What would you do if you knew you only had one week to live?
What sort of things would you say and why would you say them?
Where would you go, and when?
How would you spend your time?
And most importantly of all, who would you spend your time with?

The final week in the life of Jesus begins with Him entering Jerusalem for the last time, seated on a young donkey borrowed from a friend, greeted rapturously by thousands of people waving palm branches, who are joyfully thanking God for sending “the Messiah!”

On that day – what we now call “Palm Sunday” – the throng of people who welcomed Jesus were convinced their time had come. For them, this was the moment when God would intervene in history and Israel’s long promised King would overthrow her enemies. They truly believed that their world – and Israel’s – was about to be changed forever.

But just one week later, their dream was over; they had turned against the Man they hailed as their King and seen Him crucified and buried in a borrowed tomb.

How can they – or we – explain this dramatic about-face?

I believe the answer lies in reflecting on the final week of Jesus’ life, as recorded in chapters 11-16 of Mark’s Gospel.

In His final week, Jesus goes to church and throws some people out, kills a fig tree, further antagonizes His enemies by telling stories directed at their hypocrisy, predicts the annihilation of the centerpiece of Jewish life, and talks about the end of the world.

But there are also deeply tender moments: among them, His warm affirmation of a lowly widow and the sharing of a final meal with His friends.

The crowd were right in this respect – Jesus was the Messiah.What they didn’t understand was that He didn’t come to just change their world – He came to change
the whole world!

The final week of Jesus’ life – 7 days that changed the world – is the most significant in human history.

As we consider this together over the next 40 days, we will come to understand why!

Today’s Bible reading: Mark 11:1-10