Palm Sunday: The Triumphal Entry By Adam Miller

 

 After Jesus was baptized and began His earthly ministry, it only took Him three years to become a celebrity. In the first day of the week before He died, He arrives in the city of Jerusa­lem to a highly anticipatory crowd.

This would have been the most crowded Jerusalem had been all year. John tells us that many of the people had been with Martha and Mary when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The word must have spread quickly through the city as the people gath­ered patiently and waited for Jesus to arrive.

Jesus prepares to make a statement by riding on the foal of a donkey as He enters the city. This would have undoubtedly caused some people to question what He was doing, but it did not stop the throngs of people cry­ing out, “Hosanna!” (Mark 11:9) and “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38) This upset the Pharisees who told Jesus to rebuke the crowds, but Jesus responded, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

This was an amazing event, but the sad notion was that the people crying out, “Hosanna!” were not much better off than the stones. Jesus had warned us that the road to salvation was nar­row and many would say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But he would say to them, “I tell you I do not know you... Depart from me...” (Luke 13:26-27) So not everyone who saw the glory of God on that day of triumphal entry would recognize what they missed. The next day Jesus would weep at the first sight of Jerusalem and proclaim, “You did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:44)

Let us reflect today as we re-read the stories in the Gospels, to redis­cover who this Saviour is that we have invited into our lives, and commit to seeking Him so that we might find our greatest reward.