Christy McHugh–As we head towards the end of our series, we are celebrating Palm Sunday. This is the beginning of the Passion week, Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Our hope for this series has been to set a stage to understand in greater depth, the message of the cross and the hope of the resurrection. Luke 19 crafts a dramatic picture, Jesus riding a colt, into a charged atmosphere of Passover in Jerusalem. For the crowds watching, are they imagining a political coup détate? Will Jesus, who they shout out as King, overthrow the Romans?

In the midst of this symbolic event - Luke highlights Jesus weeping, an audible wailing, signifying a depth of grief. Then, instead of overthrowing the Roman rule - Jesus heads to the temple. The expectation of what Jesus's triumphant entry would symbolise for the Jew's of that day was of a conquering hero, defeating Rome. Yet, what they got was a grief stricken King who challenged the Spiritual authority.

Jesus came to establish a Kingdom, but what happens when it doesn’t look the way we want it to? Will we turn like the crowds who, on one day, shouted 'Hosanna', and then shifted to 'crucify' him in a matter of days? Or, will we respond with a simple prayer: Lord open my eyes to see what you are doing?

Resources–Study Guide