As Jesus entered the last week of His life, He has set His face toward Jerusalem. His movement toward the capital city is building the suspense that this great teacher is going to the city of power. The power struggle is inevitable, and the showdown is about to begin. He intentionally did things to stir up the notion that He was the Messiah, riding on a donkey, calling Himself Lord; the renovation of the temple and the attack on the temple traders are blatantly public acts which effectively throw down the gauntlet to the Jerusalem authorities and the crowds to force them to respond. What are you going to do with the authority of Jesus? He wanted to force them to come a conclusion about Him.
So what did they do? The authorities rejected Him and plotted His death. But not the crowd. The crowd hailed Him as the coming king. They praised Him outside of the city gate as the coming Messiah. However Jesus, ever the instigator, was not satisfied with being the kind of Messiah they had in mind. He didn’t want to only free them from political oppression and be praised on the outskirts of of their life. He wanted to lead them to the center of their culture, politics and worship. He wanted to lead them to God. Jesus did not stop where the crowds were praising Him, but rather he led them in triumphal process to the center place of your life, the command center of worship.
This is precisely what Jesus wants to do with us. He is not satisfied with our praise on the blessing of life. Sure, we can thank Him for good gifts and praise Him for our blessings, but He wants to lead us to a place of worship. He wants to lead us to the Father. The journey to the temple or to the place of worship will require some renovation. He wants to lead us through pain and struggle because it is there that we will know and depend on the Father.
Have you ever noticed that it is easy to follow Jesus when He is giving you what you desire? But can you identify the places in your life where you are reluctant to allow Him to lead you? This week, consider Jesus and ask yourself the questions, "Can I trust Him?" "Is He worthy of my trust even when His leadership is taking me places I would prefer not to go?" Journey with Jesus through passion week. Watch Him humble Himself at the Passover meal on Thursday night, consider His sacrifice on Good Friday, and be awed by His power on Easter Sunday. I believe by the end of this week you will realize that He is worthy of your trust.
Make plans to join us in worshiping Jesus this week (see service list below).
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