After He had said this, He went on ahead, going into Jerusalem. – Luke 19:28 All of our lives are headed somewhere. On Palm Sunday, Jesus is headed to His destiny in Jerusalem. Christ comes, triumphantly riding on a borrowed donkey’s colt, bound in the Spirit, knowing what is ahead of Him – and yet He goes on climbing Jerusalem’s hill anyway.
Are you coming into your destiny? On the long Journey of faithful service, one wonders if all our efforts to make a difference in the world will be in vain. But, without a doubt, God’s destiny for your life will come to pass.
Usually Christ came and went in and out of a village quietly. But, on this day, He made a grand entrance, perhaps knowing later in the week this would make His death on the cross appear even greater.
Everybody is born with a purpose and we all have a destiny. If you aren’t moving toward it, or sense you’re not moving toward it, what’s keeping you from doing so? Normally, the answer is fear.
There’s no telling how many of us could have by now solved a great problem, written a best-seller, won a Grammy Award, painted a great painting, or closed the world’s largest business deal.
It doesn’t matter who, how old, or how young you are. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been to jail or attended Yale. You have a destiny.
Christ knew what we all must come to know, and to accept, and that is, no one is powerful enough to stop God’s plan for his or her life. We can reject it but we cannot stop it. God will have the final word. Nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands. No accident, no sickness, no crazy person, not even a loved one can stop God’s plan for your life.
Even when you’re afraid to do what you’re supposed to do, God will push you into your divine destiny. When we sense our destiny and it’s the correct time to step into to it, that’s often when we get that disruptive call or visit or feel that strange blocking sensation. We call it fear.
In that fearful moment, we often think, “Oh God! Do I actually have to do this?” It is then, just as Christ said on Maundy Thursday in the Garden, “Lord I wish you would let this cup pass from me,” as He suddenly realized His moment of destiny had arrived and His mission must be fulfilled.
Today, Christ is walking with each of us on our way to our destiny. Christ’s journey and ours are filled with purpose, when we seek that which brings life: loving God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves and live without fear of the future.
Then, our journey towards destiny is more than a journey toward death; it is a journey toward purpose. Destiny is not always fatal nor is it always punishing but it is always God’s goal for our life.
Sometimes it comes amidst acclamation but other times it comes quietly in the night.
Luke 19:21-22 tells us Christ “Sent them to find a colt that had never been ridden” and He told them where it was and the words to speak. Those on Christ’s errand can always be sure they will find things, just as He said they would be.
Christ was a great example of humility and I am sure the disciples thought surely He would never enter Jerusalem — His destiny — the way He did, though they were glad He did. Christ despised the contempt of the proud and He loved and accepted the praise of the humble. This is why some of the Pharisees said, according to Luke 19:39, “Tell your disciples to keep quiet.”
His reply probably shocked the Pharisees: “If they keep quiet, the rocks will cry out.” At the cross, the only disciple who stood silently by Him was John. The rest were in hiding, now no longer shouting as they had on the roadside, “Hosanna and blessed is the King and glory in the highest.”
It was then what Christ said on the roadside came true. In the silence, the earth shook and the rocks cried out, signifying Jesus had come into His destiny and fulfilled His mission and became the glory of God.
The Rev. Dr. R. Joaquin Willis is pastor of the Church of the Open Door UCC in Miami’s Liberty City community. He may be reached at 305-759-0373 or pastor@churchoftheopendoormiami.org
'Today, Christ is walking with each of us on our way to our destiny. Christ’s journey and ours are filled with purpose, when we seek that which brings life: loving God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves and live without fear of the future. Then, our journey towards destiny is more than a journey toward death; it is a journey toward purpose.'
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