowd too? I’m sure that the crowd today would be bigger than a year or two ago when the “Celtic Tiger” was in full swing and many would have been “too busy” to spare the time. But why would people go and what would they want of Jesus? What sort of things would the crowd be calling out, what would they be asking the Lord Jesus to do? I’m sure it would be chaotic, the Gards would be severely stretched trying to control the crowds, people would be shouting out “Jesus, Jesus”, some people would be worshipping Him, some would be shouting abuse, others would be shouting at other people because of what they in turn were shouting! Or perhaps it would be completely different, perhaps there would be a sense of awe and quiet holiness, perhaps there would be such a hush over the crowd that the donkeys hooves could clearly be heard on the road, treading on the hundreds of coats and jackets that had be strewn there to make a carpet. Everyone would have different expectations – to bring about peace, to sort out the economy, to bring wrongdoers to justice, to heal the sick and so on. Everyone, maybe even us, would have their own agenda for Jesus.
Crowds are a funny lot. In the original Palm Sunday, many of the people cheered the Lord because they thought that He was going to liberate them from Roman occupation. Indeed when it turned out that He had no such earthly ambitions, many of the same crowd only a few days later would be shouting “crucify him”. They had little or no understanding that the Lord’s mission was not to be an earthly conquering king to free them from the brutal regime of the day. He was going to do far more than that. He was going to free people from themselves, from their own selfish ambitions and desires, He was going to free people from the chains and the slavery of sin. Something far more important and of greater significance, the effects of which last not just for a lifetime, but for all of eternity...
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