Palm Sunday

Today is Saturday and I am writing this post for tomorrow, because I have time today and probably won’t tomorrow.  But…by the time this posts and you read it….tomorrow will be today.

So…

Today is Palm Sunday, so I started reflecting on that and reading about it in the Bible.  The beginning of Matthew 21 tells the story of how Jesus entered into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  Large crowds gathered…laying down their robes and others cut down branches of palm trees and spread them on the road.  All while shouting:

Hosanna!  Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!!!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!!!

This is why we celebrate Palm Sunday.  Many refer this event as the Triumphal Entry.  I looked up the meaning of triumphal on www.dictionary.com and learned that it is an adjective meaning of, pertaining to, celebrating, or commemorating a triumph or victory. At first glance, this might be referred to as the Victory Circle!  I don’t know much about Nascar.  But I do know that the winner of the race typically does a couple of donuts before he revs up to the Winner’s Circle to receive his prize.

But…Jesus…He rode in on a DONKEY!  The King…the Messiah…rode in on a donkey, NOT a stallion, showing humility.  That might be like a driver calmly parking the car and walking over to the circle.

He enters into Jerusalem on a donkey on a carpet of cloaks and palm branches…not a red carpet.  The TV crews weren’t there publizing and critiquing the suit he wore or what designer created it for him.

But…the crowds…they did gather and they did scream!  They screamed Hosanna! Hosanna!  Which basically means SAVE US! SAVE US! Dictionary.com defines it as (an exclamation, originally an appeal to God for deliverance, used in praise of God or Christ.)

And that is why Jesus came to earth.  In John 12:47 Jesus says:

“….For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”

As I read the paper, watch the news, look out my front door into Southern Barton Heights and look at myself in the mirror.  I, too, scream today…. HOSANNA! HOSANNA!  I know that I live victoriously because of God’s abundant grace.  But when I think of the events of these last few weeks in the nation, the world, and in my own life….I find myself also screaming to the top of my lungs….

HOSANNA! HOSANNA!

SAVE US! SAVE US!

Because I know that ONLY HE can save us…save me…