I’ve often wondered over this season, what was going through Jesus’ mind as he was greeted with high praise upon entering the place He knew He would die. In Luke’s account of the story, Jesus comes to the valley of Kidron before riding into town, looks over to Jerusalem and weeps over the city of His people. He weeps because they have closed their hearts to the truth of who He is. He weeps because they overlook the visitation, the divine favor, of the One who would save them.
And although they praise Him with “Hosanna (save us)” as He rides into town on a donkey fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, they did not let His truth penetrate their hearts. In a cold acceptance of the judgment that their actions would permit, they again voiced, “Crucify Him! Let His blood be on us and our offspring!” And so it was.
Thus, the Savior’s “Triumphal Entry” into the city of Jerusalem, the same week of His death and resurrection, signaled both deliverance and doom. And the same options are available to us today. Will we surrender or reject His voice? Will we resign to less than the best He has for us because we do not accept Him as deliverer? How many times have I been guilty of crucifying Him? How many times have I praised Him with my mouth and heart far from Him? May our hearts and our words and our actions and every element that makes up our beings be surrendered and fully “bought in” to the truth of His saving grace.
Image: Entry into Jerusalem, Pietro Lorenzetti. Assisi, Lower Basilica, San Francesco, southern transept.
