Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord
By Pastor Tim Shaw
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD. Psalm 118:26
I think that the potential for minor injury at church is higher on Palm Sunday than any other Sunday of the year. Growing up at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, I can remember singing in one of their many children’s choirs on Palm Sunday. Usually, I was a pretty well-behaved kid, but there were certain temptations that I found particularly difficult to resist. As a child, I found it virtually impossible to not repeatedly tap friends on the head with the palm branch that had been given to me by an adult who, up to this point, seemed like a wise and trustworthy person. I’m not talking about whacking my friend upside the head— just a friendly tap to say, “Hey! I’m right behind you.” But sometimes that friendly tap is all that it took for things to come a bit unraveled. Have you discovered that? Sometimes, all it takes is one misunderstood or carelessly said word and suddenly you find yourself in a full-blown conflict.
At the beginning of what we now call Holy Week (March 28th to April 4th this year), Jesus entered Jerusalem. As Jesus approached the city, people gathered along the road, waving palm branches in the air. To honor Him, they also laid some of those branches in the road along with their cloaks. Their words of praise and those acts of devotion were incendiary challenges to the ruling authorities, both religious and secular.
The raising of Lazarus from the dead had galvanized the people to act. Jesus and His followers now boldly proclaimed with their words and with palm branches in the air that Jesus was, indeed, the true king of Israel. “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” In fact, Jesus is much more than that. He’s the King of Kings, the ruler of the entire universe. The great liberator of the world was riding into the city of Jerusalem, humbly on a donkey.
What His first disciples did not fully understand at this point is that Jesus was going to claim His kingly throne and set His people free by giving His life as a ransom for many. He rode into the city of Jerusalem to die. In the days following the joyous welcome of Palm Sunday, opposition to Jesus would grow and begin to silence the praises that had greeted Jesus on His arrival in the city. Words of praise would be drowned out by false accusations, lies, and words of contempt. Disappointed that Jesus would not be the political liberator they wanted Him to be, some who had praised Him with palm branches in the air, turned against Him. How quickly we can sometimes go from singing the praises of Jesus to turning our backs on Him.
It seems right that the source of the ashes that are placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, acknowledging our sins, is often from the burnt palm leaves from the previous year’s celebration of Palm Sunday. Even though our Ash Wednesday service this year had to be virtual, it is good for us to remember the ashes that have been placed on our foreheads in the past. Our sins are the reason God sent His one and only Son into our world. Jesus came to die so that we might be forgiven.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)
That little boy who could not resist tapping his friends on the head with a palm branch when he should have been waving his palm branch in praise is still in need of what Jesus came to do for him and for the world.
The cross of Christ is at the heart of the Christian faith. John Calvin, the Protestant Reformer, once said that the cross of Jesus is the theater of God’s glory. He said that because it is on that cross that we see God’s glory, His heart, and character most clearly. Please don’t miss the cross of Christ this coming Holy Week. It is easy for us to go from the joyous celebration of Palm Sunday (March 28th this year) directly to the joy of Christ's resurrection on Easter morning. But between those two events, there is an event that changed the world and made real hope possible. Between Palm Sunday and Easter there is a cross and a tomb. May we see Jesus on that cross and know the incredible, immeasurable love that God has for you and me.
Prayer: Dear Lord, All glory and honor be to You our Redeemer and King! Accept our praises. Accept the love we bring. In humble gratitude we remember and give thanks for all that You have done and are doing for us. Thank You for forgiving us, for setting us free, and for making a way for us to live with You forever. May the Name of Jesus be lifted high. In Your Name we pray. Amen!
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