Pastor’s Column 4/2/2023

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“When He came to the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen; “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”  “I tell you,” He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. Luke 19:37-40, NLT

Palm Sunday - Make It Known!”

The wise King Solomon reminds us that there are times speaking.can defer to silence. In the journey of life, we must, as Francis of Assisi says, come to possess “the wisdom to know the difference.”There are some occasions when the environment we’re in – and the world for that matter, need to know the source of our joy and excitement. Such a moment we find in the great entrance of Jesusinto the outskirts of Jerusalem, as He prepared for His week of Passion. The seminal events in the life of Jesus were predicted by the great prophets of old. What we now call Palm Sunday, was spoken from the mouth of the prophet Zechariah; some 500 years before the event! He said, “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem.  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9, NIV). Zechariah’s words reverberatethrough history, and are no accident. The mission of our Lord is intentional; the prophecies were fulfilled. Our Christian lives are not given to chance, but to God’s eternal purposes. This is why the followers of Jesus rejoiced when they saw Jesus entering the villages, as humbled as He had entered the world. Our joys and excitement for our Savior, must be made known. This is why the prophet instructed successive generations to openly shout and offer praises to God, when they witnessed the event. When critical bystanders objected to the joyous praises; Jesus said if His people didn’t praise, stones would!