Five Days | Palm Sunday

It always amazed me how quickly the human heart can change. How you breathe out praise one day, and the same breath brings condemnation shortly after.

As we enter Passion week, I can’t help but remember receiving a palm branch at church when I was a child. We would bring it home, and my mom would place it at the corner of an old painting or a deer mount to remain there until the next Palm Sunday rolled around. We proudly kept it there like a feather in a hat. It was a reminder in our home of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

 

The thing that my adolescent mind could not understand was how quickly that celebration turned to cursing. If I am being honest, I still wrestle with that as an adult. Are we so wrapped up in what can only be seen with earthly eyes that we fail to see a Divine Plan unfolding before us? 

God in the flesh was nailed to a cross because humans could not see. On Sunday, the wind blew in praise, then the wind shifted, and the people shifted too. Very few dared to face the wind head-on and go against it. It wouldn’t have mattered. It was a Divine Symphony that nothing could stop; the Perfect Sacrifice that opened Heaven’s doors for us. 

He could have stopped it, but He didn’t. He knew the same ones who sang praise would be the same ones who would shout “crucify Him” just five days later. He STILL rode in on that donkey, with full knowledge that their praises would soon turn to curses. And as He took His final breath, He STILL said, “Father, forgive them.”

   

For us, it’s easy to sing praise on the mountain….But for Christ, the mountain was Calvary.  What love!  Who would dare ascend THAT mountain?  The one I call Good Shepherd, chose to be slain like a sacrificial lamb.  Study Old Testament sacrifices and you’ll understand the significance of this kind of love.

We know the rest of the story…the miracle of the tomb. But for this, I reflect on those 5 days and examine my heart. And pray for a gentle spirit and heavenly discernment. I pray to be quick to listen and slow to anger. Whether you are a believer or not, the message is no less relevant. 

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9, NIV)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“He must have known about the heartache long before us
He must have known about the mistakes, and still He chose us
Planted a tree where He would die
Put thorns down the vine, and then He wore them
Love is the blood red stain, the beauty that the pain exposes
Maybe that’s why God made roses.”
 - Roses by Andrew Ripp