Sadness To Joy

Text: Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

Seven days before the resurrection, there were shouts of joy along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. The crowd recognized Jesus as King and gave Him the glory that He so deserved.

The people gave what they had to honor the King. They gave their cloaks to be placed upon the back of the donkey in honor of Jesus. Some placed their cloaks and robes along the road while others placed palm branches 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!” (Matthew 21:9).

Excitement filled the air while hearts were bathing in the warm water of hope. Everything seemed to be positive in the minds of the people because they were looking worldly. In their minds, freedom from Roman rule was about to surface. The King had come and things were about to change.

Jesus knew in His heart what was at the end of the road. He had come to save man from sin’s destruction. He knew the joy that was present in the hearts of the people would soon turn to sorrow and the tears of joy would turn to tears of sorrow.

Jesus could see Calvary down the road. He was aware that some who followed Him at this time would desert Him at a later time. He could already feel the pain and agony He would have to endure. The crowd had no idea of the suffering that was to come.

The crowd then was no different that the crowd today. The crowd following Jesus could visualize things were going their way; therefore, joy and happiness filled their mind and their heart. People in this day are happy, excited, and positive as long as they are being favored or as long as life is good to them.

Life appeared to be good to the disciples and the crowd during the entry into Jerusalem. Jesus was the leader they needed. He seemed to make things happen even when they seemed impossible. His power was demonstrated on many occasions.

Each time Jesus used His power it was for the glory of God and the benefit of man. When He found no fruit on the fig tree, Jesus cursed it and said, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again” (Mark 11:14). The fig tree dried up and died.

There was no fruit on the tree because it was not the season, but there was a lesson that the disciples and all mankind needed to learn. The lesson was to have faith in God and to believe in the power of prayer.

Jesus knew that He would not be with them much longer in the flesh which they could see, but He would be with them in Spirit which they could not see. He knew there would be moments in their life when troubles would come.

Obstacles or hindrances would appear as mountains impossible to get around, over, or through, thus, Jesus wanted them to know that nothing is impossible with God. All they had to do was to have faith, believe, and ask God to help them.

All of us have had times of disappointment when things seemed impossible for us to do. Some of you might have had a challenge getting your high school diploma because times were tough, money was short, and you had to help support the family.

Perhaps there was some type of tragedy in your life and you thought you could not go on living. Days were dark and you could not see the light of joy at the end of the tunnel.

We all have days of joy and days of sorrow, but we are assured Jesus will always be with us. He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

We feel sorrow for ourselves because we don’t have everything we want, “but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

We find it very difficult to bear the grief when someone we know dies. Jesus knows how we feel because He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:33-35).

Have you ever felt that someone has been disloyal to you? Remember, Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15-16).

Has anyone ever denied you of anything? Peter, one of the disciples, denied knowing Jesus three times. Jesus knew Peter would do this. He said, “I tell you the truth this very night before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (Matthew 26:34).

The disciples and the crowd of Jesus’ followers were about to go through a tough time. Jesus told the disciples on at least three occasions that His death was coming, but they did not understand or they did not want to believe it. The disciples were looking worldly instead of heavenly.