What would it have been like to watch Jesus enter Jerusalem on the colt? Would we have been cheering Him, welcoming Him? What would have been our reasoning? But…how have I been following Jesus in my life? Have I been admiring Him as the good moral teacher? Have I been a church goer for my family’s benefit? For my ticket to escape hell and someday enter heaven? Or am I worshipping Him as the King of my life, without duplicity, as a participant in His kingdom right now?
“(Transformation) requires a long and careful learning from Jesus to remove the duplicity that has become second nature to us — as is perhaps inevitable in a world where, to ‘manage’ our relations to those about us, we must hide what we really think, feel and would like to do if only we could avoid observation. Thus, a part of Jesus’ teaching was to “avoid the leaven, or permeating spirit, of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (Luke 12:1) - Dallas Willard
“Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing what would happen to him. He understood the dynamics that were at play and the implications of those dynamics. He had thought through the scenarios and prepared for them. He clearly planned and orchestrated three of the events: the royal entry, the “cleansing” of the temple (along with the teaching in the temple courtyard), and the reinterpretation of the Passover meal with his disciples. These events were acted-out sermons patterned after the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They were attempts to help the people hear what they could not or would not hear. In these three events, he did things that would be remembered and later understood. In them, Jesus confronted the religious and social systems that embodied the yeast (thinking) of the Pharisees and Herod.” - Excerpt, Following Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark by Steve Langford
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