Yesterday, many churches celebrated Palm Sunday. We recalled Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the hope-filled cries of the crowd…and the cleansing of the Temple. It provides an important back-drop to Holy Week; this week that leads to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Too many of us want triumph and salvation—without cleansing or death.
We like the idea of a King, but not one who threatens the status quo. We welcome a meek Christ, but resist One who overturns our tables and upsets our finances. We warm to the Great Teacher and the miracle-worker of Nazareth, provided He serves our best interests.
Palm Sunday exposes the fundamental corruption of the human heart. It highlights our fickle nature.
In the context of next weekend (Good Friday and Easter), Palm Sunday reveals the depth of our fallenness. We want a Savior—Hosanna (“Save us!”)—but a Savior who conforms to our expectations; a Savior who fits our plans; a Savior who will comfort us but not confront us. And if he falls short in any way—“Crucify him! Crucify him!”
On Palm Sunday we usually affirm that the first-century crowd had it right for a moment when they welcomed Jesus with palm branches and cloaks. But in light of the looming Easter, it’s a painful expression of our selfishness and short-sightedness.
This week, do we have the faith and courage to welcome the Savior who will do nothing less than overturn the tables of our lives?
Lord Jesus, I invite You to cleanse me afresh and to overturn my life as You choose. I trust You, that even in the chaos and the pain You will turn my life into a vessel of honor and glory for the Father. Amen.
Because of Grace 
At the risk of sounding like just another pastor with a messiah complex, your post feels eerily similar to what happens between elder boards and would be turn around pastors. “We want you to come in and save this church but do it the way we’ve always done ministry. Don’t upset our tables and finances otherwise we will crucify you!”
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Scott, I suspect this “Palm Sunday Syndrome” is potentially true in many areas of our lives, including marriage. We don’t suffer personal change well — most particularly the change that Christ proposes.
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It will take a transformation such as you describe to purify a Bride who will be fit for her Bridegroom. It’s easy to see it, even pray for it, but it’s a different matter when it’s our own lives that are overturned – how quickly our pride and self-protection raises up to take control. By God’s grace may we be willing to trust that He has all things under His loving control even as we battle the necessary pain of heart surgery.
Keep obeying His call on your life David, we need watchmen to speak God’s truths to us.
Blessings, Janet.
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What a beautiful portrayal of Palm Sunday & the fallen, fickle nature of man. We need the risen Savior!
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Millie, you are absolutely right. The more we see ourselves accurately, the more we need Him! Blessings this Easter.
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