“The time has come for all good things to come to an end,” we say as we wrap up a project with good friends.  For Randy and I it was serving as directors of church camps with a staff of good friends all focused on pointing the way to Jesus to kids of all ages.  When the week was over we were super tired physically but pumped up spiritually as we saw lives changed through the week.  We gave it all we had and more because of Jesus living in us.  Our only goal was so others would know Jesus, too. 

The kids at camp, along with the auxiliary staff, didn’t want to leave by the end of the week because of all the friends they had made.  No one wanted to get back to “normal life.”  But there was something more that we didn’t want to lose.  For a whole week we had been secluded from the world’s noises and chatter, undistracted by media’s pull to tell us what to think and how to behave.  We had been with Jesus only, learning about Jesus, prayers of confession with cleansing from Jesus, with giving all our time, focus and energies to Jesus.  It was a blessed week, indeed, but we had to close the week by reminding the campers that this was NOT the end, but a new beginning to live a different life with Jesus who will guide them spiritually in all they think, say, and do.  Jesus is with us now and will be with us always—His promise that does not fail.

Jesus walked the earth with an unwavering purpose, sent to seek and to save the lost and reconnect them to God.  He did this work with a few friends who became as close as brothers and sisters to Him and to each other. As they walked and talked, observed, and learned from Him, they knew He was indeed exactly who He said He was—Son of God, the promised Messiah.  After three years of healing, seeking lost people who had been discarded in life, along with teaching wisdom that gave clarity to God’s Word, His followership grew in popularity.  Everyone knew He was different than anyone they had ever met.  They had never heard teaching words of wisdom delivered with such authority before Jesus.  They loved Jesus and honored Him.  They were drawn to His compassion and love for them.

Jesus now looks over Jerusalem.  How He must weep inside for He knows that this is the beginning of the end of his walk on earth.  He knows not all people believe in Him and will soon bring His time on earth to an end.  Jesus knows that the cheers of the crowd will soon turn to jeers as His life is cruelly taken from His earthly body. 

But Jesus also knows that His final sacrificial week on earth will be the beginning of eternal life for all who believe in Him—for generations upon generations to come!  THIS is why He came.  THIS is why God sent Him—so that we might be saved from our sins that separate us from God.

The crowds only know that the infamous Jesus has come to their city. 

Those who are against Him are appalled at the spectacle.

Matthew 21, The Message

The Royal Welcome

21 ^1-3 When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”

^4-5 This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:

Tell Zion’s daughter,
“Look, your king’s on his way,
    poised and ready, mounted
On a donkey, on a colt,
    foal of a pack animal.”

^6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

¹⁰ As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”

¹¹ The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”

THIS is Jesus who has come—and He is coming back someday soon to claim His own.

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving us and reconciling us to God by taking our deserved place of punishment for our sins.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who merely offend us.  Help us to live like the redeemed!

In Jesus Name, Amen