Palm Sunday 2025

   

Hosanna!

Hosanna!

Hosanna in the Highest!

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the Highest!

And then 5 days later...

Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!

There are so many things that went into this dramatic change in the crowd.  But one of them was this:

Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted.

The people wanted a Messiah who would take up a sword and kill the Romans so that he could usher in a new empire with the Jewish people at the top of the dominance hierarchy.  This Messiah would deliver them from their enemies through strength and violence.

But Jesus told them to love their enemies, to do good to those that hurt them.

And because He was not the Messiah they wanted, they rejected Him.

This is still a problem today.  Jesus is the answer to the pain, suffering, hatred, and lonliness of the world.  And yet how many do not come to Him?  How empty are our churches as He offers Himself on the altar.  I would venture to say that for many of us, He is not the Messiah we want.

We want a Messiah who will tell us that we don't have to change, that we are good enough just as we are and that everything we are doing is fine.  Sure we could a little extra, but I'm okay and you're okay.

Jesus is not that Messiah.  Yes, He loves us just as we are.  But He loves us enough not to leave us there.  Jesus challenges us to take care of the poor, to reach out to the lost, to give of our time and our lives.  He calls us to empty ourselves, taking the form a slave, because that is what He did for us.

This Holy Week, you will have a choice: will you accept Jesus and His message or will you make this just like any other week, putting Jesus back into the corners of your consciousness.  

This week you will give one of two responses:

"Hosanna" or "Crucify Him."