Luke 19:29-40
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ So those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. Its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen crying “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples! They will call down trouble on all of us.”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the very stones will cry out.”
Today is the beginning of Holy Week. It is also the last of our Sunday Messages to be drawn from the daily readings in our Lenten prayer books this year. These daily pieces have been written and compiled by the members of the God Is Still Speaking writers group. Today’s meditation was written by Liz Miller, from Granby Congregational UCC.
We are grateful to these writers for sharing their individual thoughts with us, and grateful as well to The Pilgrim Press for permission to reproduce and share these meditations with you.
Our title for today is “Coming Out with Jesus.” Miller begins her devotional by sharing a story from her personal life:
When I came out as non-binary to a teen-age cousin, he grinned and proclaimed, “Trans rights are human rights!” Then he told me it was a big deal to come out, and he was proud of me. His reaction gave me the courage to keep showing up as my authentic self long after our conversation was over.
Trans rights are a big topic of conversation in our increasingly splintered country right now so we are probably most used to hearing the phrase, “coming out” in this one context, but people “come out” in all manner of ways.
Have you ever felt the need to stand up in front of a society that has categorized you as one thing and say out loud, “No, that is not who I am” – or perhaps – “That is not the whole story of who I am, I am so much more?”
Jesus, so far as we know, was just a curious kid from Nazareth—son of the local carpenter—until his curiosity took him out into the desert to see this guy named John, preaching and baptizing in the wilderness. There he encountered the Spirit, and a voice that spoke from the heavens and claimed him as God’s own beloved son, and he believed it.
After a few weeks spent thinking about what had just happened to him, he ventured back into town and proclaimed himself as one sent to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. That is quite a coming out statement.
From there for the next three years, he proceeded to add layer upon layer to his newly “out” persona. He was recognized as a prophet. He healed many, he rebuked demons, he told them stories that changed how they saw themselves—and he was a preacher who spoke God’s word of truth to any who would listen – and listen they did. For those who witnessed and those who listened he was no longer that guy from Nazareth. He had become a whole new being.
Perhaps he just became who he always was, always had been, but when he came to really believe it, the people did too. Maybe he needed to come out to himself. We can’t know exactly what the process was, but when he came out as his true, authentic self, the people came out from everywhere to walk with him and they followed him, letting him know that day that he did not walk alone on that trip into Jerusalem. They walked with him to let him know they loved him and they were with him.
“Coming out” can be frightening or it can be freeing. Sometimes I’m sure, it is both at once. To stand and name your own truth and refuse to consent any longer to a label that isn’t you. I’ve had a few of those moments in my life, and I suspect that you have, too. Mine happened mostly when I was younger, and they helped to shape the direction of my life. They’ve only gotten easier in the years since.
Those milestone moments in Jesus’ life were obviously more consequential than mine. They shaped the trajectory of his life and, in time, millions of other lives, as well. But all such happenings—big or small—matter.
It didn’t last that long, that joyous parade on that first Palm Sunday, and it ended in grief and sorrow with a wooden cross and a silent tomb – but Jesus refused to stop even then. They had no way of knowing it that day, but Jesus had one more “coming out” for them . . . but that’s a story for next week.
We are grateful to these writers for sharing their individual thoughts with us, and grateful as well to The Pilgrim Press for permission to reproduce and share these meditations with you.
Our title for today is “Coming Out with Jesus.” Miller begins her devotional by sharing a story from her personal life:
When I came out as non-binary to a teen-age cousin, he grinned and proclaimed, “Trans rights are human rights!” Then he told me it was a big deal to come out, and he was proud of me. His reaction gave me the courage to keep showing up as my authentic self long after our conversation was over.
Trans rights are a big topic of conversation in our increasingly splintered country right now so we are probably most used to hearing the phrase, “coming out” in this one context, but people “come out” in all manner of ways.
Have you ever felt the need to stand up in front of a society that has categorized you as one thing and say out loud, “No, that is not who I am” – or perhaps – “That is not the whole story of who I am, I am so much more?”
Jesus, so far as we know, was just a curious kid from Nazareth—son of the local carpenter—until his curiosity took him out into the desert to see this guy named John, preaching and baptizing in the wilderness. There he encountered the Spirit, and a voice that spoke from the heavens and claimed him as God’s own beloved son, and he believed it.
After a few weeks spent thinking about what had just happened to him, he ventured back into town and proclaimed himself as one sent to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. That is quite a coming out statement.
From there for the next three years, he proceeded to add layer upon layer to his newly “out” persona. He was recognized as a prophet. He healed many, he rebuked demons, he told them stories that changed how they saw themselves—and he was a preacher who spoke God’s word of truth to any who would listen – and listen they did. For those who witnessed and those who listened he was no longer that guy from Nazareth. He had become a whole new being.
Perhaps he just became who he always was, always had been, but when he came to really believe it, the people did too. Maybe he needed to come out to himself. We can’t know exactly what the process was, but when he came out as his true, authentic self, the people came out from everywhere to walk with him and they followed him, letting him know that day that he did not walk alone on that trip into Jerusalem. They walked with him to let him know they loved him and they were with him.
“Coming out” can be frightening or it can be freeing. Sometimes I’m sure, it is both at once. To stand and name your own truth and refuse to consent any longer to a label that isn’t you. I’ve had a few of those moments in my life, and I suspect that you have, too. Mine happened mostly when I was younger, and they helped to shape the direction of my life. They’ve only gotten easier in the years since.
Those milestone moments in Jesus’ life were obviously more consequential than mine. They shaped the trajectory of his life and, in time, millions of other lives, as well. But all such happenings—big or small—matter.
It didn’t last that long, that joyous parade on that first Palm Sunday, and it ended in grief and sorrow with a wooden cross and a silent tomb – but Jesus refused to stop even then. They had no way of knowing it that day, but Jesus had one more “coming out” for them . . . but that’s a story for next week.
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