As we near Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, it’s important to focus on the week leading up to his death. We know the story of the triumphal entry, a story that is recorded in all four gospel accounts. Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 when he rode into Jerusalem on a the colt of a donkey. As he entered Jerusalem, according to Luke, he wept over Jerusalem: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). Just prior to this even, according to John, Jesus wept when he saw that his friend Lazarus was dead. Ironically, some of his disciples said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37).
We also know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It turns out that Jesus, in fact, not only had the power to raise people from the dead but he also was going to be raised just a few days later! This represents a time when weeping would turn into joy and celebration. The resurrection gives us hope. We are told that we are raised with Christ in our baptism and that the faithful will be raised from the dead at the judgment. This is why Christians have hope.
Paul affirmed this in his letter to the Romans when he said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Our joy and peace is rooted in the hope of the resurrection! We do not fear man, because God overcame the world and conquered death!