“…the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalm. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!”
(John 12:12-13 NIV)
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher,
rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones
will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it…
[after predicting the future destruction of Jerusalem, he
said,]
“They will not leave one stone on another, because you did
not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
(Luke 19:39-41,44b NIV)
It’s Palm Sunday. Believers of Jesus celebrate with Palm
branches and joyful singing, even reenacting Jesus’ Triumphal entry into the
Holy City of Jerusalem. But, I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard people talk
about Jesus weeping as He entered the city. Jesus, as God incarnate, knew the
future of this beloved city of the Jews where the great Temple stood on a hill
that could be seen for miles around. Some years after Jesus’ death,
resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jerusalem would be destroyed, “because
[they] did not recognize the time of God’s coming to [them].”
God called my husband and I to West Africa more than two
decades ago and we have done what we could to proclaim the Truth of salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ. I can’t quote statistics to you, but the vast
majority of those who have heard this Good News message have rejected it. Oh,
they received us well. People are ready to receive us joyfully and what good
things we might have for them. Maybe they’ve heard tell of development projects
we’ve done in other areas or heard people say what good people we are. But,
when it comes down to it, beyond the good things we can do for them, they turn
away from the treasure that is so much greater- an eternal relationship with
Almighty God. This is similar to why many of the people on the road to
Jerusalem were praising Jesus.
People had heard the incredible story of Jesus raising
Lazarus from the dead (John 12:9) and other miracles He had done. As the crowds
shouted triumphantly and waved branches, it drew more crowds who came to see
what was happening and they asked those in the crowd about this man. Testimony
after testimony of the resurrection of Lazarus and healing of blind, deaf,
lame, demon-possessed were told that day and more people joined in the cheering
as hearts were moved by these miracles. However, we know what happened less
than a week later. Back in John 2, we get a glimpse into Jesus’ perspective of
crowds who flocked to him, “Because
of the miracles he did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people
were convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. But Jesus didn’t trust them, for he knew mankind to the core.
No one needed to tell him how changeable human nature is!” (John 2:23-24
TLB)
As I reflect on
what we call “Palm Sunday,” I too, am moved with tears, knowing that many who
hear our message (which God declares through us) of God’s coming to them
through Jesus are not receiving Him with sincere hearts. They want the
temporary things they might be able to get, but don’t recognize the eternal
significance of the Gospel.
What about you,
my brother or sister in Christ? Are you looking to Jesus for the temporary
things He can do for you? As you pray in Jesus’ name, is it for eternal things
or things that bring temporary fixes to satisfy you now? Are you receiving
Jesus with a sincere heart?
If you’re a
follower of Jesus, whom we celebrate today and all week leading up to next
Sunday, Easter, take time to reflect on Jesus’ grief of the many who will
perish because they have not come to recognize who He is and what He has done
for them. Ask that Jesus give you His compassion and His grief for these
who have yet to know Him. Pray about how you, like the disciples who joined in
with the crowd in their joyful cheers, will continue to proclaim this message
to bring more into the Family. Ask God to lead you to those who will receive
Jesus… those who will worship Him, as He said to the Samaritan woman at the
well, “in spirit and in truth.” Because, one day we will enter a Holy City that
will never be destroyed:
“Therefore let us
be grateful for receiving a kingdom
that cannot be shaken, and thus let us
offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…”
Hebrews 12:28 ESV
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