I know we are preparing to celebrate Palm Sunday tomorrow, but our lesson in Promise Kingdom (Lesson #35) is going to have us look beyond the jubilant welcome into Jerusalem to the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and subsequent trial.

As you review the story of Jesus' death this week, ask the members of your family as well as yourself who you most identify with. Are you the disciple who couldn't stay awake while Jesus prayed? Are you the crowd that shouted His praises with one breath, then cursed Him with the next? Or are you Peter, swearing your dying allegience, then crumbling under your fear of man at the moment it counted most?

The truth is, we are the weak disciples. We are the crowd that shouted, "Crucify Him!" We are Peter. We are Pilate. We are the Roman soldiers. We are the ones for whom Jesus prayed to His Father, "Forgive them. They don't know what they are doing."

We are the sinners Christ died to save. Praise the Lord! Thank Him that He was sent by the Father. Thank Him that He loved us when we were yet unlovable. Thank Him that He obeyed perfectly and never sinned. Thank Him that He did not resist His condemnation and death. Thank Him that He lives and prays for us at this very moment. 

And thank Him that everything He is, you are in Him, if your trust is in Christ.

Rejoicing in the cross with you! See you Sunday!

Pastor Jonathan