Palm Sunday Reflections

by | Apr 6, 2020 | Faith | 3 comments

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)

3 Comments

  1. Jeff Allinder

    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.

    Reply
    • jarfullofmanna

      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. 🙂

      Reply

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