On Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus entered Jerusalem with divine purpose, His indomitable spirit a testament to His Messianic calling. He was once again leading His disciples from Bethany back into a city filling with the Jewish pilgrims observing Passover, a sacred remembrance of God’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Now the chosen people of God were under the rule of the Roman empire and once again being brought into submission through fear and oppression. And not only this, but their religious leaders were abusing their power and frantically trying to trample persistent rumblings of the Messiah’s arrival. The Jewish people were under subjugation and spiritually lost to their own understanding and self-righteousness.

This is us. Enslaved and lost. Bound by the world’s powers, helpless to our own  depravity. What did Jesus do to confront the situation back then? What He still does today, offers grace and mercy, teaching us truth through His word. And when we are ready to break from the oppression, He offers us a covering, just as he did for the people in Egypt all those years ago. An escape, a promise of freedom. Innocent blood shed to redeem us, claimed when we accept Him as our personal savior.

In Jerusalem, he went to confront those abusing their power and reassure those seeking Him. No one understood the plan was never for Him to be the conquering warrior or mighty religious ruler they wanted. Not one expected a simple man with an indomitable spirit to save the lost and usher in His kingdom. As Jesus and his disciples went away from Jerusalem following all of the day’s confrontation, He tells His disciples to look forward to the desolation of this world because it means eternity with Him. His heavenly kingdom. Don’t expect salvation from this world but endure the turmoil of this life with hopeful expectation of eternal life with Him!