MATTHEW 21: “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,² Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.³ And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.⁴ All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,⁵ Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.⁶ And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,⁷ And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.⁸ And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the wa⁹ And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.¹⁰ And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?¹¹ And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.¹² And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,¹³ And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.¹⁵ And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,¹⁶ And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?¹⁷ And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.¹⁸ Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!²¹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.²³ And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?²⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.²⁵ The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?²⁶ But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.²⁷ And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.²⁸ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.²⁹ He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.³⁰ And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.³¹ Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.³² For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.³³ Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:³⁴ And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.³⁵ And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.³⁶ Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.³⁷ But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.³⁸ But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.³⁹ And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.⁴⁰ When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?⁴¹ They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.⁴² Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?⁴³ Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.⁴⁴ And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.⁴⁵ And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.”

ISAIAH 41:10  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

PSALM 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

COMMENTS:    Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, when we recognize the time Jesus entered Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey honored by crowds of people praise Him, laying palm branches on  His path.  But He knew what was coming and deliberately entered Jerusalem even after others warned and tried to discourage Him from entering.  But truth is Christ had been preparing for an eternity.   He was preparing before creation and while creating the universe, while creating the earth, and even while creating Adam and Eve.  The mystery of how Christ was and is one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, but was able to become human and empty Himself of His divine power to the point of requiring fellowship in same way as we do is a great mystery.  It is a great mystery for me too, but someday we will understand and will be in greater awe of Him when we do.  Until then , we will have to take that on faith.  Well, another mystery is Christ’s love for us to the point of doing such a thing, but also to point of creating us and enduring the cross to redeem us out of such a love. 

Christ told us to know Him is to know the Father (JOHN 14:6-16):
“⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.⁷ If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.⁸ Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?¹⁰ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.¹² Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.¹³ And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.¹⁴ If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.¹⁵ If ye love me, keep my commandments.¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”  We know the Father through Christ.  Through His example and through scripture, but now also by having the Holy Spirit within us and with us.  But knowing God is not understanding Him.  He is too far beyond us in wisdom and power and depth of discernment and love for us to comprehend Him.  For now being near  Him, following His lead, trusting Him, and yes love and worship Him is best we can strive for and hope for.  Someday we will know and understand Him in heaven and then will be able able to fully worship Him.

Since the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit together knew as Jesus He would have to go to the cross and still together completed creation and provided together for all creation, together demonstrates they were united in purpose and mind.  THEY STILL ARE!.  Well, Christ knew when He was honored during Palm Sunday that it would be very short lived.  He was preparing for Passover, for Maundy Thursday when He was betrayed and arrested and beat and condemned.  He was preparing for Good Friday when He endured the long road to Golgotha and a long painful death on the cross. But He also was preparing for Easter Sunday and mankind’s redemption and restoration that would begin with His disciples and followers and spread to all those willing in all generations.

We know what it means to give things or time or work in order to gain accomplishments or things of greater value.  Christ judged you and me to be of greater value!  He is calling you and me to come to Him so we can be like Him and judge others to be of greater value too. Lent is a time of preparation for us to remove distractions and draw closer to Him.  Lent is the time He nudges us to draw closer to Him.  Holy week begins with Palm Sunday and is when our preparation is intended to equip us to experience the closer relationship and fellowship and revelations God intends to share with us. He is not planning on rubbing our face in our sin or pound us down with guilty over the suffering He had to endure because of our dreadful sin, not even for those sins we still do.  No.  He simply wants us to come to Him as the Prodigal (LUKE 15:11-32) so He can RUN TO US AS THE PRODIGAL’S FATHER.  It was no accident Jesus used the parable of the Prodigal to show us how God sees but also loves us and John 14 to show us that includes God the Father, God  the Son, and God the Holy Spirit together.  Christ provided the path to the Father and the Holy Spirit guides and walks that path with us to the Father.

Easter is the most wonderful time of the year and most sacred Holiday for Christians.  This Easter will be no different. Spring is beginning to blossom with all it’s life and beauty proclaiming “Christ is Risen to Redeem His Creation”.   God has done everything He needed to or can do in order to show us His love and provide an eternal relationship with us.  The next step is ours.  Will we, like the prodigal, return home to receive His mercy and forgiveness or continue in our sin ignoring His precious gift of love and redemption?  Will we ignore the beauty He lovely is creating all around us to persuade us and for us to enjoy or will we ignore His work or credit others for doing only what He can do.

Keep in mind, you and I were fearfully and wonderfully made.  God knew and loved you long before you were born and He sees you as His beautiful and dearly loved child and creation.  Sin spoils our love relationship with God because we cannot love Him the way we He designed us to nor how we should but most of all how He deserves.  But since He loved us so much that He paid the price our sins required, took the punishment God demanded for our sins, so we don’t need to.  Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do?   Well, He took the blame for the wrong we did but chose to so we wouldn’t need to.  Have you ever said or done something you regretted and wish you could do it over.  When we ask for His forgiveness and ask His help to not do it again, He erases the punishment you and I deserve so we can have a fresh start.  And He will do it again and again as many times as we need.  But He wants us to get closer to Him so He can help us more and so He can better defend us against the evil satan wants us to do.  You see, satan hates God and knows the best way to hurt God is to hurt us because he knows he loves us.  He also knows He can’t hurt God.  He sure tried when Christ was on earth as a baby and youth and young man and as an adult man.  Do you know people like that who seem to enjoy hurting others?   God loves them too and will forgive them too when they repent.

Do you know how much God loves you?  Do you know how special you are to God?  You might ask, why would God love me?  There are millions of other children much prettier and smarter and stronger and even better behaved than me.  Well, the truth is God created you, and you are exactly the way He dreamed.  The distortions still evident due to sin fade as we draw closer to Him and further from the sins that distort us.  That transformation move is closer to being with and like Christ.  AMEN!

The cycle of sin and consequences can be broken but not without God’s intervention. Jesus prayed for His enemies and asks us to pray for them too,  but does not want us to copy their behavior.

Coming to Christ as a Child is what He desires and commands us to do.   “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  MATTHEW 18:3.  Let the pictures below reveal to you many of the reasons why Christ gives us this command in Matthew 18:3.  AMEN!