Where was I as You entered the city?
Was I walking near You
while the people shouted Your name?
Was I leading the donkey
or walking beside You,
Feeling important
because those who had gathered
finally knew who You really were?
This was what we’d been waiting for!
“Hail King Jesus, Son of David!”
Or was I in the crowd
among those who were cheering,
Swept up in the excitement,
the emotion of the day?
“I think He’s the one…” we whispered,
laying our cloaks down before You,
recalling the rumors, the stories, the hope…
“Hosanna! Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”
We waved our branches and sang Your praise,
and then…
went on our way.
Or perhaps I was standing apart from the crowd,
wearing my robe of importance,
hiding my envy beneath a veil of self righteousness
Unwilling to bow and quick to accuse.
“Teacher, rebuke them!”
I said condescendingly,
threatened by how Your humble sovereignty
revealed my arrogant soul.
You looked at me and laughed,
knowing nothing could silence Creation’s praise
in the Presence of the Creator!
Lord, if I’m honest, I see myself in each of them:
The sincere, yet self-seeking, destined to flee disciple
The self-serving, easily swayed crowd
The self-righteous, “better than thou” Pharisee…
Oh, forgive me, Jesus!
Rid me of all these “selves”
which might hinder me
from recognizing, revering, and remaining with You.
Make me willing to lay down my life
and take up my cross
to follow You.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'” -Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
Amen. I see myself in all three as well. 💜
Cool perspective. I learned more about the symbolism of the donkey colt and palm fronds this weekend. While I feel like I should’ve known more about it, His word is a living thing.
Yes!! I met with my 12th grade small group girls over Zoom on Sunday and we were saying how we always kind of think of Palm Sunday as a preschool story… Jesus rides in on a donkey, everyone waves their palm branches and shouts hosanna, the end. We talked about how he got the donkey, why it was a donkey, why there was a crowd (they had never connected Passover and Easter before), why they put their cloaks and palm branches on the ground for him to walk on, why the disciples were so excited, etc. We also discussed how we would live very differently (and intentionally) if we knew we only had one week to live, which is why we should pay attention to what Jesus thought was important enough to do in His last week. So much good stuff! “His word is a living thing”- that is my favorite thing about the Bible! There are always more layers, always more to be revealed! Thanks for reading. 🙂