Dave spoke this morning about Palm Sunday, speaking from Matthew 21:1-11. The journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival was always a time of excitement and anticipation, with Jews coming from far and wide (Josephus says 250,000 lambs would be sacrificed at this time of year, so clearly the place was more than busy!) Up until this point in His ministry, Jesus had avoided publicity, but now He presents HImself plainly as the Messiah in his choice of entering Jerusalem on a donkey, thus fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy. The donkey gave himself to the task of carrying Jesus; we too can give ourselves to the Lord’s service and He can use us in ways we could not imagine.
Crowds welcomed Him and hailed him as the ‘son of David’. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, showing His longing for the place. We too are called to weep over our cities and to be moved by all we see as He was. We have to learn the way of God is the way of the cross.
Jesus was born to die (as are we all because of sin), but His death was like no other. He came to die so that others would live. His selfless and sacrificial love is the means by which we are saved.