EASTER
Let me encourage you this week as we contemplate the last few days of Jesus, spend some time in an Old Testament book – Lamentations. I know that’s a bit unusual for Holy Week, but I think the effort will pay important dividends.
“How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labor. She weeps aloud during the night, with tears on her cheeks. There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.” (Lamentations 1:1–2, HCSB)
The Jerusalem Jesus entered was not empty nor a place of weeping. Jesus entered the city along with a crowd of others who were coming to celebrate Passover. On Sunday m any of these pilgrims were the ones declaring that Jesus – whom they had heard many stories about – was indeed the One, the One God had promised.
Jesus’ disciples likely encouraged this kind of celebrating. For three years these men and women had followed Jesus, listening to Him talk about the Kingdom of God. They were ready.
Prior to entering Jerusalem Luke records “As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”” (Luke 19:41–44, HCSB)
Though the city of Jerusalem was busy and crowded, Jesus saw a different future. The crowds and the disciples saw a future where Jesus would rule, the Romans would finally be run out of the region, and Jesus’ disciples would be part of a new and exciting kingdom.
Jesus saw a different future. He knew what was coming. He knew that one of the twelve He had chosen would betray Him. He knew that one of the closest followers would struggle to stay committed. Jesus knew that the same crowd who cheered Him as He entered the city would be the crowd who would jeer Him and cry for His crucifixion just a few days later.
Jesus saw a desolate future as His own people would reject Him and His message. His closest followers saw an unending opportunity for God’s people to reclaim what God had promised them.
Jeremiah (the author of Lamentations) experienced the devestation of Jersualem some 500 years prior to the birth of Jesus. His lamentations are brutally raw and honest. His prayers (lamentations) are not just filled with desolation and despair. There is hope, because God’s presence is sufficient – even in the hardest and most difficult times.
Pause this week – your future may look bleak. Your future may bring desolation and devestation. God never abandons His people. Pick through the rubble and you will find the presence of God. Easter is our annual and weekly reminder that no matter how dark, how difficult, God is able.