Thoughts for the Day

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

'Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord -
the King of Israel!'

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

'Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Have you longed for something but when it happens it isn't up to expectations? I remember looking forward to seeing 'The Phantom of the Opera' in London. We had good seats, but those in front of us stood up all the time, and we couldn't see the stage, and the audience were shouting so loud that you couldn't hear the music. It was a big let down!

Now magnify this idea and you might see how the people felt waiting for the Messiah. He was to be the anointed one sent by God to deliver his people from their sin and rule over them as King and Lord. So when Jesus enters Jerusalem at the head of a huge crowd of people, they waited with anticipation to see how he would overthrow the hated Romans.

However, he rides into the city on a donkey, not on a warrior's horse, and he isn't there to raise an army to fight the Romans. By the Friday their disappointment shows in their response to Pilate's question as to whom they want to save, Barabbas or Jesus!

Are we any different? How often do we expect Jesus to do what we want, and how often do we turn on Him, instead of waiting to see what His solution is to our problems?

Lord Jesus,
we welcome You today into our life.
May we always greet You with joy and praise.
May we also see that Your solutions
for our life are always better than ours.
Amen.