Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple.  He looked around at everything, but because it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve (Mark 11:11).

Have you ever crossed a finish line…a marathon, a color run, a go-cart race, a corn maze?  Or maybe a figurative finish line … a big project at work, graduation, or pulling off a surprise birthday party?  Whatever it was, there’s a feeling of accomplishment when something is finished. 

Crossing the “finish line” may have been what people were thinking as Jesus entered into Jerusalem riding on a donkey that first Palm Sunday.  Finally, they thought, their bread king.  Finally, they thought, the king who came to free them from their earthly oppressors was here.

But the entry into Jerusalem wasn’t the end.  Jesus didn’t come as an earthly king, but as a heavenly king.  The entry into Jerusalem was just the beginning of a week in which Jesus would demonstrate so vividly His saving power and love.

Rev. John Heckmann

Senior Pastoral Counselor
Lutheran Women’s Missionary League

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