palace and sit on his throne Then he would order the Romans out of his newly established kingdom. The crowd was partially right, Jesus was and is the Messiah. But they expected a Messiah who would rule an earthly kingdom.
Jesus did not come to Jerusalem to sit on a throne. Jesus came to Je-
rusalem to hang on the cross. He said so to his disciples several times. He told them plainly, that the son of man must suffer and die. How can we see ourselves shouting with those people? How can we joyfully sing their song, after all, it was Jesus’ suffering that saves us. The Pharisees tried to keep Jesus’ disciples from singing hosannas back then. The Pharisees said, “Jesus, how can you let them do this? They will blaspheme! Stop this crowd, silence them! Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” What did Jesus say? He said, “If these were silent, the stones themselves would shout: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” then God will give the stones voices and they will shout. By the will of Almighty God who made both voices and stones, hosannas will be sung and Christ will be proclaimed as King! Mere hu- man that I am, who am I to stand in the way of the providence of God! How is it possible for us to sing hosannas on Palm Sunday when we know that Christ’s passion is just down the road? Maybe we should cel- ebrate the fact that Jesus came to Jerusalem to die. That is precisely what the Bible tells us to do. Paul wrote, “(Christ) humbled himself and be- came obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and
Cruise to Alaska with Erskine.
MAY 25 - JUNE 1. SCAN TO LEARN MORE! MAY 25 - JUNE 1. SCAN TO LEARN MORE! Florida Sellers of Travel #ST35876 Florida Sellers ofs Travel#ST35876 f March/April 2025 In partnership with Sovereign Cruises In partnershipwithp SovereignCruises 27
on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:8-11) In other words, Jesus is worthy of praise precisely because he went to Jerusalem to die.
This is not just an approach to Palm Sunday, it is an approach to all of life. Jesus’ suffering was nec- essary to win our salvation. Once we open our eyes to the suffering of Christ, we see him as Lord more clearly than before. Every knee shall bow and all shall shout “Ho- sanna!” because he died. In Christ, we can look at suffering and see something beautiful. So look at the suffering around you. Open your eyes to it, as unpleasant as that may be. Then hand it over to God. And God in Christ will turn that sorrow into shouts of joy.
Rev. David Setzer is a retired minister in Catawba Presbytery.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
