When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “ Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘ Behold your King is coming to you , Gentle, and mounted on a donkey , Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden .’” The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11

Dear God, I’m not sure if I’ve ever asked myself this question before, but the question I asked myself as I read this passage this morning is, “Why did Jesus do this? It seems out of character for him.” Then this story is followed immediately by Jesus clearing the temple of the money changers.

I suppose the answer is obvious. He needed to put who his identity as your son and the Messiah out there to force the Pharisees to take a side. It was time to push people to the extremes for this plan to work. Most of the Pharisees would go to one side, while a couple of them like Nicodemus would follow him (albeit secretly).

As I try to think of how this might apply to my life, I suppose that I spend most of my time trying to stay even-keeled and making peace between people. But there are times when we are pushed to taking a side. I’ve always struggled with the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a godly man who ultimately decided he had a role to play in Hitler’s attempted assassination. I wonder what that process what like for him. At what point did he decide that he had come into the world for such a time as this? I can’t imagine I would ever get to a point where I would allow myself to participate in a murder, but at what level would I be willing to stake out my position on an issue and allow it to cost me something? What injustice would it take? For Nicodemus, it took actually seeing you killed—that’s when he finally broke and helped Joseph care for your body.

Father, make me mindful of your call at any given moment. Help me to be aware of my surroundings, and to look deeply into your eyes and understand what you would have me to do. Love richly through me. Help me to be willing to pay any price you call me to pay.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen