Dying In Order To Live

Dying in Order to Live

Witnesses To Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

Read: Matthew 21:1-11

In spite of the chilly temperatures, the calendar assured Madison that today was the first day of spring. Throwing on a sweater, she stepped outdoors to look for further evidence. Sure enough, straight green shoots pushed out of the soil in her flower bed. Madison smiled as she closed her eyes and envisioned how her yard would soon look, filled with blooms from bulbs that had rested underground for months. Shrubs that now looked dead would be covered with blossoms. I wish we could just take winter out of the year, she thought.

The women in the crowd who accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem must have felt that a new season had begun. By riding into Jerusalem on a colt, Jesus fulfilled a prophecy that revealed him as the Messiah. The crowds followed along, spreading garments and branches in his path and shouting praises of their long-awaited King. They believed that a new day had dawned for the nation groaning under Roman oppression.

As Jesus rode toward Jerusalem that day, it seemed that his ministry was blossoming. The people recognized his glory and followed him. But Jesus foresaw that in a matter of days one of his disciples would betray him, the crowds would turn against him, and he would be humiliated and suffer a painful death. Jesus also knew that without his death, there would be no resurrection and no payment of the price that our sin demanded.

Death is necessary in the natural and the spiritual worlds. We have to die to our sinful nature in order to experience new life as believers in Christ. Becoming more like him requires that we make this choice daily. Eventually, our physical deaths will open the door to eternity, and we will live in a season that has no darkness, no cold, and no end.

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

Galatians 6:8