FACING A TOUGH WEEK?

Do you ever get work dread?  It's that thing that happens on Sunday night when you start getting a pit in your stomach thinking about all that you have to do in the upcoming week. 

Today is Palm Sunday and I wonder if Jesus had the same feeling as he looked at the upcoming Holy Week.

Sure, it started out well enough – Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem with throngs lining the streets.  They welcomed him Him shouts of, “Hosannah, Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!”

But then upon entering the city He went to the Temple where merchants had set up shop.  He turned over their tables and sent them out into the streets. 

Then:

  • He began healing the blind and the lame. 
  • He cursed a fig tree. 
  • He was questioned by the religious rulers about His authority.  He answered and then rebuked them.
  • He taught, and warned. 
  • He lead a Passover meal with His disciples.
  • He predicted His upcoming betrayal and death
  • He was arrested.
  • He was abandoned by His friends.
  • He was beaten.
  • He was imprisoned.
  • He was passed between two rulers who could find no issue with Him.
  • He was rejected by the crowd that only days before had welcomed Him as a King.  They called for the release of a known criminal and asked that Jesus be crucified.
  • He was made to carry a heavy wooden cross along the streets of Jerusalem
  • He was nailed to a cross where he died as an atonement for our sins.

His was an overwhelming and stressful week!  But Jesus was smart enough to know not to face it alone.  If we read the gospel stories about Holy Week, we find that Jesus prayed. 

Jesus knew that when facing hard times, it is smart to enlist the help of God.  Luke 22:39-44 recounts how Jesus prayed at the Mount of Olives.  He was in anguish about what He knew was coming, and said the famous words, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  Verse 43 tells us that although God would fulfill His promises by using Jesus as a paschal lamb for our sins, when Jesus prayed, an angel of the Lord came to strengthen Him.

When you are facing a tough week – remember Jesus’ example and find strength through prayer.


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