We’re sitting at the edge of the end of the beginning part.

I’ve been balancing on the border between chapter 20 and chapter 21 of Matthew for two weeks now. You don’t know that because it made sense for me to take a retreat, and then I’ve been looking closely at the end of chapter 20. But I have been sitting on this artificial, arbitrary chapter division for all two weeks, and more besides.

I wonder how long Jesus sat on this line, too.

Chapter 20 ends near Jericho. Chapter 21 begins near Jerusalem, fifteen miles away. Chapter 20 ends with a healing and new followers. Chapter 21 begins with Palm Sunday.

At this dividing line we go from twenty chapters that give glimpses of thirty-three years of living and teaching and wandering to eight chapters covering one week, a week that we think of as familiar.

How am I going to help us think about this week, these chapters, this part of the story?

It’s familiar and huge and threatening and challenging. What Jesus will say and do in these next eight chapters, in his last week before being killed, will have particular import.

But, of course, it isn’t actually Jesus’ last week to live. It’s his last week before everything changes. And you know how everything that happens right before a big change in someone’s life makes you think back through what they said?

“You know, he said something like this might happen.”

“Remember how clear everything was for him? I was almost like he knew that he was destined for greatness.”

And, of course, Jesus was and he did know and he wanted to be clear and specific and summarize the important lessons well.

And so, when he got to this line between the chapters, Jesus just kept moving. So will we.

Starting Monday.