Meditations On Palm Sunday

Reading Matthew 21:1-11

English Standard Version Chapter 21

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5  “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Not Always My Favorite

I have to be honest, Palm Sunday, has not always been my favorite situation that I have found myself drawn to in the Bible. When I was a kid, I watched the Jesus film, and saw all the people making Christ’s entry into Jerusalem an honorable and fabulous time. What I did like about this, was the prophetic part and the fulfillment of prophecy about Israel’s Messiah.

But it also is truly a time, where crowds seemed to have a specific grace of insight, that He was indeed God’s Son and Messiah and they hailed in the glory about Jesus being in their midst and they were expectant about his arrival that it would be resulting in good things.

People need, as religious as they are, to be wary of missing the real deal. Of missing the real Christ.

A Thankful Heart Prepares You

The reason the next point, addresses a thankful heart. Is because it is the opinion of some people that they crowds here who hailed the glory of Christ, were also the ones who caused together his crucifixion the following week. If this is the case, it is something to be in woeful awe about. And in my thoughts, I would think the remedy, is if we say, “God, I will take from you, what you give, and if you slay me, I will believe in you still”. That is what Job said. I think, that if we cultivate a heart of the goodness of God, and a thankful heart in that he is the sovereign Benefactor, and we are beneficiaries of life, then it means, that if our Jesus, would go to a cross, in our experience, that we would be able to say, “this truly is my Lord”. It means we would recognize him, and not get caught in ideas and the world that would pull us away from the truth and it would also keep up in a mind like Simeon, who had eyes to see and faith.

The other option, is that this crowd was sidelined, and they worshiped without hypocrisy, and the crucifixion was at the hands of different Jews. I may have to do more study about this. But anyhow. Be thankful, it’s a command, and it will save you from a thousand pitfalls and possibly save your soul.

He Truly Was and Is

The last point about Palm Sunday, is that regardless of the situation, Jesus was and truly is King. He is worthy of the praise he received. We should wonder at the Scriptures’ fulfillment, we should wonder at the cross that he ended up going to, and we should give him praise, the kind that is due his name. He truly is the king of Israel, and Zion. As it says, “your king”, it means Jesus is truly king. The kind of praise that should exhibit our lives should cause the world, to ask, “Who is this Jesus?”. Yes, first for the Jew, but then after that, for the Gentile!

God bless!