I
knew a guy who followed Jesus till his girlfriend broke up with him. I
know a woman who lost, and then lost again, and trusts onward, with peace.
It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do with it.
It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do with it.
Read
Luke 19:37-44
Jesus
rides the colt into Jerusalem, and in their euphoria his enthusiastic fans spread
their cloaks. Matthew tells us they lay
branches too. Luke, a Gentile, may have
missed the meaning and didn’t include the branches in his record. But the branches suggest some in the crowd
see in Jesus a liberator. The zealots
see an independent Jewish state: a free Israel, their opportunity to be free
from Roman occupiers.
It’s
not what happens to you, it’s what you do with it.
As
he approaches Jerusalem, this multitude of disciples is exulting, now at the
top of their lungs. “Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Honestly, things are getting out of hand.
The
momentum is palpable – and accelerating – so much that some Pharisees tell Jesus,
“Rabbi, rebuke your disciples.” Put on
the brakes, they say.
He
counters, gesturing, “I tell you, if these people were silent, the very stones
would cry out.” Something bigger than
Israel is happening here. This is not
mere hyperbole; this is an epochal shift.
But
when Jesus sees the city, he breaks down. Like the eye of the storm, he’s not part of the hysteria. Weeping,
he gives a searing oracle of doom. He
pronounces judgment, inevitable. He predicts
the destruction of the temple, something even the Romans left in place. Clearly moved, he says,
“If
only you had known your moment, Jerusalem!
Today is the day for shalom! But alas for you, it is hidden from your sight.
For the days will come, and your enemies will lay siege to you and surround you. They will hem you in on every side. They will tear you down to the ground, you
and your children too. They will not
leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your
visitation.”
~ Jesus
Even
this crowd who exults before him will miss their moment. The Pharisees will miss their moment. The Israel that rejects the Jesus in front of
them will miss their moment. Everyone
who turns her back on Jesus when he doesn’t meet her expectations misses her
moment.
Will
you?
Has
God let you down? Have you had
expectations that he failed to meet, like the crowd of Jesus’ day? You wanted him to save your child, your
marriage, to find you a boyfriend. Take
a breath. Deep sigh.
If
you let go of your terms, your demands of God and what you think he must do for
you, you can find peace.
I
have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you
will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
~ Jesus (John
chapter 16, verse 33)
Will
you miss your moment? It’s time.
No comments:
Post a Comment