Palm Sunday

We had Mr Selvaraj as our guest speaker today who spoke from Luke 19:28-40. He drew our attention to Jesus, the 3 groups of people and the donkey:

1. Jesus, as the epitome of total submission to the Father's will

Philippians 2:1-11
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2. The disciples, a confused lot, each with their own personal agenda

John 13:36
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward."

John 14:5
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

John 14:8
Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

3. The crowd, emotional and euphoric, whose "Hosannas!" soon evolved into "Crucify Him!"

Luke 19:37-38
37 As he was drawing near - already on the way down the Mount of Olives - the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Luke 23:20-21
20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21 but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!"


4. The religious leaders, who were infused with jealousy

Luke 19:39
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."

John 12:19
So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.

5. The donkey, lowly and humble, ready for Jesus to ride on.

Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

We are to look to Jesus to imitate his submission to the Father. We are to be aware that we may at times be confused like the disciples, with own selfish agendas. We need to realign our focus to the cross. We are to be careful not to be carried away by our feelings and emotions like the crowd but to stand firm on His word, whether we feel like it or not. We are to be careful not to be taken away by jealousy when we see others receiving blessings from God. We need to rejoice with them and share in their joy. And like the donkey, be always readily available for God to use.

pearlie