SPRING FORTH NOW 2024
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:28-44 (NIV)
Life will bring you both celebration and challenges which could distract you from your ability to constructively build toward what should be for your life, therefore you must have a perspective for which you Free Yourself. Those opposites, the celebrations and challenges of life that we experience at the same time can create an atmosphere that will make us unsure and stuck at intersections, confused about what to do and struggling with questioning our every move as a potential regret. It is at these intersections of life in which we feel stuck, we become afraid to engage the traffic of life and thus, we not only miss opportunities to gain our more, but we also fail to constructively build toward what should be. Jesus weeps at this intersection of the celebration of His arrival as King but also his challenge of Calvary because the people could not free themselves to see both, in tension, as a vehicle to Open Up The Way, the process of their gaining power. We either want it all now or are frustrated that it appears too impossible, but it is at these intersections, that we must exercise authority to drive our own narrative of what should be and from there engage reality, get into the flow of life’s traffic and Open Up The Way.
