Thursday, March 17, 2016

From Jerusalem to the Cross to the Resurrection



Passion Week begins today on this faithful Sunday in which Jesus enters into the Holy City.  He enters His own city, the city He has made and sustained and a city He will continue to bless until the end of time, which is Jerusalem.  However, He enters into more than just an earthly city, but He enters into salvation for the inhabitants of the entire world, for all of those present, all of those before Him and all of those who would come after that accept His grace.  His entrance into Jerusalem has two meanings one, Jesus is revealing Himself as the King of Glory and two, He comes to save us.

Jesus gave many hints, both obvious and others more sublime that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, that He is Divine.  This was done in order to prove that God was among us, that He no longer wanted to speak in prophecies, dreams and visions, through nature, etc. but in person.  God desired, not out of need, to be present with us but out of love.  God among us.  The entrance into Jerusalem is precisely that, not just another King David, but your God is coming to you riding on a donkey.

There is also another reason and maybe twofold here, is that Jesus is coming to save us from our sins and He will have to enter into His passion.  It also signifies how quickly we forget because today the crowd is cheering, “Hosanna in the highest to our King, Hosanna,” and by Friday the same crowd will be cheering, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”

Who are we in the crowd?  Are we the fickle ones who change their minds quickly and often?  We would never be the ones cheering crucify, crucify Him, rather we would be shouting out, Hosanna.  I wonder even in my own life sometimes, who am I in that crowd?  After honest reflection I have to admit I am sometimes the fickle one, the weak one.  How often do we go to confession or ask God for forgiveness and then quickly return back to the same sin or some other sins, we go from the strong resolution to the weakness that is in us.  Peter himself said, “Lord I will die with you.”  Less than a few later He was denying He ever knew Him.  Am I better than Peter, are you?  I would imagine not!   That is why Jesus enters into the passion so that His work on the Cross would be our saving remedy and not just a onetime remedy, but that every time we failed we could go back to the Cross and be forgiven.


His act of love is powerful enough to forgive every sin except the one or ones we do not want to be forgiven for.  God’s grace is more powerful than any sin or evil that can be committed because of His mercy.  The Cross of Christ proves this lest one think that evil is more powerful than God’s grace.  More importantly we must remember what this cost Jesus, it cost Him everything and ultimately His life for ours.  

When Jesus enters Jerusalem today to begin Holy Week (Passion Week) we too must make an effort to enter into it with Him, we must follow Him today to the Upper Room, to Mt. of Olives, to the way of the Cross, to His Crucifixion and death on Calvary and finally to rise with Him.  Let this week be one of serious reflection, prayer and sacrifice so that we may enter into that Spirit that is freeing, loving, and all forgiving, the Spirit of God.

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