Devotion for Palm Sunday, April 5
Matthew 21:1–11 | Behold your king is coming to you.
Jesus followed the prophecy of Zechariah (9:9) by riding into the city on an ass. He came down from the Mount of Olives in the direction by which Messiah would come. Like Diogenes at Thebes, Christ was “making a statement.” Unlike Diogenes, it was not a cynical statement.
What was he saying? He was saying that he was the Messiah. This is the day of your visitation. Although he had been offered a crown of kingship earlier in his ministry and turned down the “honor,” he was to receive the honor now. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (21:9)
Palm Sunday has pathos. It is full of joy and yet shot through with images of what will happen.
When I was four I was hospitalized for a few days. In those days they wouldn’t let mothers stay with their children very long. I remember crying when my mother came to see me, when she first walked in the room. The nurses were concerned—why did I cry when she came? Why wasn’t I happy like the other children? Because, even at four, I was no fool. I knew when I saw her, the time would come when she would leave.
The intensity of our grief in this Holy Week is a reflection of our love of Jesus. Bring it on I say!
Hosanna in the highest!
PRAYER
Help us, Lord, to kindle a true joy in your Passion.
“Ride on, ride on in majesty” and yet “in lowly pomp ride on to die.”