Palm Sunday

Bible Verse of the Day

"Then Jesus cried out, “Those who believe in me do not believe in me only,
but in the one who sent me.... I have come into the world as a light,
so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
John 12:44-46

He felt the rough fabric of the mantles that lay on the donkey's back. It was coarse against His calloused fingertips. He ran his hand down the neck of the animal, soothing it. The donkey stood docile, but Jesus could feel its anxiety. He could feel the twelve men that stood around him and their anxiety as well.

"Rabbi, it is time," said Simon Peter in a low voice.

Jesus nodded and mounted the donkey in one quick stride. Without having to prod him, the animal quickly trotted down the dirt road, the road that led to the gates of Jerusalem. The twelve men followed Him, their smiles quick, the excitement in the air thick and electric.

The closer they got to the city gates, the thicker the crowd became. Children ran up to the trotting donkey, laughing and singing around Him. The women jangled their tambourines in unison to the cries of the multitude that surrounded them. Some ran out and laid their clothes upon the road while others waved large palm leaves into the air as Jesus rode by.

"Hosana!" they yelled out. "Blessed is  the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"

And for the first time Jesus allowed them to refer to Him by that title. King. He did not admonish His disciples to quiet the crowds the way He had done in the past. Instead He, too, laughed and smiled and waved at the people. His people. He touched them as they crowded Him and His donkey. A shoulder here, a hand there. For He was indeed their King. He had been there with his Father when each and every one of them had been created. He knew each and every one of their hearts. And He would give His life for each and every one of their souls.

They called him King, but they didn't truly understand. His kingdom was not of this world. He entered the city of Jerusalem not on a horse, as a King whose business was war and conquering would have. He came instead riding on the back of a donkey, an animal which symbolized peace. Yes, He was their King. But He would not liberate them from the shackles of Rome. He would not fight the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel to its former glory, to bring them back to the times of King David and King Solomon. No. He would liberate these people from the shackles of their sin. He would redeem them and liberate them from their sinful nature and fight Death itself so that they could have eternal life.

Oh, they would see glory. But they would see the Glory of God, not the glory of man. And in order to do that, He would have to die.

In a few days, the very ones who now called him King and welcomed Him with palms and cheers...well, they would spit on Him and call on others to crucify Him. They would yell and snarl and ask their leaders to execute Him, even though He had done nothing but love them. These twelve who surrounded him now, bursting with joy and brimming with excitement...they would run away into the shadows and deny Him. They would hide like scared sheep who had been cut away from their shepherd. They would leave Him alone at the hands of His enemy. 

Jesus looked up at the gleaming walls of the Temple. It shimmered like liquid gold in the sunlight. It would be the last time He would look upon His beloved city in this way. In a few days time, He would be dragged out of the city gates, forced to walk down the trail that led to Golgotha, the place of the skull. It was outside the city walls, the place where the Romans crucified those who had committed especially henious crimes. He would be beaten and bloodied, forced to carry a heavy beam of wood, a beam which his broken body would be nailed to and then lifted for all to see. He, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe itself, would be crucified between two common thieves, left to die beneath the heat of the sun, his skin hanging from his frame, the blood dripping down past his legs, past the wood beam, soaking the very earth He had helped to create.

A dark shadow passed before his eyes, but Jesus shook it away.

This is how it had to be, for this is how it was written since before the beginning of their time. He would forgive them. All of them. They were His children, weren't they? He loved them, even though they were frail and fickle. He loved them, despite what they would do to him, despite how they would curse him, despite the fact that they would abandon Him.

It's why He was here. To die for them.

He had to die...so that they could live. 

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Listening to...God Ran by Phillip, Craig &  Dean