We know every week is a holy week for those who daily walk with the Living Christ. However for the church around the world, this week is special. Today is Palm Sunday. Today at our Worship Service we sang several songs in which we repeated the transliterated word "Hosanna".
On this day, 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" The crowd was recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the long promised Sent One from God. The crowd was rejoicing that the Messiah had come!
And five days later, this Messiah was executed on what we call "Good Friday".
I have been keeping a mild daily fast this Lent Season, as I have usually done over the past decade. It is enough of a fast to act as a regular reminder that Jesus, in this season, was moving steadily closer to the Cross. This morning, before going to our morning church service, I could not help but wonder: what was it like for Jesus to see and hear this "Hosanna" adoration, this Messiah recognition; knowing that soon - in less than a week - in this same city, the sentence of death would be pronounced to the cheers of a crowd and the pleasure of religious leaders.
How steadily during his three years of ministry our Lord moved toward the Cross. On several occasions He told his disciples He would "lay down his life for the sheep." Yet entering this awesome week, this last week of His Incarnate life, the time was so very short. And surely the emotional pressure, the mental tension must have been building.
Would Jesus have liked to walk away and avoid the cross? Of course. His prayer in Gethsemane makes that clear. Yet He did not flinch. He had come to do the Father's will and He would do it. He would die for you, for me, for a lost and wounded world.
This week, as we move toward Good Friday, I hope you will pause more than once to reflect on our Saviour's experience. This was not, nor should it ever be, a normal week! This is the Holy Week.
On this day, 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" The crowd was recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the long promised Sent One from God. The crowd was rejoicing that the Messiah had come!
And five days later, this Messiah was executed on what we call "Good Friday".
I have been keeping a mild daily fast this Lent Season, as I have usually done over the past decade. It is enough of a fast to act as a regular reminder that Jesus, in this season, was moving steadily closer to the Cross. This morning, before going to our morning church service, I could not help but wonder: what was it like for Jesus to see and hear this "Hosanna" adoration, this Messiah recognition; knowing that soon - in less than a week - in this same city, the sentence of death would be pronounced to the cheers of a crowd and the pleasure of religious leaders.
How steadily during his three years of ministry our Lord moved toward the Cross. On several occasions He told his disciples He would "lay down his life for the sheep." Yet entering this awesome week, this last week of His Incarnate life, the time was so very short. And surely the emotional pressure, the mental tension must have been building.
Would Jesus have liked to walk away and avoid the cross? Of course. His prayer in Gethsemane makes that clear. Yet He did not flinch. He had come to do the Father's will and He would do it. He would die for you, for me, for a lost and wounded world.
This week, as we move toward Good Friday, I hope you will pause more than once to reflect on our Saviour's experience. This was not, nor should it ever be, a normal week! This is the Holy Week.
No comments:
Post a Comment