Greeting Beloved Readers,
I wonder how often we consider what we do when we welcome someone. When dignitaries visit our city there is electricity in the air if we favor them and storm clouds when we do not. It does not matter what you think of the historical accuracy of the placement of Palm Sunday. It matters but the argument is not worth belaboring here. Perhaps I shall write about it some time.
What I would like you to do is ponder with me for a moment being in that crowd on that day. The city of Jerusalem is already bustling from the Passover pilgrims who have come from all over to worship at the temple. Talk of a Messiah has spread all over the nation and the news has spread that he will enter the city on this morning. Thousands of people gather outside the gate Jesus is to enter.
He can be seen from a distance, riding on the foal of a donkey. He is preceded by his disciples. It is a small but important procession. Who would you wish to be in this moment? Would you be one of the disciples heading into Jerusalem with the Son of God, hoping that he will claim his right as King of Kings and destroy the Roman squatters? Would you be one of the crowed, hoping to see some miracle from the Rabbi from Nazareth? Perhaps you would be one of the Pharisees, already plotting how to kill this troublesome carpenter.
The one person you do not want to be in this moment is Jesus. He knows why he is here. He knows that he arrives on the day that the Passover lamb is brought into the house to protect it from blemish. He knows why he is here. He is riding to his death and does so in the proper way. When told by the Pharisees to stop the crowd from singing his praises, he responds that if they do then the rocks and stones will cry out the truth.
On Palm Sunday, those who greeted Jesus with joy did not consider that within the week, some of them would call for his death. Some of them would have a murderer released in his stead. Some of them would watch as he is brutally beaten. They would jeer at him as he walked with his cross to Golgotha. They would spit on him. They would watch him die. But for now, they cheer as he enters the city and he knows he rides on to die.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
I wonder how often we consider what we do when we welcome someone. When dignitaries visit our city there is electricity in the air if we favor them and storm clouds when we do not. It does not matter what you think of the historical accuracy of the placement of Palm Sunday. It matters but the argument is not worth belaboring here. Perhaps I shall write about it some time.
What I would like you to do is ponder with me for a moment being in that crowd on that day. The city of Jerusalem is already bustling from the Passover pilgrims who have come from all over to worship at the temple. Talk of a Messiah has spread all over the nation and the news has spread that he will enter the city on this morning. Thousands of people gather outside the gate Jesus is to enter.
He can be seen from a distance, riding on the foal of a donkey. He is preceded by his disciples. It is a small but important procession. Who would you wish to be in this moment? Would you be one of the disciples heading into Jerusalem with the Son of God, hoping that he will claim his right as King of Kings and destroy the Roman squatters? Would you be one of the crowed, hoping to see some miracle from the Rabbi from Nazareth? Perhaps you would be one of the Pharisees, already plotting how to kill this troublesome carpenter.
The one person you do not want to be in this moment is Jesus. He knows why he is here. He knows that he arrives on the day that the Passover lamb is brought into the house to protect it from blemish. He knows why he is here. He is riding to his death and does so in the proper way. When told by the Pharisees to stop the crowd from singing his praises, he responds that if they do then the rocks and stones will cry out the truth.
On Palm Sunday, those who greeted Jesus with joy did not consider that within the week, some of them would call for his death. Some of them would have a murderer released in his stead. Some of them would watch as he is brutally beaten. They would jeer at him as he walked with his cross to Golgotha. They would spit on him. They would watch him die. But for now, they cheer as he enters the city and he knows he rides on to die.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
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