Day 21 - Jesus is king.

Jesus enters Jerusalem - Luke 19:28-44

When I did The Thorn in April, this was my favorite scene - the Triumphal Entry. It was just so full of joy. We were shouting and praising, jumping up and down, frantically waving our palm branches back and forth. It was a taste of what it must have been like during the real event. I imagine the excitement one has at a concert, seeing a loved singer or musician, the excitement for Jesus' entry would have been exponentially greater. Even just acting it out, it was such a joyous scene. So much excitement, so much promise, so much hope, the happiness was infectious. 

But there's a confusing part of this scene in Jesus' life, too. See when Jesus said He was the King, the Messiah, the Savior - the people thought He was coming to conquer the Roman empire, overthrow it and establish His kingdom on earth. Jesus did come ton conquer, to conquer sin, and to establish His kingdom in people's hearts, to set their eyes on the true Kingdom of Heaven. So as the people praise Him, call Him "Lord," it is with a different praise in their heart than He deserved. This is why the pharisees rebuked Jesus, they knew He was calling Himself God and they didn't agree with that, but Jesus kindly reminds them that if His disciples and the people were silent, then the rocks themselves would cry out. 

Q&A:

-The people shout, "Hosanna!" which means "the Lord saves." What is it that you need the Lord to save you from?

Not being 100% totally, absolutely, utterly focused on Him with my life. I spend far too much time concerned with me, myself, and I, with my future, my interest, my feelings, my whatever. I need to be saved from narcissistically  putting me on the throne of life instead of daily recommitting my life to Jesus and putting Him in the center. And sin, of course. I think, too, getting caught in the trap of just asking forgiveness for sin, rather than truly repenting, which means not just saying "sorry," but also changing. Forgiveness is a request, repentance is an action.

-What is it that caused the people of Jerusalem to miss the point of who Jesus really was?

They weren't willing to see who Jesus truly was. They were so focused on who they thought Jesus should be and what they thought He should be doing that they were blind to what His purpose for the world truly was. 

-How can your heart sometimes mislead you to believe the wrong things about Jesus?

Seeing the world through me-glasses instead of Jesus-glasses results in a complete misconception of Jesus. And stubbornness, wanting Jesus' plan to be one thing and being blind to what He's truly saying. There has to be willingness and trust to believe the truth about Jesus, to relinquish self and focus on Him and His purposes, willingness to do whatever He asks, go wherever He says to go, say what He wants us to say. 

-Scripture tells us if there was no one to praise Jesus, the stones would cry out. How do you communicate to Jesus in prayer how wonderful and awesome He really is?

I think this is where we take the verses about being like children to heart. Jesus is so incredibly amazing, no words can truly express that. We should approach praising Jesus from a place of humility, no big fancy words or gestures, just simply praising, telling Him He is good, recognizing the wonderful things He has done in our lives, and using whatever talents we have been given to glorify Him - music, art, whatever. The key is not to keep silent, and to make praise about Jesus, not about us. It should be a time of joy and delight in our awesome Jesus.