The Music Builds

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' " Matthew 21:1-5

In our house, we imagine heaven a lot. We have all sorts of hopes and dreams about what exactly it is that God is preparing for us, that "no mind can conceive." Flying and ridiculously large perfect fruit are two common themes. And for me, music. I'm no musician. But in heaven, I think I'm going to be. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in two heavenly bands - one as the lead singer, and one as a drummer. I'm relatively sure you're laughing at me right now. But seriously, I would SO LOVE THAT! I know this may not coincide with the kinds of things most people think of when they think of heaven. And the theology is questionable. But in the Henderson house, when it comes to heaven, we let our imaginations run wild.

When I'm taking a break from my heavenly performing career, I'm going to sit down and compose a symphony. It's going to be about Jesus' ministry on earth. The first part. . .I don't even know the right musical terms! . . . the first "part" - is it a movement?? - would be full of energy and hope. Think of the excitement of Jesus ministry years - healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead. A kingdom where the weak are made strong and the oppressed are set free. This is joyful music!

But at today's passage, the music begins to change. Intensity begins to build. It starts toward the kind of music that our daughter once described as sounding "like somebody's gonna get somebody." True, it's leading to the celebration of Palm Sunday - Jesus getting a piece of the worship he deserves as king. But in another sense, today's passage is where the tide truly begins to turn. To me, this feels like the point of no return. As Jesus rides on this colt, I imagine tears on his cheeks - knowing that the very crowd that will soon shout "Hosanna!" will instead, in a few short days, shout "Crucify him!"

As we enter this next week. . .the Passion week, the Holy week. . .the week leading up to Jesus crucifixion, I invite you to enter in to the emotion, the intensity of the week. Be reminded of the weight of our sin, and the gravity of it's consequences. Be amazed by Jesus' resolve as he walks through the week, toward it's unthinkable climax. This is the week. This is everything! This is EVERYTHING. Without the crucifixion, we are still dead in our sins. My heart is absolutely filled to capacity right now - I can't convey to you all of the thoughts and feelings that begin to swirl around inside of me as I think for just a couple of minutes about what Jesus is about to do in the coming chapters. But then again, some emotions are too big for words. They need something bigger. Like maybe a symphony.

Meg Henderson