Palm Sunday

“Palm Sunday remembers and celebrates when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, as foretold in a prophecy in the Old Testament in Isaiah and Zechariah.” http://www.biblestudytools.com

Imagine lining the streets, being full of excitement, waiving palms and cheering for Jesus as he rode into town on a donkey!  "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" I often wonder what my response would have been if I were alive when Jesus walked the earth among people.  I would hope that I would have been one of the people waiving palms, excited for the miracles that Jesus was performing, a total Jesus believer, and a person who followed Jesus and his teachings.

Jesus had been traveling all over the place and healing people.  The blind could see, the deaf could hear, demons were cast out of people, crippled were walking, and he even raised Lazurus from the dead!  How could people not be talking about Jesus? I am sure that Jesus was the talk of the town and not just the town of Jerusalem.

John 12: 13-19 ESV  “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.  The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.  The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

On Palm Sunday Jesus was celebrated and loved by many in the streets of Jerusalem. It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that on Thursday (like 4 days later) Jesus was having the last supper with his disciples and by Friday people hated him enough to Crucify him. That is the crazy thing about crowds and flocks, they can love you today and hate you tomorrow.  

Some of you are dealing with some crowds and flocks that are running amuck right now.  They were kind yesterday and are unkind today. They cheered you on last month and are trying to bury you this week.  You may be thinking that no one gets it, no one understands, and no one could possibly relate to what you are going through.  You feel alone, abandoned, ridiculed and judged by others.  I know the judgement you are facing is totally different then the judgement that Jesus faced for all of mankind, but I want you to know that Jesus gets it.  Jesus understands how it feels and knows how much it hurts.

I can't find a word large enough to explain how much Jesus loves you. I also can not even begin to explain how much God loves you. What I can tell you is that God loved you enought that he sent you Jesus.

John 3:16 KJV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

Jesus loved you enough that he completed the task , did not give up, and never walked away. So on this Palm Sunday I wanted to you remind you that Jesus was celebrated and then judged harshly. When you start feeling like no one could possibly understand how you feel, remember that you are not alone. Jesus is right there with you.