As we enter into the time of year where God’s love was shown to mankind. By way of the cross and victory over the grave. I invite you to travel this road with me that leads to the cross. During our time together, we are going to visit a few of the events of the Easter story. Let’s begin preparing our hearts as we await Easter Sunday.
In preparing for this week-long series, I asked God to show me the truths He wanted me to learn and the passage I feel led to start our series off which comes from John.
All four gospels give us an account of Jesus’ life here on earth. This is not just to give us historical facts but also as a guide for us today. John starts out not with Jesus birth or Jesus genealogy but with the answers to the Who? What? Where? and Why? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End because the Father created this world and sent down His Son as our living sacrifice, so that we can believe in Him and accept His gift of salvation, we can live with Him dwelling within us. With all that in mind, this week should not be the only week we reflect on Him but everyday of the year. Now when we skip ahead a few chapters, we begin to see the events of Jesus last week unfold. Starting with His humble yet royal entrance into Jerusalem.
A Humble entry, to a Humiliating death, to His Victorious rising
Last year, I focused on Jesus being a symbol of Hope and the reason why a donkey’s colt which you can visit at Palm Sunday. Let’s look at another part of this event.
What Do We Discover?
Jesus at this point has been teaching and performing many miracle. He was know and heard about across the land. A great crowd had come to Jerusalem for Passover but heard that Jesus was also going to be there. Could you imagine their excitement? The One, they had heard so much about was going to be in their presence. Think of the Rev. Billy Graham, being known for his biblical preaching, going to be in the same city preaching where you are at. Massive amounts of people flock to the arena to hear him. As he makes his way to the podium that crowd shouts out loud and almost ear-piercing praises and hallelujah. (For the purpose of illustration only and I am not suggesting he is like God but that he is highly respected.) The crowd that gathered to greet Jesus was like what I illustrated. They have been waiting a long time for their coming Messiah. They treated Him like royalty out of respect for who He was. They shouted praises proclaiming who He was but sadly not really understanding. Out of this respect, they shouted these praises and laid in His path palm branches. Other accounts also adds their coats, some even cut branches to wave and lay down. All of this was done to fulfill what was written.
What can we learn from this passage?
- He deserves our respect because of who He is, what He has done and what He continues to do for us daily.
- As they used what was on hand and what they had to praise Him, we should be using what has been given to us to praise and glorify Him.
- Just as scripture was fulfilled then, it is still being fulfilled as we await His coming.
What has been reveled to you through this account? Has this account raise any questions? It did for me. Lets see if they get answered on our journey, on this road that leads to the cross.
In His Love, Crisi