when all we feel is weary.

Some days I can’t help but feel the weight on humanity upon me.  It is on those days that the aches and pains are all too strong.  When all I can hear is the bad news.  When I hear of a friend losing their job much like I did two years ago.  When the needs I see are greater than my ability to meet them.  When I watch lives fall apart because of bad decisions.  When I hear of the hurts of this life and the suffering that is far too great.  When all we feel is weary.  Oh, isn’t that every day in this life we live?

On days like Tuesday, when I woke up with a back that was stiff and sore and led to a tension headache in the back of my head all day.  It hurt to move and breathe and think. Oh, I know it is only temporary and far less than some suffer constantly.  Yes, it wasn’t that bad and it was only one day.  But it was a strong reminder of my humanity and this Easter week.

Since Palm Sunday I have been reading and reflecting on the events that happened more than 2000 years ago, yet still are so important to remember today.  (If you haven’t already heard, SheReadsTruth is an awesome online ministry started by some pretty awesome women that love Jesus and they have a daily reading and devotional.  It is geared toward women, but I’m sure there are men that read along as well, because the truth is the truth.  So you should all go check it out.)  The events of Easter week were dark and full of betrayal and it felt like evil had triumphed.  But let us go back to the beginning before we skip to the middle.

The story of Palm Sunday has always been a curious one to me.  Jesus enters Jerusalem only to leave again.  It seemed unnecessary to my feeble mind.  But on that day, the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem shouting “Hosanna!”  From the New Testament time forward, it means praise and adoration, but back in the Old Testament it was a cry to help and save.  Oh, what a beautiful picture when you think about it.  The people were shouting out a cry for saving to the only One who truly could save them.  And He will do the same for us. 

And then Jesus does another curious thing – he goes into the city of Jerusalem and rides straight to the temple.  We’ve all heard the story of Jesus driving out the sellers, the ones who had made it into a “den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13).  But then He does something I had never really noticed or spent much time thinking on:

“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14).

Did you notice it?  He drove out the ones that perverted the temple of God and turned it into a place of greed and privilege and invited in the ones that the world had ignored.  “The blind, the lame, the children all come in and Jesus welcomes them, heals them, confirms their place among Him.  He cleared out those who profaned the temple and ushered in those who humbly sought after God” (SheReadsTruth, Holy Week-Day 2). 

And isn’t that us?  The ones who don’t “deserve” Him, yet need Him so desperately?