As Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and breathed deep the morning air, He knew this final journey into Jerusalem would unroll the last bittersweet pages to His life on this earth.
The gentle mounded hills covered with gnarled olive trees, settled welcoming around Him as He contemplated the city. The temple in all it’s splendor dominated the view, like “A snow-clad mountain, for all that was not gold was gleaming white.” (Josephus).
Below lay the Garden of Gethsemane. Did a shudder emerge as He passed, knowing soon He would drop to His knees begging for a different outcome to the ending of these thirty years? Perhaps a less painful one? “Father take this cup from me.” While “drops of sweat like blood” would fall to the grass beneath him.
Overcome with emotion, tears flooded His eyes and clouded his view of the bustling city below. Jerusalem, ignorant of their fate, broke His heart into a million little pieces. Maybe failure wasn’t in His vocabulary, but he was devastated by a certainty that His time had run out and so many precious souls were lost.
A beloved people.
A stubborn lot.
Refusing to see, now blinded to the truth.
Peace would soon be ripped from their grasp as Rome laid siege and crushed them once and for all. Oh Jerusalem.
…seated on a donkey’s colt. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:40-44 NIV
With heavy heart, He asked for a donkey, putting into motion the beginning of the end. He rode slowly while large crowds pushed forward for a glimpse, and shouted in adulation. He reigned in his emotions, and swallowed his pain as the praise rang hollow.
To us a donkey may seem lowly, but it was commonplace for a Monarch to ride the beast as a symbol of peace. Palm fronds were laid on Jesus path, to honor and respect their King. Hopes of deliverance from Rome’s oppression ran high that day, like a kite carried lofty by spring winds.
…The great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
John 12:12-13
But their joy would soon turn murderous as their dreams of Romes’ military overthrow shattered. In the days to come it would become apparent:
This Jesus was not going to rally the Jews and call them to fight.
He was not going to decimate the Roman enemy.
He was not going to free his people in the literal way they hung their hat on.
Disappointment turned to anger.
Anger turned to outrage.
Outrage turned to bloodshed.
That our Lord would cry for us and forgive again and again, rather than wash His hands of us is mind-blowing. A light is cast on His desperate love, running rampant through these last dark days of His life.
So for this week I encourage you to reflect on Jesus last days and give thanks for the ultimate sacrifice He offered. But don’t despair for our Savior. Tune in again next week to rejoice in victory as,
He smashes Satan with a triumph over death
And in a flash He frees us forever.
Beautifully written Loree, although heartbreaking. I’m in a bible study now, The Shadow of the Cross by Casandra Martin. “Let the shadow of the cross fall heavily across the pages of your life. Proclaim it’s power with every breath. Resolve to focus on nothing less than Jesus Christ just as He resolved to do nothing less than be crucified for you.” Good, sobering thoughts!
If we kept the shadow of the cross foremost in our minds, our walk would perhaps look different.Great thoughts Judy!