Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Praying for you, your family, your community and the rest of the world. Right now, the whole world is suffering because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Let’s pray together to God, Our Ever-Loving Father, His mercy and protection on all, and God’s healing on those who are infected by the Coronavirus. We all believe God’s grace and love rest on all who look upon Him every moment with faith in Him.
Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt. (Zechariah 9:9)
God is love. His love is greater than anything that we see and touch. Please imagine. We are standing at an open beach on a sunny day, and looking out the seemingly endless vast horizon, which is continuously unfolding before our eyes to the edge of the blue sky. This makes us truly grasp our insignificance before the beauty, the openness, and the immense size of the ocean. That is one of the moments that we are touched by an infinite, and we confront our very existence, who are tiny little and standing before the immense ocean.
This is not all. When we realize the seemingly infinitely remote horizon is only a tiny little portion of the entire ocean of this earth, we know our brain has no idea how to put together these two immense size of water bodies – the seemingly infinite ocean and the unimaginably immense oceans covering the entire globe.
At night, we are at awe when we look up a crystal-clear night sky that filled with sparkling starts, which are too many to count. Anyone saw the milky way towering from one side of the sky, passing through the top of the sky and reaching to the other side. It is a jaw-dropping experience. Soon we feel as if we could touch, but when we actually reach out our hands, we know it is far away from us. I believe anyone who saw this magnificent scene still could see the night sky again by just closing eyes and remembering the moment. It is one scene that nobody cannot forget forever. (Unfortunately, due to light pollutions, most of people today around the globe cannot see this awe stuck scene anymore.) Yes, we met the infinitely vast space of the nigh sky, and we are a mere insignificance existence on a small marble called “earth.”
On the contrary, we often think we are the center of the universe although we are not. We just a mere speck of dot of the infinite space and ocean. Even so, we are fully convinced that we know what we are doing. We often insist our way is an only way while heavily discounting or even totally nullifying others’ opinions. Yes, we are self-centered and always judging others by our own eyes. Conflicts, quarrels and fighting do not cease, as a result, and we are in pain, mentally and spiritually, even physically too.
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want.” (James 4:1-2a)
In reality, what looks right to our own eyes is not necessarily right to others because we are different and see/understand differently. Then we insist our way as highway, and pushing others. However, at the end of day, we don’t get what we want. Why? We continue applying our own selfish heart, which is viewed as an evil in the eyes of others. Then there will be quarrels and even fighting while cursing each other. One’s self-centeredness collides with others. This self-centered approach only escalates conflicts and divisions among us. Don’t we know this fact? Sure, many of us clearly know, but we fall in this inescapable trap. Thus, Bible says,
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; (Romains 3:10)
Yes, nobody is righteous except God. Especially before God’s eyes, we are all sinners. Indeed, nobody among us ever has an ability to get out of this trap because we are only righteous in our own eyes.
the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. (Judges 21:25b)
As long as people do whatever seems right in their own eyes, there is no hope, no love and no righteousness. We realize our insignificance when looking up a clear night sky or looking over an immense ocean. Even so, we feel we are the master of the universe, and we believe everything revolves around us. Thus, no hope and no salvation from this self-centered trap as long as we search for an answer in us. However, God, who dearly loves us, had a salvation plan for us, the Glorious Salvation Plan. This is nothing glorious about in our human eyes, but all heavenly hosts and angles gave glory when our Savior, Jesus Christ born per the Glorious Salvation Plan.
Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, came this world to rescue all trapped in self-centered sinfulness and committing sins continuously by our own hearts and minds and also our own hands. Who can rescue us from this self-centered sinful trap? Yes, God, who loves us dearly, took an initiative. How? By sacrificing His only gotten son, Jesus Christ, as an eternal sacrificial lamb to forgive all our sins. This is the Glorious Salvation Plan, and Jesus came this world for this salvation plan.
Jesus Christ, who came from Heaven, shared God’s love and preached the kingdom of heaven. Many heard His message and they were comforted because they heard Jesus and His unfathomable love. Jesus also healed many as they come to Him. Jesus also raised the dead including Lazarus.
Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. It was one beautiful example of being one with Jesus’ love.
Especially, Mary was forgiven more (especially by her own heart), and more she loved Jesus. She gave the best what he had — the precious perfume, and her loving act of wiping Jesus’ feet with her own hair. The scene was filled with the fragrance of the perform, but most importantly, with the love of Mary filled was the room, which came out of her thankful heart. The perfume that she broke was worth of one year’s wage.
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” (Luke 7:47)
When all the peopled heard of Jesus’ arrival to the town of Lazarus, Bethany, they flocked to see Him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus. Again, the hearts of the sons of the world are not like the hearts of those who believed Jesus. What they desired was to get rid of Jesus and Lazarus. Their self-centered hearts became evil.
Even so, Jesus did not pay attention to those people and their evil desire. Jesus continued His walk as planned, which was offering Himself as a perfect and eternal sacrifice for all sins. By doing so, all people would be saved, only those who flocked around Him, but also those who wanted to kill Him.
The next day, as Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. His disciples lead Jesus’ colt, and Jesus humbly sat on it.
The news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. Jesus A large crowd of Passover visitors went down the road to meet him.
Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9b)
Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming,
riding on a donkey’s colt.” (John 12:14,15)
The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.
And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Yes, the crowds shouted, but they did know what was really happening. Many believed that the set time came that they were liberated from the Roman occupation by Jesus, who was a miraculous worker and healer whom they had never seen. They believed Jesus, but again, they believe Jesus because of the miracles performed by Jesus. They saw paralytics were walking, the deaf heard, and the bind saw. They even touched Lazarus who was raised by Jesus from his death. Five thousand, and three thousand were fully satisfied by very few fish and bread after Jesus prayed and distributed them. Jesus’ sermon changes the hearts of those who were mourning and suffering. They all experienced Jesus, but they only knew Jesus as the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. As they saw Jesus entering in Jerusalem, they focused on their own sufferings from the Romans. They believed Jesus would free them from the Romans, which was they really wanted on earth.
Jesus was surrounded by many who fixed eyes on the world matters. They were shouting, praising, and rejoicing with Jesus, but Jesus was alone. Jesus kept walking the walk given to Him – being the eternal sacrifice for all. However, the people continued believing it was the moment that they would be freed and would have their own king. Jesus was lonely, but the people were happy while expecting the earthly kingdom of their own would come without the Romans.
Even His disciples, who were with Jesus three years, didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. After Jesus entered into His glory of being crucified on cross, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. About two thousand years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem as a humble king. He came to serve, not to be served, and give Himself as the ultimate sacrifice, which is in turn the best gift ever – our eternal life not being perished by our own sins. This is the manifestation of God’s love and also the love acts of Jesus Christ! Hosanna to the Son of David, Our Savior. Hosanna to the King of all who believe in Him. Praise Him, and Praise Him! His name will be magnified forever and ever because Jesus Christ is worthy of all our praises! Hosanna to the King, Our Savior, Jesus Christ! Hosanna!
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
We’d like to share about how to wisely manage the current worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. First, except our own family living together, consider all others as a potential source of transmitting the Coronavirus because people who are asymptomatic (no symptom of Coronavirus at all) can carry and transmit the virus. Thus, please avoid a physical contact with others, and maintain distance about two meters (or six feet). This social distancing saves lives. Please wash hands with soap about 20 seconds to wash out the Coronavirus that might be on our hands. Our hand skin is pretty thick and it protects well against the Coronavirus, but our hands frequently touch our mouth, then the Coronavirus on our hands will go into our body. We should prevent this type of infection by our own hands.
Most of all, this is the time to have a quality time with one’s own family and with God, Our Ever-Loving Father with prayers, and reading and medicating Bible every day. Please fix eyes on Jesus, who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, and follow the foot step of Jesus Christ with our own families in this difficult time. When this Coronavirus pandemic is over, doing so, we will all find that we are one step closer to each other in our own family members in Christ and have a deeper relationship with God.
May God’s grace, protection, healing on all and especially for those who are physically suffering from the Coronavirus and those who are mourning for the loss of the loved ones due to the Coronavirus.
Most of all, this is the time to have a quality time with one’s own family and with God, Our Ever-Loving Father with prayers, and reading and medicating Bible every day. Please fix eyes on Jesus, who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, and follow the foot step of Jesus Christ with our own families in this difficult time. When this Coronavirus pandemic is over, doing so, we will all find that we are one step closer to each other in our own family members in Christ and have a deeper relationship with God.
May God’s grace, protection, healing on all and especially for those who are physically suffering from the Coronavirus and those who are mourning for the loss of the loved ones due to the Coronavirus.