When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, he was acclaimed and adored. People waved palm branches and exclaimed, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13).
Exuberance soon gave way to an angry crowd who cried, “Crucify Him!”
One crowd shouted praises for a King who would save, while the other crowd shouted slurs to see Jesus crucified like a criminal on a cross. Neither crowd determined whether God’s Son would give Himself to save the world. God knew man would fall and we’d need a savior. Because of His amazing love, mercy, and grace, Almighty God willingly gave His Son to save the world.
The Passover feast was prepared. Jesus washed feet. Judas was sent out to complete his work to betray Jesus. Jesus prayed in the garden with great sorrow and anguish. He was God in the flesh and knew the significant cost he would pay to save the world. The weight of false accusations, a vicious scourging, a beating leaving Him beyond recognition, and large nails driven into his hands and feet would occur. A greater weight would be experienced as Jesus would carry the sins of the world to the cross, where He would be separated from His Father, God, and would die on the cross.
This all came to pass. Jesus’s dead body was prepared and laid in a borrowed tomb, but not for long.
Three days passed, and a new day dawned. Resurrection Day revealed a risen Savior. Peter found his head covering, or napkin, folded but not with the grave clothes. Peter was followed by another disciple who believed Jesus’ promise that he must rise again from the dead. Jesus appeared to many who spread the news and documented their eyewitness accounts. We now have the truth of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection written within God’s Word.
We too can believe. Unlike the disciples, our belief in Jesus is received by faith, not sight. Have you believed in the risen Savior? Are you ready to meet Jesus when the trumpet sounds?
I’m ready; Jesus has saved my soul. The folded napkin signified that Jesus would come back. One day, Jesus will return because His word will come to pass. Be ready.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17
I love your new book. I donated it to my church library, and they featured it in a display window with other Easter-related books!