Every day I have access to the latest breaking news: from inflation (which impacts my pocketbook) to the events in Ukraine (which nourishes fears of a third world war, one that could go nuclear) to the fallout from “the slap that was heard around the world.” News alerts show up on my phone, providing access to each topic with enough information to keep me busy all day, should I follow them (which I don’t).
All these events carry a relative significance. I will survive inflation, though I don’t like what it does to my pocketbook; Will Smith’s slap will be old news soon; Ukraine is, it seems obvious, in another category, potentially having the most negative consequential impact on our world.
Yet, all remind us that we live in a world not at peace with itself, economically, internationally, or personally.
But then, when has the world been at peace?
Certainly not when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday (April 10).
On that day, Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their King. Only he was a different kind of King than they expected or—as the sad events later that week revealed—not one they were willing to accept.
A few days before his death, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem focused attention on him as Lord. When Jesus sent his disciples to get the colt he was to ride, he instructed them to tell its owners, “The Lord has need of it” (Luke 19:31). And when the crowds shouted their praise, they quoted Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! (Luke 19:38).
So, why did Jesus ride on a donkey? Kings of the East rode horses as symbols of conquering through power and war; they rode donkeys when they were on errands of peace.
It should be a stark reminder to us as we approach this week that Jesus is the key to peace, and one day, in his kingdom to come, he will bring peace in every way.
That’s because Jesus meets our deepest need for peace. Without him, we truly have no peace. Paul would later write, “We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us” (Romans 5:8). What Jesus did for us happened in the ugliness of the cross, which became known not as Bad Friday but Good Friday, because it was there that Jesus made things right between God and us, should we choose to receive it.
It affects not just my life after death, but this life, now, today, and every day. I’m not surprised when I read the latest breaking news because I read them in light of Jesus’ words, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33). But I don’t live there. Looking beyond the words of the newspaper or news app on my phone, beyond the unknown events of this week, beyond Palm Sunday and Good Friday, I dwell on the light of Easter and the rest of Jesus’ promise, “But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
He is risen.
He is risen, indeed.
Really and truly.
And that’s the best way to read the news.