Dear Redeeming Grace,

In our newsletter this week and next, we want to reflect on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Between these two dates, the gospels tell of Jesus's last week on earth. The days that see shouts of hosanna, lessons at a final meal, anguish and betrayal in a garden, cries of crucify, and a silent tomb. But it all begins with the royal, exuberant and humble procession into Jerusalem.

Much like the game of charades, where actions point to words, Jesus's actions as he enters Jerusalem are meant to reveal truths about him. It’s no accident or random choice that He made his way into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, surrounded by a crowd treating him like a victorious king and shouting his praises. These actions are meant to show us that Jesus is the savior who brings peace and is worthy of praise.

At a time of year when Jerusalem would have swelled from it's typical 30,000 inhabitants to potentially 180,000, it would have been easy to slip in unnoticed. But Jesus deliberately makes a scene, planning out his borrowed donkey to show his fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus, the king, righteous and having salvation, is coming into Jerusalem. A king coming back from military victory would ride a horse, but kings in times of peace, would ride a donkey. Knowing the peace with God that the victory of the cross would bring, Jesus comes in a way that foreshadows "it is finished".

Because Jesus is the savior who brings us peace, he is worthy of our rejoicing. Let's consider the shout of acclamation rising from the crowds in Jerusalem that day. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Imagine it ringing out over and over as Jesus, elevated above the crowds, receives their hope-filled cries of praise. This week, let's allow this beginning to Jesus's final earthly days to stir our own affections and praise, to the only one who is worthy of them.