Palm Sunday
For Meditation
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem just days before his death. The disciples believed that Jesus was the long-awaited King of the Jews, and they near Jerusalem with great anticipation: this is the moment when Jesus will begin His reign! The Kingdom has finally come!
At first it appears that the Jews give Jesus the royal welcome the disciples hoped they would. But something is wrong with the scene: Jesus is not entering on a war horse, dressed for battle. Instead he's in his simple cloak riding on a young donkey. Jesus is not waving to the crowds, pumping His fist. Instead He's crying. And once He enters Jerusalem, He doesn't lead the crowd into battle against the Romans. The story doesn't end with Jesus enthroned in an earthly palace. Instead, the same crowds that shouted "Hosanna!" on Sunday will shout "Crucify!" on Friday.
Surely this is the King, but there's something very different about this King than what anyone expected. Surely the Kingdom has come, but it doesn't look like the Kingdom for which everyone had been waiting. So then who is this King? And what then is this Kingdom?
Just like the crowds in the story, and just like the disciples, we too must make a decision. When the pomp and circumstance is gone, and when we realize that the way of the King is not up to a palace but down to a cross, will you follow him?
As you prepare for worship this week, read John 12:12-19 and ask the Holy Spirit to prepare you for Holy Week.
John 12:12–19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”