This past Sunday was the commemoration of what is traditionally called Palm Sunday. This signifies Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem before Passover. Covering Palm Sunday on Tuesday on this blog might seem a bit late but just hang with me. Sunday's coming....
In the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah prophesied in Zechariah 9:9:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of Jesus instructing his disciples where to find a donkey and instructions to get it and bring to him. If questioned, they were to say, "The Lord hath need of it." It happened exactly that way and the donkey was brought to Jesus. The Scriptures say that the disciples put their cloaks on the donkey and spread them even in the way along with palms as he rode into Jerusalem.
Many ran forward to meet them with branches of palm trees and crying, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." (John 12:13)
So let's think about this. In the Biblical days, there were no conveniences that we have now. There were no cars, no phones, no Facebook--nothing to help "word travel fast". But think about it....it seemed that people had heard about this Jesus and all the good He had done. How in the world could that have happened with no technology? Maybe they saw the blind man in the village with his eyes raised to the sun. Maybe they could see the lame man walking. Shucks maybe the lame man was one of the ones with a palm leaf! Everyday people who experience miraculous things LOVE to share their joy! The sound of the good news of this Jesus had reached thousands and thousands.
By the same token, "bad" news travels pretty fast, too, and the Pharisees were not happy with all this rejoicing and worship of this Jesus. I have to pray daily for myself that I don't cater to my Pharisee side. We all have one, don't we? And if you are not familiar with a Pharisee, google it. We have technology today. :) I loved the other day when The Girl made a statement that she had to pray for her Pharisee self. Got me to thinking about my own Pharisee self.
In my study of this, I found that the spreading of garments was an act of submission paid to royalty. At this Triumphal Entry, Jesus was celebrated as the one who would bring his people out of the captivity of sin. This big celebration did not bless those Pharisees. Sights and sounds of joy certainly do not bless deceivers.
One of The Grandbaby's preschool Easter songs is Ho Ho Hosanna. She has proudly been singing it for the past couple of weeks. So on this day, let's share the good news of Jesus. Ho Ho Hosanna!
Consider....
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