Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday, I looked around my church and everyone seemed so happy. It is always a day of reflection for me.

saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ~Mathew 21:2

This had to be the hardest command that Jesus had ever given His disciples.

He rides into Jerusalem for the last time. People are waiting and shouting to Him. "Hosanna!" They love Him! They welcome Him with open arms. These people have projected onto Him a person He had never claimed to be, and never would be.

All of the movies I see depicting this scene have Jesus smiling and waving at the crowd.

I don't think that happened.

Jesus knows this is His last entrance into Jerusalem. This is His last week with His friends and family. He knows that these people who love and adore Him now will, in one short week, be calling for his death.

The heartbreak He must have felt. The utter sense of betrayal. The crushing weight of His plight must have been bearing down.

No, I can't believe that He was smiling and waving.

He sent His friends, friends who would flea from Him the moment He needed them most, to get the donkey God had prepared for Him. His final luxury, no opportunity to shake the dust off His feet. The march to His last meal before His execution. Next to the cross, this had to be the hardest thing He ever had to do. Knowing that God is honoring Him for the last time. I may have gone insane.

No. He was not smiling. Sadness filled His heart.

Yet, He still went, willingly.

Why?

So we may have hope and live.