ZPCBlog

About the author: My name is Sean O’Dell. I, along with my family, have been attending ZPC for my entire life of 19 years. I am actively involved in our youth ministries, VBS, the Awakening community, and Mexico Caravan mission trips. Currently, I am a student at Purdue University (Boiler Up!).

About this post: This blog post is part of a series of daily devotionals for Holy Week. To sign up to receive text notification of these posts, text zpc devo to 39970. We welcome your comments and questions each day.

John 12: 12-15

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 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!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.

I can remember vividly celebrating Palm Sunday at ZPC when I was a small child. This was one of my favorite days of the year because we would get actual palm fronds that we could show to our parents and take home. As I grew older, this tradition stopped. As I ceased getting palm fronds, Palm Sunday never really meant that much to me. I think it is easy for this to happen considering it falls in the same week as Good Friday and Easter itself. Palm Sunday, in the grand scheme of Jesus’ life is actually monumental. This is the first time that Jesus accepts the title of King. He is received in Jerusalem by a huge crowd, waving, yelling, pushing trying to see a glimpse of Jesus – waving their palm fronds all the while. The rest of this passage screams Jesus. As he enters Jerusalem, he chooses not a horse or a chariot or anything flashy, but a donkey. Jesus embodied the fact that God is for everyone, the rich and the poor, the horse and the donkey, the happy and the broken. The apostles and crowd alongside him believe Jesus is going to Jerusalem to rebel against Rome but it is not until later that it is realized that a prophecy was being fulfilled and Jesus was beginning his triumphant end that would save everyone from their sins. What a reminder that though we may not understand what God is doing in our lives, he is doing something much greater than we think. It is easy to overlook Palm Sunday, I am guilty of that, but may we all truly grasp what was beginning when Jesus passed through the gates at Jerusalem.

Activity

Take a notecard or a Post-It and write the word “Hosanna” (which translates to save). Take this and attach it to the mirror in your bathroom, or your refrigerator, or anywhere that you will see it everyday to be reminded of the day that Jesus victoriously entered into Jerusalem and the day that marks the beginning of Easter week.

Prayer

Dear God,

Thank you so much for sending your son to die for us. May we appreciate this sacrifice every week, not just this week, and live a generous, giving, loving life like Jesus did. I pray that we may reflect you in all that we do. Lead us down the path you have planned for us; may we trust you are leading us to the right places like Jesus trusted you leading him to Jerusalem. Thank you for your unconditional love and all you do for us.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen  

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