Welcome! Jesus’ Triumphant Welcome Became the Ultimate Sacrifice
I welcomed some visitors to our Sunday worship service and their response was, “Thank you for receiving us.” Their words stuck with me during worship because they seemed so genuinely grateful to be warmly received.
It was time for the service to start, so there wasn’t time to visit, but from the brief minute we had, I’d guess that they are unchurched, maybe unbelievers. Their apparent gratefulness left me wondering what kind of impression they have of the church. What does it take for someone from outside—someone from another culture—to be welcomed and received as one of us?
Immediately after our short greeting, our Palm Sunday worship service began. We read Matthew 20:17, where Jesus warned his disciples that He would soon be mocked, scourged, and crucified.
Shortly after He spoke those words, Jesus was joyously welcomed into Jerusalem as the soon-to-be king. I thought of the couple sitting a few rows behind me and how they were blessed to feel welcomed in the church. It wasn’t the royal reception Jesus received, but they apparently felt embraced by the congregation.
What did Jesus feel as He entered Jerusalem? He knew that within the week, He would no longer be welcome. Even as He rode on the donkey with palm branches waving, He knew the crowds would soon cry, “Crucify Him!” and that He would hang on a cross.
And yet, in spite of likely misgivings, He kept moving. Jesus chose to embrace the misunderstanding, humiliation, and cruel suffering.
He did it for us. He didn’t just welcome us into His kingdom. He prepared the way—so we would no longer be outsiders. We can belong.
Because Jesus Christ chose the cross, we can be one with Him.
That is radical love. This week, we celebrate the week that Jesus moved from a triumphant welcome to ultimate rejection and personal sacrifice—so we might be welcomed into the kingdom of God.
We are called to do the same. We are to take up our cross and follow Him.
He has given us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Are we holding onto it for ourselves, or do are we willing to lay our lives down so that others can know our Savior and experience eternal salvation?
“By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (2 Jo. 3:16).
I think I love the Lord, love my brothers, and want God’s kingdom to grow. But when I contemplate what Jesus did to welcome me, I realize how much I live my life just for me. I’m not sure I know what love is, or what it means to take up my cross.
Am I living for me, or am I willing to take up my cross and follow Jesus?
Unbelievers that I meet may never know that He prepared the way for them if I’m not willing to lay my life down to demonstrate it. They need to know that they are welcome. It’s my choice.
Question: As I get caught up in the busyness of daily life, I slide into a self-centered existence. What do you do to help maintain a Christ-centered, other-centered life that motivates you to daily take up your cross and follow?
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