Yesterday was Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ triumphant, humble entry into Jerusalem. It marks the beginning of Holy Week. It’s astonishing to think how quickly the week that began as a joyous celebration of Jesus devolved into his brutal crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. Let’s take time to meditate on the gospel accounts this week to discover what nuggets are there for us today, and allow deep gratitude to well up within us for our beautiful Savior and Lord.
After Jesus celebratory entrance into Jerusalem, Mark mentions that Jesus entered the temple, looked around at everything and then went on to Bethany with the twelve, where they spent the night. The next day, they returned to Jerusalem. As Jesus approached it, filled with emotion, He wept over the city, and then went straight into the temple and began flipping tables, seats and clearing it of the money changers. Did you notice the restraint that Jesus showed the first time he entered the temple? He saw everything, and yet he paused and waited until the following day to address the issue.
Jesus knew all that was before Him in the coming days. Yet even in the weight of what lay ahead, Jesus exercised self-control. We will see Him do this throughout the week. We can all think of times in our lives where we successfully held ourselves in check, but we can also likely recount times where our emotions took over, and we reacted without waiting for the Spirit of God’s direction. James 1:19 tells us to be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger”. As always, Jesus is our model.
Lord, as we meditate this week on Jesus’ journey to the cross, may we be reminded that the fruit of self-control is only made possible through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.