Devotion for Palm Sunday

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold your King is coming to you,
Gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David;
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!”
When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” ~ Matthew 21:1-11

Jesus was welcomed as a prophet coming in the name of the Lord when He entered Jerusalem for Passover. Yet He was riding on a lowly donkey—the donkey and colt that were waiting for His disciples just when Jesus was ready for them. God had worked out every detail long before this day. He knew the crowd would turn on Him. He knew He would be tortured mercilessly and would die a violent and vicious death. That excruciating pain was nothing compared to the pain of the moment the Father turned His face from Him. Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world—sins so vile the Father couldn’t look at Him. Yet He chose to do this for us!

Thank You for Your perfect plan of redemption. Thank You that You loved me so much that Jesus went through the horrific, incomprehensible experience of the Crucifixion to pay the price for my sins. That love is so far from the way I act that I can’t comprehend it. All I can do is love You and trust You and thank You. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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