On the first Palm Sunday so many years ago, Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem to the applause and cheers of many who had heard of His miracles and his teachings. He was a teacher like no other before Him and many believed Him when they heard His words and saw His countenance before them. Many others, however, did not, or maybe they did but were afraid to admit it. The power of the Elders was such that many feared being excommunicated from the Temple; they were more concerned about what man would think of them than God, a situation not unfamiliar to us in today's world as well.
Palm Sunday marks the end of His three years of teaching throughout the Jewish Kingdom and, as only He knew, began the final days of His life on earth as a mortal man. Jesus, the Man-God, would soon suffer a farcical trial, rigged to insure his guilt by Caiaphas and the other Elders of the synagogue who saw Him as a direct threat to them and their power. Their fear of Him was well-founded, for Jesus came to show the Way to redemption and Life, and had he wanted He could have brought armies of angels to strike them down and avoid the suffering to come.
But Jesus knew that His mission was one of love and forgiveness and that His true power was in the truth, for once man understood the truth and recognized what it meant to their eternity, nothing could stop it from reaching throughout the world. So He came forth in a most simple manner, with a simple lifestyle on the back of a donkey colt along a path not of red carpet, but of palm fronds.
Since He knew all that would soon befall Him, He certainly felt dread and fear, for God sent Him to earth as a man who would experience all of those things that mortal man would feel under the same circumstances. Yet despite His powers, He knew that He had to go through with the final days of His mortal state, for without doing so His ultimate purpose would not be met. After all, God sent Him to give us forgiveness for our sins and without dying a horrible death to provide us the opportunity to achieve Eternal Life His purpose could not be fulfilled.
So as we go about our weekly lives, take time each day to ponder what this upcoming Holy Week means, for it starts with His joyous reception, moves to His final teachings and the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, then presents the horrific trial and death on Good Friday and, at long last, ends with the ultimate victory, His resurrection on Easter Sunday, one week from today. At the moment of death, we were all forgiven for our sins and the only other thing required of us to receive His gift is to believe in Him and do as He asks. Truly no greater story has ever been told.
Lord, We thank you for Thy love and grace which has given us the path to Eternal Life through the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to always remember what He did for us and to live our lives in a manner befitting what He desires of us. And help us also to go out and actively spread His word that others amongst us might see the Truth and Light, thereby affording them the gift of Eternal Life, for we know that being born again into the belief that Jesus Christ is Lord is the only way to eventually come home to Thee. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.
Have a very special Sunday on this wonderful day and worship Him. He is truly our Way to the Kingdom of Heaven. God bless you all.
Palm Sunday marks the end of His three years of teaching throughout the Jewish Kingdom and, as only He knew, began the final days of His life on earth as a mortal man. Jesus, the Man-God, would soon suffer a farcical trial, rigged to insure his guilt by Caiaphas and the other Elders of the synagogue who saw Him as a direct threat to them and their power. Their fear of Him was well-founded, for Jesus came to show the Way to redemption and Life, and had he wanted He could have brought armies of angels to strike them down and avoid the suffering to come.
But Jesus knew that His mission was one of love and forgiveness and that His true power was in the truth, for once man understood the truth and recognized what it meant to their eternity, nothing could stop it from reaching throughout the world. So He came forth in a most simple manner, with a simple lifestyle on the back of a donkey colt along a path not of red carpet, but of palm fronds.
Since He knew all that would soon befall Him, He certainly felt dread and fear, for God sent Him to earth as a man who would experience all of those things that mortal man would feel under the same circumstances. Yet despite His powers, He knew that He had to go through with the final days of His mortal state, for without doing so His ultimate purpose would not be met. After all, God sent Him to give us forgiveness for our sins and without dying a horrible death to provide us the opportunity to achieve Eternal Life His purpose could not be fulfilled.
So as we go about our weekly lives, take time each day to ponder what this upcoming Holy Week means, for it starts with His joyous reception, moves to His final teachings and the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, then presents the horrific trial and death on Good Friday and, at long last, ends with the ultimate victory, His resurrection on Easter Sunday, one week from today. At the moment of death, we were all forgiven for our sins and the only other thing required of us to receive His gift is to believe in Him and do as He asks. Truly no greater story has ever been told.
Lord, We thank you for Thy love and grace which has given us the path to Eternal Life through the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to always remember what He did for us and to live our lives in a manner befitting what He desires of us. And help us also to go out and actively spread His word that others amongst us might see the Truth and Light, thereby affording them the gift of Eternal Life, for we know that being born again into the belief that Jesus Christ is Lord is the only way to eventually come home to Thee. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.
Have a very special Sunday on this wonderful day and worship Him. He is truly our Way to the Kingdom of Heaven. God bless you all.
RSS Feed