From Darkness to Dawn – Part 1

Who Do You Say I Am?

The disciples had to make a decision. Who was this itinerant rabbi-carpenter they had been following now for three years? This one who could calm a wind-blown storm on the Sea of Galilee and walk on the same water. The one who could heal a leper or cast out a demon with a word. This one the religious authorities and legal scholars hated. This one who could multiply bread to feed a crowd of thousands.

He was only 33. Old enough to grow a beard but not old enough to be a grandfather. Young enough to have a strong physical presence but too young to know the things He knew. He spoke with kindness but also, with a depth of authority none of them had ever heard before.

And they knew He loved them… deeply. They were loyal but confused. Followers, but they had their doubts about where He was leading them. This blind-man-healer, sea-walking, tomb-raiding, rabbi-scholar-sage… could He really be God’s Messiah? If He was, what would that mean to them… to their status… to their future? Would they rule with him? Beside him?

But if Rome burned him down, wouldn’t they burn with him as well? He had certainly been in their cross-hairs. What if He was wrong and the way to ascend the throne of David was by the overthrow of their Roman captors? And what if today, as the people gather and chat excitedly and cheer as Jesus draws near to His destiny in Jerusalem, the battle begins? Will He try today to raise an army and begin a revolution… or will He walk straight into the arms of the waiting religious police or Roman guards?

The week has begun. Hosanna has been echoing down the streets of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Revolution has come. War has been declared.

Just not in the way they thought.


His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.   John 12:16

FOR REFLECTION: If you had been alive on the day of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem where would you have been? In the crowd rejoicing or on the sidelines disappointed? Would you be ready to see Jesus crowned or crucified?

 

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