King to Criminal

Apr 3, 2023

I’ve been reflecting on this season of Lent and the many ways people observe it.

For some, it’s a kick-start on abstinence from sugar, chocolate, or alcohol. For others, it’s an opportunity to shut off social media. Having just returned from Indiana, I learned it’s the season restaurants serve fish sandwiches on Friday.

Have we lost the true meaning?

Lent is meant to be a season to reflect and meditate on the many ways Jesus was so misunderstood during his time here on earth. It’s meant to be a time to prepare our hearts for remembering what he did for us on the cross and celebrating his resurrection. Let’s enter this final week with a posture of reflection.

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey as a hero, King of the Jews, here to bring the Royal kingdom into power. Crowds along the route he traveled shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The religious leaders, and perhaps some of those along the way, still had confusion and questioned silently if He really was the promised Messiah.

Wasn’t He supposed to come in power on a war horse to take over Jerusalem? Instead, he came on a donkey, meek and unassuming. Who is this Jesus, claiming to be King of the Jews?

Today, we see Jesus not as we have typically seen Him up to now. Rather than bringing sight to the blind or healing the lame, He shows us a different side of Himself. Let’s begin in Luke 19:45-47:

When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’” Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.”

- Luke 19:45-47

To put this into context, we have to remember that the Temple was the only place God resided. It wasn’t until Jesus’ death and resurrection that the Holy Spirit resides in us. The people in the Temple buying and selling weren’t treating the Temple as the holy place that it was!

I wonder if when we trivialize Lent without reflecting on the depth of its meaning, we aren’t somehow like those in the Temple that day.

I find myself grieved, asking Jesus if, in some way, I have disappointed him in half-heartedly remembering my body is his temple.

As we begin this final week leading up to Easter, let’s take a pause. There is nothing too important for us not to be intentional about quietly sitting in our thoughts and turning our gaze to our Father.

As this week progresses, we’ll see many of Jesus’ followers turn on him and treat him as a criminal. Crowds will shout, “Crucify him”! He’ll be denied and betrayed. He will suffer and grieve. And yet in the Garden as he prays, he’ll surrender to his Father and say, “Not as I will, but as you will!’

Will we surrender…our lives, our stories…our careers, our relationships, EVERY part of us? When we begin to submit every part of who we are - body, mind, and soul, we begin to understand more fully this season of Lent.