Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
On this day, the Lord Jesus entered the temple as a King, for His kingdom was near.
The day was approaching when He would trample down death by His death, destroy the kingdom of Satan, and purchase the whole world with His precious blood…
He entered the temple to establish a kingdom not of this world—a spiritual kingdom in the heart, built on love, not on power.
He entered Jerusalem, the city of the great King, and the city was stirred at His coming…
They cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:9). Hosanna or Hoshanna means “save us”—save us now, for the time of salvation has come.
Did they ask Him for salvation as the Son of David, or as the Son of Man, or as the Son of God—or as all of these together?
He came to save the world from the bondage of Satan, sin, and the world itself—a bondage far worse than that of the Romans.
The slavery to Caesar was limited to the exile of this world, but the slavery to Satan destroys man’s entire eternity.
When Christ entered Jerusalem as King, the simple people rejoiced, while the elders and rulers were disturbed.
The simple looked at His kingship objectively, and their hearts were filled with joy. But the chief priests, elders, and teachers of the people could not free their vision from self-interest… This self-centeredness burdened their hearts, directed all their actions, and led them to hatred, conspiracy, and crime—things unworthy of their priesthood, their teaching, or their ideals!
These leaders and teachers were troubled and said, “Behold, the world has gone after Him.” How strange! What harm was there if all followed Him? Was this not what John the Baptist desired—that the bride belong to the Bridegroom?
But these rulers and teachers were not like John the Baptist. They could not even declare that John’s baptism was from heaven; when Christ asked them, they said, “We do not know,” though they knew well!
Self-interest led them to falsehood… The love of fame, the desire to control the crowds—these enslaved their minds to a corrupt way of thinking, and they saw Christ as a rival, and so they hated Him!
Christ entered Jerusalem as King—but they rejected Him. They refused His reign and said, “We have no king but Caesar!” Yet they had been waiting for the Messiah to deliver them from Caesar! Truly, how easily self-love leads to flattery and hypocrisy when it seems to serve one’s own ego through a misguided understanding!
Their rejection of Christ did not harm Him—but it harmed themselves…
Christ was establishing His Kingdom, building His Church, and arranging the work of salvation. But those rulers and teachers were absorbed in their negativities—plotting conspiracies, encouraging traitors, thinking of killing Him, and feeling joy whenever Satan helped them fulfill their wicked desires…
Yet the opposition and conspiracies of those priests did not hinder the Kingdom of Christ.
This gentle King who entered Jerusalem riding on a colt—this King who “reigned upon the wood,” who established His Kingdom with nails in His hands—His rule spread to the ends of the earth, despite all conspiracies…
And you, blessed one—what are your meditations on Palm Sunday, the commemoration of proclaiming Christ as King in Jerusalem?
Say to Him: Come, Lord, and reign. Let Your kingdom come in my heart and in the hearts of all people. Let Your kingdom come upon all nations and in all lands…
Reign, O Lord, over my thoughts, my feelings, my senses, my desires, my money, and my time—that I may become wholly Yours…
Remove from me, O Lord, all that hinders Your Kingdom within me…
Take away from me the self-centeredness that prevented Your kingdom from entering the hearts of the Jewish high priests; take away the literalism that kept the Pharisees from Your kingdom; take away the envy and jealousy that drove the elders and rulers away from You.
Let there be nothing within my heart that competes with You…
Come, O Lord, and cleanse Your temple—which is my heart… I have brought into it the tables of the money changers through my love of money and my attachment to material things… My heart is no longer a house of prayer, as You desire. Grant me, O Lord, the love that will make this heart a house of prayer.
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