Today is Palm Sunday.
I grew up in the church, and have known the story with the palm branches and the donkey for as long as I can remember. But I never really spent time thinking about it or celebrating it until this year. And guys, it's important!
On this day we celebrate the beginning of the culmination of the most intense love story in the history of the planet.
It's like that part in the movie where the music starts to get more and more dramatic as the main character prepares for the battle that's ahead.
The ruler of the world is coming, Jesus said, and he will soon be cast out (John 12:31).
The Creator God of the universe, the merciful, compassionate, gracious, all-powerful God, could not lose. But it was an arduous battle nevertheless. Jesus was preparing to defeat disgusting things: things like racism, rape, pride, hate, lust, murder, disease, depression, and death itself.
Jesus knew what kind of battle was ahead, and it troubled his soul (John 12:27). He knew the ending; He knew He would win. And He still felt uneasy.
It was more than suffering for a second and then sauntering out of the grave after sleeping in all weekend. It was even more than what you saw in that movie The Passion. This was a fierce battle of cosmic proportions. A battle which is the climax of the history of the universe that we call home.
But despite understanding the depth of the situation, Jesus knew that this was the reason for which He came (John 12:27).
We celebrate because our knight in shining armor just rode out to fight the battle that we started but have no chance of winning on our own.
The God that created the world was gracious enough to give us choices in life. We're not robots. And of course, we choose incorrectly. A lot. But we can celebrate today because He loves us too much to let our poor choices steal us away from Him.
We celebrate today because He loves us – and demonstrated that to us by fighting for us.
Happy Palm Sunday. Hosanna, and blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11:9-10, Matt. 21:9, John 12:13, Luke 19:38)
