Race Results!

So today I ran in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. If you read Run Without Stopping you know there was a time when I didn't think I could do it. But...I made it! The sweep truck didn't get me. And believe me they were legitimate sweep trucks! Like the ones that clean the street. They symbolically "sweep you away." If they reach you, you are "scrubbed" out of the race. Your time is up! Shame is your portion. Luckily, it was not my portion. And though my feet hurt, in fact, one toenail may be at the end of days... But despite that, I'm smiling (cheese!), because I finished. I accomplished what 3 1/2 months ago was impossible: I ran 10 miles without stopping. Albeit, very very slowly. Official time: 1:59:43.

What was really cool about the race was that it was kind of like a parade. There was music and singing. There were people playing the drums. There was a juggler (a running juggler!). People were clapping and cheering you on, holding up signs that said "You're Almost There" and "Don't Stop Now!" I even saw one that said "This is the Saddest Parade Ever..." which was funny! And everyone seemed so happy to see you complete the race. They were just elated to see you arrive at the finish line. These people who don't know me. They don't know who I am, or what I've done in my life. They just cheer because that's what you do at the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Around this time, approximately 2000 years ago (some would say April 9th 32AD), there was another "parade" type event. We celebrated it today in church and we call it Palm Sunday. I know what you're thinking: "Palm Sunday ain't no parade! (frownie emoticon)" But by definition a parade is merely:

A procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind.

People - scripture says that on this day there were "...crowds going ahead of Him [Jesus], and those who followed..." - Matthew 21:9

Along a Street - scripture says that "Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road." Matthew 21:8. This road was otherwise being used as a "road" prior to Jesus reaching the city, but when he came it was suddenly:

Costume/Marching Band/Floats/Large Balloons - AKA "A Big Deal!" Jesus, on this day, was the big deal. He was someone to be excited about, like a marching band, or the way kids react to a huge Snoopy at the Macy's Parade. And he came in style. Riding on top of a donkey and its colt. Which was an entrance of biblical proportions (Zechariah 9:9). But why is Jesus a big deal on this day?

"The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead... On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him..." John 12:9, 12-13

This is how my parade today, and Jesus' parade then are similar: the people are only there for the spectacle. They are only there for the spectacle! Palm Sunday has always rubbed me the wrong way (from a historic viewpoint), because the people are just pouring out all this love on Jesus: singing, cheering, crying HOSANNA! laying their coats and palm branches in the road...treating Jesus like the king they have no idea that He really is! And then, BOOM!, one week later, they are the same crowd screaming "Crucify Him!" I've always had a hard time reconciling that. How do you go from "Hosanna" to "Crucify Him"?

I wonder if they were surprised at their own reaction. I wonder if they looked at themselves and said: "we were just celebrating this dude, and now we're consenting to His death...crazy!" But, you know what? I get it now. They weren't believers...they were fans. They weren't followers...they were groupies. Jesus was popular for His miracles, and He'd just performed a huge one with Lazarus. And when you know and appreciate Jesus only for what He does, instead of for who He is, you can go from celebrator to hater. Fast. That's why the personal relationship with Christ is key.

You have to know Him for yourself. You have to know Him for who He is.  Your Way. Your Truth. Your Life. Nothing less. Anything less, and we might be fans...

John 14:6