Difficult Decisions

The great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
- from John 12:-12-13

This week we’re going to be reading from the Gospel of John and looking at the choices that stood before Jesus in his final days. Today’s passage captures the scene of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem the crowds went wild. They saw the potential in him: one who could fulfill their hopes for an empire, one who could give them safety, one who could set them free. As the crowds called out for Jesus their hopes and dreams fueled their passion.

Someone in Jesus’ position would have had three clear options to take in response to the acclaim of the crowd:

  • Lead a rebellion against the Roman oppressors
  • Become a reformer within the Jewish system
  • Beat a hasty retreat to focus on spiritual things.

Over the course of this week, we’ll explore each of these options, see why Jesus rejected them and chose to go to the cross instead.

But today we want to ask you to consider how you navigate life’s tough choices. We ask you to do this, not because you’re going to face choices like Jesus, but because reflecting on your own decision-making process might help you to connect more deeply with Jesus in this pivotal moment in his story.

How do you made difficult decisions? Who do you go to for input and guidance? How can you tell when you’ve made a wise decision?

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