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Have you ever been swept up in a communal reaction? Think about being at the big game watching your team win as the crowd goes wild and strangers are hugging and high-fiving! Or think back to being in the high school cafeteria and all of sudden someone bursts in and yells, “FIGHT!” Like sheep, everyone runs out and is soon caught up in the chaos, chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
A lot of how we react to events of this life is influenced by the masses. We can quite easily get swept up in the relevance and hysteria of a moment. Sometimes, it’s justified—like our shared grief and desire to help those devastated during natural disasters—and other times, things get out of hand as agitators incite the worst—like fans rioting and looting in celebration of their team winning a championship!
In his gospel recording of his time with Jesus, Mark quite often emphasizes the people’s reactions toward Jesus, whether it be amazement, shock, confusion, joy, or indignation. In his recordings of Jesus’ life, we see just how easy it was easy to get swept up in the excitement and buzz around the movement of Jesus.
Today, as we begin Holy Week and move towards Resurrection Sunday, we will look together at two instances that occurred during Jesus’ final week in which the people got swept up in a moment. The first moment is when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. You see, as Jesus will say in John 12:23 (NIV), “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus was on a mission to tear down the veil between God and man (2 Corinthians 5:18), render sin powerless (Romans 6:6), defeat death (1 Corinthians 15:55), and set us free (Galatians 5:1). Nothing was going to stop Him from fulfilling His mission to rescue us . . . the hour had indeed come!
And so, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem to fulfill His mission, people began to stir and suddenly everyone was getting swept up in it, laying out palm branches and shouting “Hosanna in the highest!” The phrase in the highest implies to the utmost, highest degree, or in the highest heavens. Many scholars believe the people were likely calling on heaven to participate in glorifying Jesus with cries of salvation to confirm the growing suspicion that He was the promised Messiah.
For three years, the people had seen or heard stories of amazing miracles and revolutionary, authoritative teachings. In fact, just days before this Jesus taught He was “the good shepherd” (a designation reserved for God, the Father and King David) and had raised Lazarus from the dead! And so, with excitement and expectation at a fever pitch, the masses joyfully shouted in unison.
Sadly, we humans, like sheep, are fickle and easily swayed, and days later the same people that shouted “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” would shout “Crucify Him!” This is the second instance in which people have gotten swept up in the moment. Here, the Pharisees incited the crowd to demand Jesus die a gruesome death reserved for criminals.
But here’s the craziest thing about this: Jesus knew this would happen! He knew He’d be betrayed, suffer, and be subjected to a criminal’s death. But He did it anyway because He loves us so deeply, completely, and unconditionally!
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) tells us, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.” What joy? The joy of redeeming and restoring us to a right relationship with God, to make us children of God, to give us everlasting life! He did it for the joy of you! Psalm 18:19 (NIV) says, “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Let this sink in: Because Jesus delights in you and desires a relationship with you, He endured the cross.
Today, I pray we get swept up in the reality of who Jesus is and what He did for us. And I pray that every day, we would be swept up in the movement of the Spirit as He leads us to accomplish the work God has called us to . . . the work of telling the world about Jesus!
DAILY EXAMEN
1. Become aware of the presence of God.
Breathe in deeply and silently pray, “You are here, God.” Then breathe out and pray, “I am here with You,
God.” Do this until you are focused on God and are aware of His presence.
2. Give thanks
Review your day while grounded in the peace of God’s presence. Give thanks for each detail you can
recall, each gift, and even each difficulty.
3. Become aware of your emotions
Think over how you feel here and now, and why. Name the emotions and give those emotions to God. If
what you have learned from today’s devotion, rejoice! If you closed your heart to what God has been
saying to you, confess and plan to make amends.
4. Pick one thing that happened today and pray.
Choose a joy or a sorrow that you experienced today and turn your heart towards prayer over it. Pray with
boldness and confidence that the Father will heal and respond as He desires.
5. Look with hope towards what tomorrow brings.
As you close out your day, commit the coming day to the Lord with trust and hope.