Holy Week or How Quickly Praise Withers

This last Sunday I took palm branches that I had cut from a palm tree in front of the church and laid them in the hallway in front of the youth room.  They were beautiful!  They expressed and demonstrated the praise that was given to Jesus as he rode down main street Jerusalem that Sunday long ago.  We thought about how the vast majority of the people praising Him had different expectations of what the Messiah would do when He arrived on the scene from what Jesus' intentions were.  We talked about what some of our misconceptions are when it comes to Jesus.  After that we took time to praise Jesus for not being the Savior we wanted, but for being the Savior we needed.

Fast forward a few days.  The same palm branches are still in the hallway.  However, they are no longer green and beautiful.  Instead, they have withered and become brittle.  Such was the praise of the mob.  They went in a few days from shouting out "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" to "Crucify him!"  How quickly people can change.  I am reminded of some of Jesus' final words to his disciples before he was betrayed.

John 15:1–8 (NLT)

¹ “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. ⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "But Jesus is talking about two separate groups of people in this passage: Believers and Unbelievers.  That is true.  It is easy to see those that are like the withered palm branch if you are spiritually discerning or just take enough time to watch people.

However, there are times when a branch will remain in the vine and for a period not bear much fruit and needs pruning.  Only John followed Jesus all the way to the cross.  So we are left with 11 disciples who did not follow him all the way.  Judas was like the branch that had different expectations of who/what Messiah should be and so instead of accepting this he turned away from Him and betrayed Him.

The difference with Peter is that he truly did love Christ but experienced a moment of weakness.  So he needed to be pruned by the master and was later restored and shown forgiveness by Jesus.  The rest of the disciples presumably hid out in the upper room not sure of what to do.  Presently, much of the American Church are not necessarily the ones that are denying Christ, but are the ones who are like the other disciples (besides John) who are hiding within the church afraid to give all to Christ.

So I ask you the question, If you are not like John right now and are more like Peter and the rest in the upper room keeping your faith to yourself, are you willing to be pruned by Christ this week and share your faith with others as we move close to our most sacred and joyous celebration of the year?  Or, are you going to keep your faith to yourself.  The church needs everyone to be willing to follow Jesus to the cross and shine their light high on the hill of Golgatha.  Only than can we be a city shining on hill that cannot be dismissed.