We have just traveled with Jesus into Jerusalem as rode into that crowded city on the back of a small donkey. People laid their coats on the street and shouted “hosannas” as he came in with his band of followers.
The joyous mood quickly turned somber as they sat at the table to celebrate the Passover. Jesus took the cup and the bread, blessed them, and then instructed them to take these elements, eat and drink, and to remember him each and every time they did this. The full impact of Jesus’ words didn’t hit them until he came back to them from the grave.
I don’t think any of us here today can really understand the burden Jesus was carrying in his soul as he came into the city and then as he sat at the table with his apostles. All of us have had worries that weighed down upon us but nothing like the suffering and torment he was facing.
Try to imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to know that he was going to be betrayed by one of his chosen twelve. One of those sitting at the table celebrating the Passover with him was going to betray him with a kiss.
I wonder if he knew then just how much suffering and pain he was going to have to endure. If he did know exactly what his body and mind were going to go through it’s even more amazing that he went through clear to the end. Only because he was the Son of God was he able to endure the ridicule and abuse, the whipping and the beating, and the physical and mental torment. He did it all for you and me so that we could be forgiven.
Friends, none of us can go from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday. Jesus suffered just as the Prophet said he would. He stood there and took everything because we couldn’t. No way could any human have done what Jesus did for us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
As you walk with Jesus this week reread these chapters from Luke and reflect on what it was exactly that God did for us through Jesus’ sacrifice. And then we will all truly be ready to celebrate together on Easter Sunday.
Thanks be to God for his abundant grace. Amen.
