The Journey to the Cross Begins

Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday, a celebration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem to begin a week of agony, known as Passion Week, leading to the death and resurrection of Christ. He entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey in fulfillment of prophecy.

Zechariah prophesied accurately of Jesus, declaring, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).

"So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 'Hosanna to the Son of David! "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna in the highest!'" (Matt. 21:6-9).

What an entrance! Jesus entered Jerusalem like a king. And the people declared Him to be the King, the Messiah, the Savior. But little did they know, He did not come to overthrow Rome as they had hoped. Rather, He came to die. He came as a spiritual Savior to shed His blood for their salvation. Before the week was out, many of those same people would be crying for His crucifixion.

Things began to turn on Monday when Jesus entered the temple: "Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, 'It  is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves"'" (Matt. 21:12-13).

Whether this occurred later on Sunday or sometime on Monday is irrelevant. What is important to understand is that again, Jesus fulfills Scripture. Jeremiah prophesied, "'Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,' says the Lord" (Jer. 7:11).

This is where things began to turn: "Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' they were indignant and said to Him, 'Do You hear what these are saying?' And Jesus said to them, 'Yes. Have you never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise"?' Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there" (Matt. 21:14-17).

Let the games begin! From this point on, the Jewish leaders who despised Jesus began working hard to turn the people and destroy Jesus. And turn the people they did! Within days, the people would join them in crying out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (Luke 23:21).

And crucify Him they would by the end of the week. But little did they know, they were also fulfilling Scripture by carrying out the purpose of God to provide forgiveness of sin through the shed blood of Christ. Oh, what a Savior! Receive the forgiveness Jesus offers. Receive Him as your Savior. Amen.