Jerusalem was your end, but it was our beginning.
There are days that I pray with the Scripture stories about your time in Jerusalem leading up to your death, and I feel angry that you went there. Why didn’t you flee? Why didn’t you turn and run another way?
Praying with the Scriptures about you in front of Pontius Pilate I want to yell out to you: “Defend yourself! Speak up! Tell them who you are!” Why did you remain silent?
Jerusalem was your end, but it was our beginning.
This week, I pray that we remember what you did for us—that you intentionally put one foot in front of the other as you entered Jerusalem; that you dined with friends knowing that you would be betrayed; that you were mocked, insulted, slapped, spit on, and falsely accused. You could have chosen otherwise. You could have fled, but you stood, rooted in your Father, and went where you were called to go.
Jerusalem was your end, but it was our beginning.
May we remember what you did for us. May we remember that your death did not end in darkness and loss, but in the hope of the Resurrection. May we trust that God can use us to transform lives and the world the way you did for us. May we bring hope into the world the way you did.