Many of us who follow the life of Christ, know so well of the supernatural events of those days when He leapt out of obscurity, and was propelled into a global iconic reality. And this is the month, that we as a people, pause globally, to remember the iconic day when Jesus Christ became the “Sacrificial Lamb” for all of mankind.
And it is because of His sacrificial death that millions of lives – those who await the resurrection and those who are yet standing in arms with us – await the rapture. Lock arms with us during this Resurrection Season, giving thanks and praise to the Almighty God for giving us His Son, Jesus the Christ, as a Blood Offering for the sins of humanity.
But many of us do not really know of Jesus as a man. Having humanly relationships, grievances, apprehensions etc. All we can see are the contributions of Christ through spiritual eyes. But Jesus was very much God and man. He was all God and at the same time he was all man.
Each week in March, I will share an account of His final week alive – what He was doing and experiencing, even though He knew He had only seven days live. I wonder, can you say what you would be doing, if you knew when you would breathe your last breath? Come with me and let us eavesdrop in on our hero and walk with Him during His final week as a living human being.
More than once, Jesus had to inform his disciples and others around him, that “My time has not yet come,” (John 2:4; John 7:6,8). As he began to unveil His eventual death, “The Son of man came to give his life as a ransom for many,” He would speak of it many times. (Mathew 20:28; Mark 10:45). So, naturally, this raised a few questions – when Jesus’ time to die would come, what His death would entail, and what His death means for us?
Sunday (The Triumphal Entry)
Sunday begins for Jesus and his disciples, as they come to Jerusalem to prepare for the celebration of the Passover feast. This is the time for the Jewish Nation to commemorate their deliverance from slavery to the Egyptians.
God had imposed a “10th Plague” against Pharaoh and Egypt to prompt him to release His people. The plague was that every first born of both human and animal in all Egypt would die. But to protect the Hebrews from the plague of death, God commanded Moses to instruct the Hebrew people to kill an unblemished lamb and smear its blood on their door posts.
The death angel, upon seeing the “Blood of the Lamb” (Exodus 11), would Passover their houses, sparing their families first born. It was a time of spiritual and physical celebratory reflection on the goodness of God and fellowship among friends and family.
Jesus’ people, were so elated when they saw Jesus riding in town. You would think that a king would ride in town on horseback, and it was expected, but Jesus came riding in on the back of an colt, like a poor man not a king. They remembered the prophecy. The prophecy was that the Messiah, (Savior or Liberator) would come ridding the back of an ass.
So, when they saw this, they began spreading their coats and palm branches before the Christ for the donkey to walk on. This act represented the acknowledgement of royalty, kingship and victory. It was a very great time for the Jewish community, and they celebrated Jesus as their new king.
But Jesus knew what his ultimate end would be, but he could not be distracted by the cheers of emotionally driven people, who would five days later change their tune to crucify him. He knew that the same people who were singing his praises today, would be shouting crucify him in just a week from now.
They did not know, soon those same cheers and shrieks of praise and shouts of jubilee, would soon become demands to crucify Him. Those hands of welcome and clapping, would soon be hands of finger pointing and fist wagging.
(Next week – Part 2)
