Palm Sunday Prayer of Thanks For Jesus' Unique Social Distancing Sacrifice

It’s Palm Sunday as we head into Holy Week.  This is the day where we remember and celebrate how Jesus, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was given a hero’s welcome.  People wanted Jesus to bring them political and religious freedom and become their physical deliverer and king.  He, however, had a much more significant agenda that He held to despite community pressure and opinion.

Jesus knew what lay ahead for him.  He had already laid down the worship that was rightfully His in heaven, come to earth and taken on human flesh so He could live through all that we face, and now he knew it was his time to die in our place as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.  Even though the journey ahead was going to be more difficult than we could ever imagine, Jesus persevered, did what was needed, was present in loving ways to His friends and the crowds, spoke truth when it was needed - even in inconvenient circumstances - and ultimately endured betrayal, beating and unjust death.

Christ didn’t have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.    2 Corinthians 5:21

We don’t know what’s ahead of us this week, this month and the short term future. While we are hoping that vaccinations will stay ahead of the disease spread by these very infectious variants, we are still in a very challenging time.   

On this Palm Sunday, as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter Sunday celebrations amid continuing social distancing restrictions, let’s remind ourselves of God’s love for us expressed in the death and powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and let’s thank God for the distancing from the Father’s love Jesus was willing to endure for us and then give all we have to helping others not just get through this time of the covid-19 pandemic, but help them come to know the great gift God is offering them - life forevermore.

Remember these important words:

None of you should look out just for your own good. Each of you should also look out for the good of others. As you deal with one another, you should think and act as Jesus did.  In his very nature he was God.   Jesus was equal with God. But Jesus didn’t take advantage of that fact. Instead, he made himself nothing.  He did this by taking on the nature of a servant.  He was made just like human beings. He appeared as a man.  He was humble and obeyed God completely. He did this even though it led to his death.  Even worse, he died on a cross! Philippians 2:4-8

Loving God, We thank you today for the amazing gift, Lord Jesus, of Your life for ours; your suffering on our behalf; your enduring misunderstanding, false accusation, betrayal, beating, and then your willingness to distance yourself like never before from the love of God by becoming sin for us.  We try to understand what that means but can’t quite wrap our heads around it.  We know how horrific it had to be though, with the intensity of your own praying in the Garden on the night of your arrest when you sweat drops of blood, asking your father if there was any other way, yet not your own will but His. 

You were willing to be banned from the loving care and presence of Your loving father.  You went not only into the grave but all the way into hell on our behalf.  No one has practiced social distancing like You did.  No goal was more noble than what You upheld in redeeming our lives from the certain death that sin brings to 100% of us.

It almost seems disrespectful to put our own need for strength to persevere in maintaining the restrictions with social distancing still required by this pandemic beside this profound gift You gave on our behalf, and yet you died so we could bring just these kinds of needs before you and have them taken seriously.  Even more seriously though, Lord, is our need to be united with You by turning over our will and our life and asking You for the forgiveness of our sins that we so desperately need.  We do not want to have to endure the eternal distancing that comes after our physical death if we have not bothered to receive this amazing gift you paid such a high price to obtain on our behalf. 

Help us God, to do all that we can in a physical way to continue to  protect others in this time of social distancing but at the same time to give our attention and energy to helping others come into a living relationship with You that Jesus won for us that first Easter Weekend, but what He only saw as a dark time of separation from you when he experienced Palm Sunday and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

On this Palm Sunday during these times of social distancing, we simply pause to say “Thank You” and to recommit ourselves to your care and to Your mission.  Not our own will by yours be done, we pray.  Amen