Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week in the Christian faith. It is celebrated the Sunday before Easter and represents the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. In that day kings rode donkeys in time of peace and horse in times of war, so Jesus was coming as the Prince of Peace.
As He rode into the town, they people were rejoicing over the arrival of Jesus. They were spreading their own garments along the road and cutting branches from the trees to lay down in honor of His coming, treating Him as royalty. They were singing and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Hosanna means save us. They probably had no idea that they were really prophesying about the purpose of His coming, they simply hoped He was going to save them from the Roman government.
The Pharisees didn’t like what they saw and heard, and actually told Jesus to rebuke His disciples for their praise of Him to which Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” It’s interesting that an inanimate object like a stone would cry out if needed, but religious leaders could not even recognize that they were in the presence of the God they supposedly worshiped.
The children continued singing praises in the temple courtyard that they had observed their parents doing earlier. This only made the religious leaders’ anger escalate to the point of indignation.
Two distinct groups were present that day—the ones praising Jesus and those who were plotting His destruction. Then in the course of a week there were only a handful of people who still cared for Jesus. What had happened to the rest? Had they been squelched by the religious leaders? Had they been pressured into compliance by the government? Or had they just simply been caught up in the moment along the road and then in a matter of days gone back to the same old way of living?
Jesus is worthy of our worship not just once in a while when everyone is doing it, but constantly every day, no matter what is going on in our lives.
Lord help me to always give you the praise and honor that You deserve, because of who You are and what You have done.
Revelation 1:5b-6 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
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