Holy Week
Holy Week is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, containing three of the biggest milestones for Christians: the triumphal entry (Palm Sunday), the day Jesus died (Good Friday), and the day Jesus rose from the dead (Easter). But somehow, nearly 2,000 years ago, in a span of just four days, the people of Jerusalem went from celebrating Jesus to demanding His death. What happened?
The people of Jerusalem had a unique opportunity that most of us have wished for at some point in our lives: to see Jesus in action, to sit and talk with Him. But that's also where the problem lay. They witnessed Jesus performing miracles and heard the depth of His wisdom that surpassed human understanding. They saw God in the flesh, and that made them come face to face with the reality that they are NOT God. Imagine if Jesus were to visit our town. At first, we'd all be thrilled, I mean it's Jesus! But how long before doctors would start to resent the lack of patients? My guess is that it wouldn't be long before the clinics shut down and they had to look for new jobs. The more Jesus would do, the less important we would become to the rest of the world. Sporting events wouldn't be quite as much fun when you realize that Jesus did indeed hear what you just said to the referees. When you are constantly around perfection, you are reminded of how imperfect you are... constantly.
Jesus sounds great when He's in the next town and you hear about the wonderful things He's doing. But it's harder to feel the same way when He starts challenging your own life. As Bonhoeffer said, "In the gospels, the very first step a man must take is an act that radically affects his whole existence." Easy Christianity dies when we spend too much time with Jesus. When presented with the option of picking up our own cross or putting Jesus on the cross, the people of Jerusalem made the same decision that most of us would have made. Next Sunday, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, let's take a moment to reflect: have we allowed Him to radically affect our whole existence? Or would we have crucified Jesus too?