Sixth Sabbath

“Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory
Forever and ever. Amen”

“They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!’  When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?'” (Matthew 21:7-10)

Happy Palm Sunday as we celebrate the sixth Sabbath of our Lenten journey.  It is a Sunday that commemorates the arrival of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem on the final week before His crucifixion and resurrection.  The Gospels record this grand entrance as one marked with a “red carpet” treatment.  Crowds are cheering and singing.  Some wave palms and others lay their cloaks in the road in honor of the coming of Jesus the Christ.  It is a fulfillment of thousands of years of prophesy.  Even the donkey that He was riding and the songs they were singing were foretold long before.  It was the plan all along.  God had ordained it.  It was why He had come.  Jesus had told His disciples over and over that this was what He must do.

Jerusalem was the last place that Satan wanted Jesus to be.  He had tried many times in the days prior to distract Jesus from this place.  He had even used Peter to try to talk Jesus out of it but Jesus would not be moved from His purpose.  The entry of Jesus into the city was the beginning of the victory.  He was now in the right place at the right time to accomplish the mission of redeeming a lost world to Himself.

Don’t miss this.  The Devil was not happy that Jesus was in Jerusalem.  It was not his plan that Jesus would die for the sins of the world.  It was God’s plan.  Palm Sunday was just another example that nothing and nobody can keep the love of God from us.

Today, let us sing with the children and lift up our hands in praise that Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem and ignored all the distractions in order to show His love for us and provide the forgiveness of our sins.