Politics

 

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. (John 12:12-16 ESV).

 

I hope the illustration I’ve attached did not alarm you. It was the only thing I found that even remotely reminded me of the destructive belief so common among people in our country today. I believe we have come to believe that our “freedom” is rooted in the political party that represents us. That simply is not true. I am not saying that we should not participate in government and vote with our convictions. I am saying that freedom comes solely from the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

 

Our reading today helps us with that truth. Many first-century Jews had hopes that their promised Messiah would be a political leader, someone who could lead Israel in a revolution against the Roman Empire. Their hope was that Jesus could lead the nation to independence again through a military solution. Therefore, we see Jesus is hailed as a hero on his way into Jerusalem: “Blessed is the king of Israel!” In fact, the crowd is so large and excited that the religious leaders despair that “the whole world has gone after him.”

 

We can understand why the Jewish people would want to return to their country’s glory days. But Jesus came to be a very different kind of king. He came not so much to wear a crown but to bear a cross. He came to break the curse of sin for our sake, laying down his own life in our place. And that’s how he would welcome all who believe in him to enter God’s kingdom in this broken world. Because he is God, Jesus is and always has been the King of kings and Lord of lords! Jesus’ coming teaches us that God is not interested in a political agenda, or just one nation, or just one people group. God loves the entire world, and his kingdom purposes are bigger than any of us. As followers of Christ, our citizenship is in the kingdom of heaven, first and foremost, and all our other goals and desires must fall into place with respect to that.