Crowds have begun to line the streets. People have started the countdown. There’s a buzz flowing through the souls of every individual as an unrivaled anticipation begins to build.
And then it’s over. The same man who caused so much excitement is now dead – hanging on a tree among criminals and mockers. What happened? How could this be? Is he not the Messiah? He rode in, triumphant through the streets as we cried ‘Hosanna, save us now.’ Did he not hear us? Does he not care. We are still being held captive by the government of Rome. I guess he wasn’t the king that we’ve been waiting for.
This must have been the quiet thoughts of so many. How could things change so dramatically in only a few days? Maybe He wasn’t the kind of king that they wanted Him to be.
So what’s the deal with Palm Sunday? A day that we celebrate every year, one week before Easter – waving palm branches and singing songs of hosanna. What are the quiet thoughts that run through our head on this day? Joy that the King has arrived? Sorrow for what the end of the week brings? Excitement for Easter? Is He the kind of king that we want Him to be?
When Jesus rode through the streets of Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday, He did so in the common way that royalty and armies would ride, except that He rode in on a donkey. In these days people would gather in the streets and cheer on the kings and rulers of the day as they rode off for battle. Picture the scene in the third Lord of the Rings movie when all the men rode on horseback out of Rohan to fight. So when Jesus begins to acsend into the streets that day, the Jewish people got really excited. Thinking that Jesus was coming, ready for battle, to strike down their oppresive enemies and become their literal king on the earth, they shout cries of ‘save us’ and wave their palm branches of resistance to the Roman Empire.
But Jesus had His eyes set on being a different kind of king – a king that ruled the world from a cross rather than a throne. A king who came to save all people from their sin rather than to save them from the Romans.
So what do our cries of ‘Hosanna, save us now’ mean for us in the year 2013? A cry to save us from our opression here on earth? Yes, but it’s the opression that we’ve created through our sin.
Below is our set-list from yesterday’s services:
- O Worship the King – Public Domain
- Hosanna – Paul Baloche
- Opening Sentences
- Confession/Assurance
- God Be Praised – New Life Worship
- Apostles’ Creed
- Kids’ Konnect (in 2nd service only)
- Crown Him With Many Crowns – Public Domain
- Prayers for the Church
- Lords’ Prayer
- Preface/Proper Preface
- Words of Institution
- Communion (Without You - Brian Ortize)
- Dismissal
- Video
- Sermon (Jesus is the King of Kings – John 14)
- Messiah – Larry Olson
- Benediction
Soli Deo Gloria!
To see what other churches are going check out the blog carnival athttp://www.theworshipcommunity.com
