Matthew 21.8-9 NLT
Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the centre of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!”
At the beginning of Matthew’s gospel we read about the Magi, important people from the east who came to visit Jesus. They came because they had seen a star which made it clear to them that a king had been born. At the time, their belief couldn’t have seemed further from the truth. Born to poor parents in a cattle shed, nothing gave the appearance of Jesus belonging to royalty. And now, towards the end of Jesus’ life, we see him being greeted as royalty. Spreading garments on the road and cutting down tree branches was the way in which you would welcome a king and the crowd acknowledged that here was the one who stood in the line of King David. But here was no ordinary king. Jesus surprised people throughout his ministry, and on this supremely important day he shocked them even more by riding on the least appropriate animal that could be imagined – a donkey! No king in the history of the world has ever chosen to ride on a donkey, but Jesus did!
Palm Sunday is entirely consistent with the whole of Jesus’ ministry. He never chose to associate with powerful or important people. He was content to spend his time with the dregs of society, the people who others overlooked. He welcomed children, went to parties with tax collectors and prostitutes, touched people who had leprosy, spotted deep faith in non-Jewish people and welcomed women in a society where they were very definitely second-class citizens. Everything about Jesus’ ministry was a shock to respectable and religious people. And so nobody should have been surprised on Palm Sunday. This was Jesus staying true to his ministry of surprises. He came to Jerusalem not to fit in with the expectations of the religious establishment, but to show that the doors of the Kingdom were thrown open to all those who would come to him in faith, however broken and despised they might be.
Palm Sunday sets the tone for a remarkable week and one which continues to challenge us as we live for God today.
Question: How do you think you would have reacted if you had been on the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday?
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I invite you to be the king of my life today. Thank you that you have welcomed me into your Kingdom. Amen

Released on 10 Apr 2022