Tears over the city

… the enacted parable of Palm Sunday

Is there room for Jesus in the cities of the world? Is the One who made all things, and who holds the universe together by His power, welcomed in the huge, sprawling human beehives that pulsate with life? Do the people who live and love, who eat and drink and die in a megalopolis know anything about the One whose tears over a city revealed God’s warm and interested love for those who live hemmed in and frantic lives?

When the Lord and Master of life entered the city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and accompanied by the excited and happy shouts of His disciples and pilgrims who were crowding the capital for a religious festival, He mingled His tears with their songs of joy. He knew that those who were shouting His praises would soon be among those who would shout for His blood. He knew that human nature was fickle and that, regardless of how many people He healed, how many hungry bellies He filled, and how many blind eyes He made to see, the satanically inspired leaders of the people would have their way and see Him hung on a cross.

He knew that this enacted parable on what we know as Palm Sunday, when He revealed His Messianic mission to the people, was but one step nearer to the climax of His years on earth: the crucifixion, which was caused by the people’s rejection of Him. The city, which was buzzing with gossip about Him, could not prevent the illegal trial, the sentence and the swift death. Nor could it prevent His resurrection, which marked the defeat of the world’s dark powers.

What this entry by Jesus Christ into the city was saying to a world that had rejected Him was that God has not left the strongholds of evil to the destroyer. He is interested in the cities, and He has His people strategically stationed in centres of hope and despair. Jesus is saying that the quality of human life is not determined by circumstances, but by commitment to Him. Lives that are given wholeheartedly to Him find the strength, the purpose and the sheer joy to change their difficult circumstances into situations of light, hope and love.

The only hope for the cities of the world, as well as for the rural areas and towns, is for people to accept the gracious offer of renewed life that God has made available through Jesus Christ. The Saviour of the world is not to be feared; His nature is love and He enhances the life of every person who seeks His forgiveness and welcomes His companionship.

Of course there will continue to be tears in the city, for we live in a fallen and broken world. But these tears can express no longer the old pain, but the new resilient hope and the dancing sweet life that transforms drabness into glory.

Palm Sunday is a needed reminder of good news for those who have been brought to a state of anxiety and fear by the doom-laden reports from experts. What these experts ignore is that the human race is not left to its own devices. God is inextricably involved with His people. He loves us and this love is the determining factor in any serious discussion of urban life.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a copy editor of theRubicon and the author of two series on theRubicon - Resurrected Writers and Thinkaloud.

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