Moving Forward - 17 February 2025

MONDAY, February 17, Janani Luwum

Mark 11:11b And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

What an anticlimactic verse! The crowd goes wild for Jesus entering the city, riding a donkey; they excitedly spread their cloaks and branches on the ground. Some are in front of him, and some are behind him, all shouting with joy about the coming kingdom. And then, after he enters Jerusalem, there’s nothing about crowds or shouting or donkeys. It’s just Jesus and his disciples, going into the temple, looking around at everything, and simply leaving. It’s as prosaic as kids going to the mall. But it also fits.

This non-event ending to the loud and proud beginning foreshadows the unexpectedness of events to come. That impromptu parade announcing the Messianic hope isn’t going to end in triumph but rather the sham of a kangaroo court, the agony of torture, and the shame of capital punishment. But what’s amazing is that in all those instances of seeming defeat,

Divine Love pulls out a win. And for me, that means every time evil or illness or terror appears to gain ground here and now, God can still do the unexpected. Love will find a way to win.

MOVING FORWARD: What unexpected thing is God doing in your life?

PRAY for the Diocese of Lweru (Tanzania)

Ps 89:1-18 * 89:19-52 | Isaiah 63:1-6 | 1 Timothy 1:1-17 | Mark 11:1-11

(Source: Forward Day by Day Movement)