As we enter Holy Week, we must always keep before us Christ’s unending love for us. This love is not earned, and it cannot be taken away – it is God’s everlasting gift to us. We see it so clearly in the events of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday itself. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, he receives praise from the very people that he knows will be spitting on him in a few short days. And yet he doesn’t turn away from the road ahead: he rides willingly towards his cross, out of love for them all, even for his betrayers.
The Lord loves us when we are praising his name; he loves us when we are handing him over to be crucified; he loves us when we are denying that we know him. Throughout our lives, we will find ourselves in all of these positions, one day obedient, the next day rebellious. And yet no matter what we do, we cannot separate ourselves from the love of the Lord, who died for us on a cross. Let us remember this simple truth this Holy Week.