#BecauseofHim Palm Sunday
Honestly, I didn't really know that Palm Sunday was a thing until I served my mission in España. Estuve en Algeciras durante la Semana Santa.
Oops, sorry, he estado pensando en español, y a veces lo escribo.
Semana Santa, or Holy Week is a big deal in Spain. Palm Sunday begins that week, leading into the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Christ rides a colt into Jerusalem, to praise and singing, as prophesied. (Zechariah 9:9-11). When Christ entered to this praise, the Pharisees asked him to rebuke his disciples. His response is to be remembered.
"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40
It was a King entering his city, not as a conqueror on a grand stallion, or in a chariot, but in peace, riding a donkey. The multitude was with him, that day. They recognized him as the Son of David. They saw him as the Messiah. That day. Before the end of the week another crowd would call for a murderer to be released in his stead. He would stand before them, bloody, wearing a crown of thorns, having been scourged by the Romans (which was a death sentence for many) A pagan, Pilate, offered to free the Son of David, but the hierarchy of the Jews agitated the crowd, demanding he be crucified.
I have often wondered if it was the same crowd that on Sunday hailed the King of the Jews that on Friday called for his death. I suspect, but do not know, that it was not the same, but a specific crowd, brought in by the members of the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders, to achieve the desired result. But that was on Friday. On the day that the Lord entered Jerusalem, he was given the praise reserved for a King.
I like to think that it was one of the tender mercies of the Father to his Son, to let him know that there were those that recognized him as more than a teacher, a Rabbi, a prophet,. On this day, he was Messiah. As joyous of an occasion this was, Christ did cast a somber note. He prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
What did he do next? He went to claim His House. Three years prior, at the beginning of His ministry, he proclaimed:
"Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." John 2:16
His Father's house, he stated then. Not this time. As the Son of God, Jehovah made flesh, He entered into His temple, and proceeded to cleanse it. Overturning tables, freeing animals, making nearly every group that had power very upset with him. He proclaimed a week before he would complete his earthly mission:
"My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves." Luke 19:46
My house. He said. He didn't pull punches, he didn't try to compromise, or try to get "in" with the Jewish hierarchy. The Lord went to His temple, and proceeded to claim possession. And yet that hierarchy was powerless to act against him, because they feared the people. That day.
As the sun set on that Sunday evening, the shadow of the cross was already being cast.
Happy Palm Sunday. And remember, it is all #BecauseofHim
Oops, sorry, he estado pensando en español, y a veces lo escribo.
Semana Santa, or Holy Week is a big deal in Spain. Palm Sunday begins that week, leading into the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Christ rides a colt into Jerusalem, to praise and singing, as prophesied. (Zechariah 9:9-11). When Christ entered to this praise, the Pharisees asked him to rebuke his disciples. His response is to be remembered.
"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40
It was a King entering his city, not as a conqueror on a grand stallion, or in a chariot, but in peace, riding a donkey. The multitude was with him, that day. They recognized him as the Son of David. They saw him as the Messiah. That day. Before the end of the week another crowd would call for a murderer to be released in his stead. He would stand before them, bloody, wearing a crown of thorns, having been scourged by the Romans (which was a death sentence for many) A pagan, Pilate, offered to free the Son of David, but the hierarchy of the Jews agitated the crowd, demanding he be crucified.
I have often wondered if it was the same crowd that on Sunday hailed the King of the Jews that on Friday called for his death. I suspect, but do not know, that it was not the same, but a specific crowd, brought in by the members of the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders, to achieve the desired result. But that was on Friday. On the day that the Lord entered Jerusalem, he was given the praise reserved for a King.
I like to think that it was one of the tender mercies of the Father to his Son, to let him know that there were those that recognized him as more than a teacher, a Rabbi, a prophet,. On this day, he was Messiah. As joyous of an occasion this was, Christ did cast a somber note. He prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
What did he do next? He went to claim His House. Three years prior, at the beginning of His ministry, he proclaimed:
"Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." John 2:16
His Father's house, he stated then. Not this time. As the Son of God, Jehovah made flesh, He entered into His temple, and proceeded to cleanse it. Overturning tables, freeing animals, making nearly every group that had power very upset with him. He proclaimed a week before he would complete his earthly mission:
"My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves." Luke 19:46
My house. He said. He didn't pull punches, he didn't try to compromise, or try to get "in" with the Jewish hierarchy. The Lord went to His temple, and proceeded to claim possession. And yet that hierarchy was powerless to act against him, because they feared the people. That day.
As the sun set on that Sunday evening, the shadow of the cross was already being cast.
Happy Palm Sunday. And remember, it is all #BecauseofHim
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