Inspired by . . . The Triumphant Entry: A Palm Sunday Reflection
Inspired by . . . The Triumphant Entry: A Palm Sunday Reflection
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zec 9:9
Reading Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem always leaves me with mixed emotions. I wonder if Jesus felt the same. Not to say that I can identify with Him, but because He can identify me.
He knows what is in the hearts of men. He knows my heart.
But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them,
because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man,
for He Himself knew what was in man. Joh 2:24-25
I rejoice over the picture of Jesus riding on a young colt. To see Him coming in humble majesty fills my heart with JOY. I can picture His mother watching. Thinking of another time, years before, when she bore Him on the back of a donkey.
Despite the shouts of the crowd, Jesus still comes quietly.
This is no picture of a conquering king.
And yet that is what the people wanted. That is what God's people have always wanted. {1Sa_8:5-6} I wonder if that's why their hearts turned so quickly against Him. They wanted a king to rule them, to save them from the Romans.
But Jesus came to save them from themselves.
He comes the same way today.
It pains me to know that the same crowd that shouted, "Hosanna!" on this day, shouted, "Crucify him!" just a few days later. It pains me because I love Him. and because I know if I'm not careful, I can do the same.
For us, Palm Sunday is all sunshine and shouts of praise. But as our Savior rode into the city, He saw the shadow of a scourged and beaten man carrying a cross pass by. A man Whose heart was heavy with the sting of rejection, and Whose ears heard cries of hatred.
This account, found in all four gospels, reminds me to be careful. It reminds me to question the motives of my fickle, human, heart.
Am I looking for a King when I really need a Savior? Do I reject the blessing when it doesn't look the way I thought it would?
These are good questions to ponder. Questions that shed Light in dark places.
Because just as Jesus died and rose again, there are things in our lives that have to die before we can take up our cross and be made more like Him. Luk_9:23
In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Heb_12:4
As we travel the road to the cross this week,
may our steps take us deeper into the
heart of our Savior.
Shalom,
June
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