Matthew 21:9
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. Psalm 118:26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Hosanna! It’s Palm Sunday… a Sunday to Celebrate! Our King comes into Jerusalem, facing His worst week.
Ever wonder how this crowd of faithful followers were so ecstatic on Sunday, turned against Him only a few days later?
I wondered, then asked the Holy Spirit, Why? I was impressed to read the account of Matthew after the ‘triumphal entry’. Matthew 21 describes such a beautiful scene. Here comes Jesus, the man who healed our diseases, opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear…let’s go rejoice He is coming! They tore down palm branches and threw their coats on the ground to make a smooth path for the man who had done so much for them. Then he rode in on a donkey…a sign of peace. Maybe He can help me too?
I got this picture in my minds eye…it’s the week before Christmas, in our little borough, Santa Claus rides through the streets on a firetruck. He is looking for children and gives candy to them, their parents (grandparents) to give them donations. For the children, it is an uproar of jubilation! Santa…Santa…Santa!!! This year as I watched as a small boy down the street was lifted up to sit next to Santa. The firetruck started moving down the street with the 4 year old still next to Santa! He got to my house, a few doors down, and the firetruck finally stopped. Mom was running down the street to get her little elf. Santa yelled to me, ‘he asked if he could come with me, I just didn’t think he would.’ We both laughed and his Mom grabbed him from the seat, and he cried! He wanted to go with Santa.
This little guy knew what Santa was about. Toys! He was the guy who brought new stuff. This was the attitude of the people on Palm Sunday! I believe many in the crowd that day had a miracle in their lives. The blind man was healed. The lame man walked. The demoniac had demons removed, and life restored. The blood disease was stopped. Many of those people were on the sidelines in this parade waving palms. Many others followed because they heard, or saw, these miracles, and they wanted one! Many others followed because, well, just because they wanted to see what all the excitement was about.
We are often no different than that crowd! We follow Jesus because we were healed, we heard of someone who was healed, or maybe even we just run alongside someone who saw something, and we are hopeful it will happen to us!
However, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred! ‘Who is this?’ The crowds answered; ‘This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee’
They had an idea of who he was, but, not really.
Immediately when Jesus entered the temple area he showed another side of his divine nature. He became indignant with the way people were behaving in the temple, making it a type of ‘wall street’. He took a whip and drove out the brokers.
He continued healing as he did before, but now the chief priests and teachers of the law challenged him. He answered with his own challenge, in Matthew 21:16. He spoke to them in several parables that would also challenge the way they lived. The truths he was giving them made them think, and they were not all happy looking at how their lives stacked up to his words.
Ask yourself; What am I following Jesus for?
This week we would do a good thing to become introspective. Think about our own lives as we move toward the ’empty tomb’ and God’s greatest gift to us. Are we following because we love him?
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