A Holy Week Reflection: Palm Sunday
On the Hilltop, what did He see?
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday- the day when Christians celebrate Christ's entry into Jerusalem. He rode in upon a young donkey (which fulfilled prophecy) and the people waved palm leaves, and laid palm leaves upon the road, and shouted "Hosanna." A triumphant entry.....and yet, within a few days, He would be betrayed by a chosen apostle, tried in a secret court, and a few Jewish leaders and Roman officials would engineer His death. We know now that it was all part of an ordained plan- for while He would be crucified on Friday, He would rise Sunday- have been made propitiation for our sins; the sinless Son of God- very God of very God- part of the Triune Godhead- who would make atonement for the sins of all those who would call upon His name- and give all who believe gift of salvation.
But today, on the eve of Palm Sunday...I stop and ponder. 2000 plus years ago did Christ pause on a hill over looking Jerusalem (where He was traveling to with His apostles to celebrate Passover- and to then become the Passover Lamb)...did He stop on a dusty hill and see the city in the distance? He knew what was coming (hence His asking God later that week in the Garden of Gethsemane if "the cup could be removed" from Him. Yet He followed the Father's plan- "Not My will but Yours.") and so...was His heart heavy as He saw Jerusalem sitting on her hill? Was every step hard for Him? I think He walked each step resting in His Father's Will, but with an edge of sorrow. He knew Judas would turn on Him, that Peter would fail Him, that worldly Jewish religious leaders would work with Roman government officials to sentence Him to the most painful death of that region.
Something was pointed out to me sometime ago...that the word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion. So when we say something is excruciating, we're saying it is as bad as being crucified. I have since stopped using the word in any fashion relating to my life. My day was not "excruciatingly boring," my headache, migraine though it might be, is not "excruciating"....nothing I have ever gone through in this life compares to what my Lord went through on that Cross.
I cannot fathom what it would have been like to get that first glimpse of the holy city of Jerusalem, knowing the adulation, teaching, betrayal, torture and death awaiting there, and to take another step towards it. But I am not my Lord; I have not His love, His compassion, His understanding, His forgiveness, His heart. I think as He saw the city, knowing what was coming, He also thought of me, drowning in my sins, and thus took another step. He thought of you, knowing you cannot save yourself, and took another step. What compelled Him towards Jerusalem? Love. Love for all those who are needy, broken, desperate, heart sick, fallen- for all of us. Love for the world, and especially love for those who would trust in Him and call upon His name for salvation.
On that hilltop, He saw more than the city, the betrayal and death to come. He saw us.
May your Holy Week be spent in time gathering close to the heart of Him who died and rose so that you might be saved.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Butler
On the Hilltop, what did He see?
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday- the day when Christians celebrate Christ's entry into Jerusalem. He rode in upon a young donkey (which fulfilled prophecy) and the people waved palm leaves, and laid palm leaves upon the road, and shouted "Hosanna." A triumphant entry.....and yet, within a few days, He would be betrayed by a chosen apostle, tried in a secret court, and a few Jewish leaders and Roman officials would engineer His death. We know now that it was all part of an ordained plan- for while He would be crucified on Friday, He would rise Sunday- have been made propitiation for our sins; the sinless Son of God- very God of very God- part of the Triune Godhead- who would make atonement for the sins of all those who would call upon His name- and give all who believe gift of salvation.
But today, on the eve of Palm Sunday...I stop and ponder. 2000 plus years ago did Christ pause on a hill over looking Jerusalem (where He was traveling to with His apostles to celebrate Passover- and to then become the Passover Lamb)...did He stop on a dusty hill and see the city in the distance? He knew what was coming (hence His asking God later that week in the Garden of Gethsemane if "the cup could be removed" from Him. Yet He followed the Father's plan- "Not My will but Yours.") and so...was His heart heavy as He saw Jerusalem sitting on her hill? Was every step hard for Him? I think He walked each step resting in His Father's Will, but with an edge of sorrow. He knew Judas would turn on Him, that Peter would fail Him, that worldly Jewish religious leaders would work with Roman government officials to sentence Him to the most painful death of that region.
Something was pointed out to me sometime ago...that the word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion. So when we say something is excruciating, we're saying it is as bad as being crucified. I have since stopped using the word in any fashion relating to my life. My day was not "excruciatingly boring," my headache, migraine though it might be, is not "excruciating"....nothing I have ever gone through in this life compares to what my Lord went through on that Cross.
I cannot fathom what it would have been like to get that first glimpse of the holy city of Jerusalem, knowing the adulation, teaching, betrayal, torture and death awaiting there, and to take another step towards it. But I am not my Lord; I have not His love, His compassion, His understanding, His forgiveness, His heart. I think as He saw the city, knowing what was coming, He also thought of me, drowning in my sins, and thus took another step. He thought of you, knowing you cannot save yourself, and took another step. What compelled Him towards Jerusalem? Love. Love for all those who are needy, broken, desperate, heart sick, fallen- for all of us. Love for the world, and especially love for those who would trust in Him and call upon His name for salvation.
On that hilltop, He saw more than the city, the betrayal and death to come. He saw us.
May your Holy Week be spent in time gathering close to the heart of Him who died and rose so that you might be saved.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Butler
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