Holy Week | Holy Tears

This week is most special for many reasons. Obviously, for those who follow Jesus, this is the week we remember the execution of Jesus and celebrate his resurrection. In essence, we celebrate salvation, the ultimate reason for its unmatched specialness. However, there is so much to see within this week, and something that may get overlooked is the most holy of tears - the tears of Palm Sunday.

This past Sunday, our children celebrated Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday - which is the first of the “8 Days” we have been walking through as a church in our current series. There was a grand celebration that day as Jesus rode into Jerusalem to accolades that disrupted the ancient metropolis. It was a glorious day. However, this is the only time other than Lazarus’ death that we have a record of Jesus crying (John 11:35; Luke 19:41). Of course, if you think about it, we might cry too if we were Jesus and were about to endure what waited for him the following weekend in Jerusalem. However, his tears fall not for himself; instead, they fall for the people of Jerusalem. His heart is for them. He loves people, and his hope is that none should perish (I Peter 3:9).

Recently, our staff has been talking and thinking more deeply about the heart of Jesus to reach individuals with the Good News. A Christ-like longing to see our children, students, neighbors, friends and extended family come to know Jesus. This longing produced emotion so deep in Jesus that he wept when he saw the city containing people he loved. He wept not for the hell He faced in the coming week but for the hell they faced in this life and the next for having rejected the peace he came to offer.  It was true on that first Palm Sunday, and it is true today; Jesus desires that no one misses out on the full life he offers.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday, a day unmatched in its glory, may our understanding of this day be reflected in our presence this coming Thursday evening to remember his death and Sunday morning in celebrating his resurrection, but moreover, in our longing to reach others with the Good News. His resurrection opened heaven to all people, but he left us to invite people into heaven by sharing the Good News. May we have the same longing for Fayetteville that Jesus had for Jerusalem.

Looking forward,
Blake