Greet, Greet, Greet! - Palm Sunday

Greet, Greet, Greet!I love my parents and siblings but I must admit there are times when I think the nullabor is a handy buffer to have. Come on, you know what families can be like. It’s just nice to not have to see them all the time. However whenever we see each other the greeting is always a highlight. We embrace warmly, give each other a kiss, not always the blokes, we do hug but it is pretty typical Aussie muncho stuff. But my point is our greeting is a flow on for our love for each other, it overrides our differences. We are united us Duffs and our greetings and gatherings can be one heck of a party!Today we come to the end of our series on Romans and Paul in his last chapter of his letter urges the churches in Rome to greet a staggering nineteen times. In no other letter does Paul even come close to the number of personal greetings he asks to be conveyed. It is easy to think that this list of greetings doesn’t help with Christian life or theology, however there is two major points I think are worth noting. The first is that Paul is no ‘lone ranger’ when it comes to ministry. He thanks his co-workers Jews and Greeks alike. Secondly he encourages many women in their roles as ministers and church leaders. This was absolutely unheard of at this time. Women had little to no public voice or standing and here is Paul rejoicing in and encouraging their roles, talk about a first century feminist! Paul finishes this greeting fest with the words:“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings” (v16).A greeting is more than a polite smile according to Paul. He wants these divided house churches in Rome to be united in Jesus. Paul knows their differences (Jew and Gentile) but urges them to be united in their diversity just as a healthy family should.Today is Palm Sunday and the church calendar remembers when a very large crowd greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. Cloaks and cut palm branches were spread on the ground for him. This ‘triumphal entry’ was to fulfill several Old Testament prophicies (Zec 9:9; 2 Kings 9:13; Pslm. 118:6), regarding the messiah and the coming king. At first glance this greeting looks wonderful, the people have recognized the kingship of Jesus, however people were expecting a warrior king who would gather an army and claim back Jerusalem by the sword. Their greeting was misplaced. Instead of it being a blood bath and Jesus claiming Jerusalem by the sword in revenge, we see Jesus revealed as the king of peace. Jesus knew that his triumphal entry was not a good start that went horribly wrong, but was the start of his triumphal intended goal of his resurrection in power. My prayer and hope is that we greet each other as a loving family as we remember Jesus as the true king who greets all who turn to him and promises unity and peace.ShalomJames