As Jesus enters into the city, the crowds rush out with palm branches, singing songs of victory and welcoming Jesus as a king. But Jesus is not the kind of king they are expecting, and more than that, he knows that these same crowds will turn on him in just a few days when he fails to meet their misguided expectations.

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For Reflection:

God is faithful even when we are fickle.

- God is faithful to keep promises, even when we don't recognize it at the time (e.g. v16). Have you ever experienced God's faithfulness only in hindsight? What happened? How has that experience changed you?

- The people are fickle rather than faithful. Jesus doesn't trust the crowds and neither should we. What helps you to seek Jesus' approval rather than the crowd's? Is there some way in which God might be inviting you to change your focus today?

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus host a dinner to honor Jesus and to express their love and gratitude. Mary's gratitude is almost embarrassing -- she pours a fortune in perfume over Jesus' feet and mops it up with her hair! Judas questions her extravagance but his practicality is actually a cover for his own selfishness. How do we show our gratitude to God? How much is enough? How much is too much?

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For Reflection:

Judas and Mary are presented as two very different ways to respond to the invitation to love God.

- Mary expressed her love for Jesus with incredible extravagance! Judas questioned the practicality but Jesus told him to "Leave her alone!" (v7). Had Judas not been a thief, would his question have been fair? Are there practical limits to expressing gratitude to God?

- Judas tried to appear generous while hiding his own selfishness. Perhaps we don't steal like Judas, but how are we tempted to appear more generous than we truly are?

Hearing about the raising of Lazarus, the high council of Pharisees and priests fears that they must act soon or risk Jesus soaring to heights of dangerous popularity. Caiaphas, the high priest, chooses this moment to reveal a word from God -- that Jesus must die for the nation, and for the world. Better that one man should die to save many from perishing. Caiaphas was unaware both of how right and how wrong he was.

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For Reflection:

"Fear not!" is the most frequent command in the Bible. Even a direct word from God can lead us in the wrong direction when we act out of fear, as it does for the high priest Caiaphas.

- Have you ever been misled by fear in your decisions or relationships? Perhaps, like Caiaphas, your fear led you to misapply God's truth? What happened? What might have been different had you been more honest about your fear?

- What helps you to "fear not" in anxious times? How might you be able to help others with their fears?