palm sunday devotional

The week leading up to Easter is often referred to as “Holy Week”. The Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give us many details about what happened in the week leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. For many Christians, it is a great opportunity to spend time reflecting on those events as we approach Easter Sunday. It is a great way to prepare our hearts for Easter. So during this week leading up to Easter, instead of our usual blog posts, tips, quotes, and more, each day this week we will be sharing a quick devotional focused on Holy Week events.

The Sunday before Easter is frequently referred to as Palm Sunday. The day Jesus made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament share about this event. Here is Matthew’s account:

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’’ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!’

 Matthew 21:1-9

So much of what is happening in these verses is a fulfillment of prophecy. We know that the streets of Jerusalem were very crowded when Jesus entered because the time for Passover was approaching. During the Passover, Psalms 113-118 were frequently recited or sung by the people. In Psalm 118:25-26 we find these words:

O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

These words that the crowds were shouting out as Jesus entered Jerusalem were “Hosanna” or save us and then quoting directing from this Psalm with “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They were recognizing Jesus as their messiah and calling for Him to save them. They were welcoming him with eagerness and triumph like a king.

But as we will see through the rest of Holy Week, for most of them they wanted him as the messiah they had pictured and hoped for: one who would deliver them from Rome and make them a great and mighty nation. He was coming to be THE MESSIAH. The One who would save the world from sin and oppression. The one who would reconcile us with God and ultimately restore His perfect kingdom on earth. They missed the greatness of the Triumphant Messiah in hopes of a much smaller triumph.

Before we start getting judgmental about the error of their ways, let’s be careful and take a look at ourselves. How often do we impatiently want God to fix something for us that He just doesn’t seem to be fixing? We doubt and wonder why He isn’t doing what we know He can. Maybe we even begin to doubt our understanding of who He is. All the time He is actually doing something so far beyond and more amazing than what we can actually comprehend. Many of us have seen moments like this in hindsight where we see the small thing we were asking for and the amazing thing He did instead. If we haven’t personally experienced that, we certainly have plenty of examples in Scripture. You would think that would make it easier for us to trust when we find ourselves in the middle of those seemingly unanswered prayers today, but like the crowds welcoming Jesus that day we too often lose sight of Him and His greatness when we’re focused on our ideas for what we think should happen instead.

I encourage you (and me) today to stay focused on Jesus and trust that what He is doing is exceedingly better than anything we can imagine.