As He was drawing near - already on the way down the Mount of Olives - the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Luke 19:37-38
Jesus rode into Jerusalem being worshiped as the King. What an amazing experience that would have been to see Him being exalted. His disciples and followers were praising Him loudly and excitedly. They were rightly honoring Him as King even though they did not yet fully comprehend His mission. They were ready for Jesus to establish His kingdom on earth. They were right to recognize His worthiness; they just did not know the timing. As we look forward to celebrating the resurrection of our Savior this Sunday, what more can we learn from the worship He received on His way into Jerusalem?
It is good to be excited about Jesus. We should worship Him with excitement and joy as these people did when they honored Jesus. We should worship together with other believers and rejoice with them. However, our worship should not be built on excitement and emotion. Our excitement and emotion is built on truth. The people here praised Jesus and rejoiced in God because of all that Jesus had done. They saw Jesus accomplish amazing things, things beyond our comprehension. He healed the incurable; He fed multitudes; He rescued those oppressed by demons; He taught with authority and power, and He raised the dead! And that list barely scratches the surface. John tells that the world would not be able to contain all the books that would be written if all of Jesus’ works were recorded (John 21:25).
While they were worshipping Him for all He had done, they were unaware that He was about to accomplish His greatest work on the cross. Jesus’ work on the cross did more than heal sickness or provide food; He paid for all of our sin on the cross. All of it! He did not take just a part; He paid the price for all the sin from Adam until the end of time. When I think of all the sin in my life that He paid for, it is staggering to think that He did this for the whole world, for all of human history. Even as I write this, I cannot fully wrap my head around it.
This fact alone is enough to praise Jesus loudly and excitedly as these people did on Palm Sunday. However, Jesus has done far more than this. Not only did Jesus provide salvation, He has worked in extraordinary ways in the life of every believer. Listening to the 3 baptism testimonies this past week reminded me of how He works in amazing ways.
As we prepare to gather together this Easter Sunday, take time to think of the many ways in which Jesus has worked in your life and the lives of those around you. Talk about the things that He has done with your family and friends. May we joyfully celebrate our Savior together this week.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3.20-21