What Holy Week Can Teach Us about Disappointment

Seasons of disappointment challenge us to understand God’s idea of “good,” if we’ll but listen. For it so easy to praise God when times are good… but far more difficult when times are bad.

Think about the first Palm Sunday. The Gospel of Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem in chapter 21. It says, that as Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey…

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” -ESV.

Things were looking pretty good for God’s people – Jesus was a Messiah who could feed thousands at the snap of a finger; He could shame the Romans by wrestling Matthew from their grasp (their biggest tax collector). Jesus was able to stymie all the powerbrokers in Jerusalem. Yes, times were good and God’s people went out of their way to give Jesus a warm welcome — laying down their cloaks, cutting branches, shouting songs of praise, declaring His righteousness… and it was good and right that they do!

But they didn’t really understand why. The people rushing to pave the streets with cloaks and palm branches thought that Jesus was finally going to bring about the political changes they had longed for. Things were looking up: Jesus was about to crush the Roman oppressors!

Or so they thought.

Silhouette of 3 crosses under the blue sky

Their error was looking at “good times” from a temporal point of view, rather than eternal. And by the following Friday, you can’t find anyone who is excited to praise Jesus. They weren’t about to laud a convicted criminal. As Jesus stumbles up the long, painful road to Calvary, the crowds lining the street mock and jeer at him. The only person who provides a helping hand is Simon of Cyrene… and that’s only because he is forced to.

Even the disciples turned on him. They started the week thinking they had in Jesus, a rising star. Things were just going to keep getting better and better! But by the end of that dramatic week, they were running scared and hiding in the shadows.

Oh friend, you and I are no different. We have our big dreams of what loyalty to Jesus will do for us. We think that because we’ve signed up to follow Jesus, that God will reward us. Our 401K will keep growing, our boss will honor our dedication, our friends will recognize our hard efforts, and our church pews will be filled to overflowing.

God does reward us… just not always in the here and now in the way we expect.

Instead, when the stock market crashes, and our jobs are labeled non-essential… when each “refresh” of the pandemic statistics only show things getting worse… when God doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we think He should…

Well, the disappointment could cause us to turn away from God. We could think He’s forgotten us; that He really doesn’t have the power to save us.

Do not make that mistake. God’s idea of “good times” are seasons when patience is honed, courage is revealed, compassion is shown, and trust is refined. So, remind yourself of the eternal victory Jesus accomplished at the darkest moment on Calvary’s hill. Remember how Jesus endured the hours of shame and pain-filled isolation on the cross for the eternal joy set before him… the joy that is ours, too, if we choose it.

Oh Friend, celebrate Jesus today. And not just today. Throughout this dark and difficult season of life, I’m making every moment a reflection of my gratitude toward my Lord and Savior. And I believe you will do the same!

Joni and Friends Blog
https://www.joniandfriends.org/what-holy-week-can-teach-us-about-disappointment

Palm Sunday

The Triumphal Entry

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11 (NKJV)

Matthew 20:17-19 (NKJV)

Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection

Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”


The Key To God’s Plan

There are some things we don’t understand in the moment but later they become clear. Like Peter…

Jesus told him that he was blessed because of an amazing revelation he had (Jesus Christ being the son of God) and how on this revelation He would found and build His victorious church. Peter had seen, had heard and accepted.

Jesus then told him about the cross. How it would bring suffering, death and resurrection. Peter rejected this part. He didn’t understand that he was rejecting the key to God’s plan – the cross.

Without accepting the cross, what Peter had seen and heard would never culminate in God’s powerful plan, but in Peter’s own version of this plan. Jesus rebuked him for that.


Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV)

Take Up Your Cross and Follow HIM

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.


A disciple or follower of Jesus cannot avoid accepting the cross for his own life.
A disciple or follower of Jesus cannot avoid accepting the cross for his own life.
  • Mark Saunders

The First Two Commandments

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39 ESV

Today as we spoke James taught me that “Mitemo” is shona for “Rule” or in this case we joked about it being The Lord’s commandments so I suppose these are our first two mitemos from God.