Article by Dr. Les Hollon, Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church

 

Holy week is the Hall of Fame week in world history. Why? Because Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and  Easter Sunday reveal God’s power to give meaning to Every Day of our lives.

 

Because of what Christ did those days we can know these days how to live daily with salvation’s joy.  Is your daily life filled with this joy?

 

As Jesus entered Jerusalem that Sunday, everyone in the region realized from that moment on there was no turning back.  Either His perfect love would win or the sinful nature of people & power would prevail.  Salvation’s freedom was at stake!

 

Would people’s shriveled hearts betray Jesus to the worldly authorities for crucifixion or would Jesus’ tender heart be tough enough to transform them?  The week unfolded in a way that both would happen.  By Jesus’ saving response to the dramatic tension during those days, we can know today the unending power of Jesus.

 

Two historical messages were given when Jesus prophetically rode a colt into Jerusalem and the crowd laid palm branches before him on what we call Palm Sunday.  The palm branches signified an act of revolution that marked their shekels in remembrance of the successful Macabean revolt of a 100 plus years earlier.  The colt signified that the Messiah had arrived to claim His throne.

 

The crowd thought Jesus, as the new King, would usher in His Kingdom with militaristic might and reign with political clout.  Instead, Jesus was ushering in His Kingdom in such a way that He would reign with heavenly power for earthly application. People were being called out by Jesus to claim their heavenly birthright of living godly lives on earth.

 

Instead, the world was trying to get Jesus to become worldly so that their earthly ways would be justified in heaven.

 

Jesus would have none of it.  Because it would have forfeited His capacity to save us.  And Christ loves us too much to not be whom we really need for Him to be, “Savior and Lord of our lives.”

 

As the crowd of thousands shouted “hosanna”, they were offering a cherished prayer, “God, save us.” Jesus received and answered their prayer in such a way that they would not immediately understand.

 

Maybe God is responding to your prayers with such uniqueness that it is taking you awhile to figure out what He is up to…

 

As Jesus had told Zacchaeus a few days earlier, “the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” And the day before Palm Sunday, Jesus had tried to prepare them with His words, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

 

The crowd also praised Jesus by reciting the Psalms, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Connected to “blessing” is God’s power for us to receive His blessings so that we ourselves can become His blessing for others.

 

The crowd would have remembered that Jesus began each Beatitude with “blessed.”  Like “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”  Connected to the meaning of “name” is our God given privilege to live under the authority of Christ’s name.  For instance, Christ commissioned us to pray in His name but by doing so we are committed to only pray for that which further fulfills the mission of Jesus in our lives.  When Pontius Pilate ordered Jesus’ crucifixion, he also ordered for Jesus’ name to be placed above the cross on which He would die.  And so today, we remember Paul’s prayer “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”  And Jesus also told us to baptize in the unified fullness of God’s presence, “in name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

 

This holy week, which began with Palm Sunday, we celebrate the living mission & presence of Jesus …

 

The celebration begins by our genuinely praying hosanna, knowing that God alone can save us.  The celebration progresses by allowing ourselves to become a blessing for others.  And the celebration crescendos by our living in the name of Jesus. 

 

Pastor Les Hollon

 

The Triumphal Entry

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
   ”Hosanna!”
   ”Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
   “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
   ”Hosanna in the highest!”

            Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

-Mark 11:1-11 (NIV)

 

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw - that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

-Revelation 1:1-3 (NIV)

 

This article was written by Les Hollon, Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church.  For more information about God and your place in His world, contact Dr. Hollon, click over to Trinity Baptist Church.

 

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