Palm Sunday Reflections

behold the lamb

The story we know so well of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, celebrated annually in churches by children happily swinging palm branches in the aisles, illustrates our constant confusion about Jesus. We always misinterpret Him.

Like the twelve disciples who wanted Jesus to become a literal king that Sunday, and mount a military campaign to purge the land of their Roman enemies, we too want a savior who will rescue and deliver us now. Today! More to our liking would be a fairy godmother who with a wave of her magic wand brings instant relief, quick transformation and earthly perfection. That is our true heart’s desire.

Singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson wrote his thoughts about this Palm Sunday scene in a series of posts titled, “Resurrection Letters.”

“The sun shines hot on the city gate, and You feel the air move with the palm branches.  You hear the hearts pumping in their chests. Their mouths cry “save us” while their hearts cry “give us what we want.” But because You are God You hear even deeper in the spirits

of men and women and even children the silence of our profound loneliness. You hear the trickle of need we scarcely know ourselves.”

“You come to us though you know we’re praying to you for the wrong reasons, singing to you without the faintest notion of how powerful and just and holy you really are”.

“And yet, you come. You set your iron gaze on Jerusalem, and because the Father wants you to, you come.”

How utterly lost we are. How utterly broken. And how eternally thankful we should be that Jesus fully followed the redemption plan created by the Trinity before time began. Incomprehensible that God in heaven could really love us that much. I suppose we will never understand it.

I do know we can worship and adore Him for His indescribable gift. May this be true of us this week as never before.

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

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