HOLY WEEK
Palm Sunday, April 9, 2006
Matthew 21:1-17
Ron Musch, Lighthouse Regional Church (Concord)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
            1.  What was the reaction of the crowd to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem (vs. 8-10)?
            2.  In the aftermath, how did the religious officials respond (vs. 14-15)?
            3.  After his spectacular arrival, what did Jesus do (vs. 12-17)?
A quick comparison with the gospels of Luke and John reveal that before coming to Jerusalem, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead! Wow…from the dead! What power to heal and save!
As He enters Jerusalem, the crowds are shouting out their praise of Jesus! Hearing and believing the eyewitness accounts of Lazarus’ resurrection, they cry out in desperation for Jesus to save them as well! This is a tremendous moment in history. The Father had promised to send a Savior, and Jerusalem is about to welcome Him!
In the Greek text, it says the whole city was “shaken.” In fact, our word seismic comes from this word! Jesus shook their world. He did things in ways they did not expect and violated some of their traditions. They were not expecting God to come in the way He did. It offended them, it outraged them, it caused such an uproar that some even said what He did was from Satan. Yikes.
The welcoming of Jesus into our lives and community will always cause a shaking. The purpose of this shaking is not to cause destruction, but it is a shaking to remove those things in our lives that are not of Him, things that are harmful to us, that only hold us back from Him, things that limit our ability to be fully released into our God-created destiny.
But those who had claimed to know God had a different reaction.  They were so agitated with the way Jesus had come that they were indignant. They would rather torture and crucify Jesus than embrace His cleansing and shaking of their system of belief and traditions. Jerusalem missed the day of its visitation. They resisted His shaking, and valued their preconceived ideas over The Word of God himself. No wonder Jesus wept.
I am thankful to pastor with others in this valley who do not respond like the Pharisees or those in the crowds.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, come visit me. Shake from me wrong perceptions, understandings and ways that prevent me from fully embracing You and Your kingdom. In desperation, we cry out, come to our lives, our homes, our schools, our places of business, and our churches, come to our valley. Heal us, save us, deliver us, have mercy on us, as we declare ‘Jesus, You and Your wonderful ways are welcomed here in our city!’ Amen.”