Wave Those Palms, People!

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. Do you know what Palm Sunday is? No, it's not a holiday in Florida where people celebrate the palm tree. And nope, it's not a holiday where people decorate the palms of their hands and show them off at church on Sunday. It's actually a holiday celebrating Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem, where people fanned Him with palm leaves. Wait a minute! I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a little ...

"The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he {Jesus} sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." "~ Matthew 21:6-11

So, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, people in the streets waved palm branches and laid down there cloaks in reverence. They shouted, "Hosanna!" 'Hosanna' is defined by Dictionary.com as "a shout of praise or adoration; an acclamation." The people of Jerusalem were praising Jesus. Jesus was in Jerusalem to die. His entry into Jerusalem with people praising Him would soon turn into an angry mob, with the same people who shouted "Hosanna" now yelling "Crucify Him!" Jesus knew that these people would turn on Him. Yet, He still loved them (John 3:16). Did you know that the people who praised Jesus and killed Him are like us?

What?! Yup. Sometimes we praise Jesus with one breath and curse Him in another. One day, when things are going great, we're waving those palm branches like crazy. Then things start getting tough and the angry mobber in us comes out. Maybe we start having a embittered resentment towards Jesus. Maybe we feel like driving a few nails onto the cross. And that is exactly what we did. Every time we sin, we are crucifying Jesus on the cross again. We are letting our sinful nature lead us. That's wrong! We need to let Jesus lead us. If we are angry with Him, we need to tell Him. He already knows anyways.