Devotion - Monday of Holy Week

Jesus enters Jerusalem to a huge reception.  The religious leaders had been worried (according to John's account) of the impact of the rising of Lazarus from the dead.  Plots were being devised for the execution of Lazarus, to quite things down.

But then, Jesus comes to the edges of the Holy City and there are new worries.  The leaders of the Sanhedrin begin to see that they can do nothing to stop this movement.  "The whole world" seems to have gone after Jesus.

And so it seemed.

But as we discussed a few weeks ago, in our Wednesday LCM program, they seem to have gone after him.  But their dedication to him is very shallow.  They will change in their attitude toward him; shifted from welcoming him with palms to crying out "Crucify him!"  It is too easy to get caught up on the excitement of Palm Sunday; just as it is too easy to seek to be a part of the decision making group on Good Friday.  We are swayed by the crowd.

It is too much of a cliche to say that each of us much decide for ourselves which crowd we will be a part of.  Each of us will need to determine whether our hands will carry a green leaf or a be clinched in an angry fist.  If we merely follow along, we may eventually exchange one for the other.

Welcome Jesus - into Jerusalem and into your own world.  Make room for him and allow his message to take root.  There was such great need for things to be different in Jerusalem; but the crowd was unprepared for those changes to come.  How great are the changes needed in our world?  Will we tire of the challenge and soon add our voices to those calling for Jesus to be silent?  The week will tell......