Matthew 21:1-5
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,“Say to the daughter of Zion,‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
Recently I came across a humorous, but encouraging Pinterest post. The author wrote,
‘Hustle until your haters ask if you’re hiring’. And while it made me laugh, I truly understood the significance of that sage advice. Our grinding, work, effort, ministry, vocation, or whatever we want to call what we do for the Lord mustn’t be made subject to any influences outside of His. Our affection, and earnest effort must always advance our calling and divine mission. Each of us, and all of us have a heavenly assignment. We all are called to complete our mission. And in doing so there will be those that love what you’re doing, and those that do not. The challenge is not to get distracted by either group.
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. But in the truest sense, Palm Sunday isn’t really a celebration; it’s more a cautionary tale. It reminds us that you can’t determine your level of success based on folk. Folk will turn on you the moment you disappoint them and don’t do things the way they think they should be done. Look what happened to Jesus. Many of the same folk that threw palms at Jesus feet, threw rocks at his head. Many of the same folk that said “Hosanna to the highest”, also said, “Give us Barabbas.” Please don’t miss that important nuance in this story.
When Jesus went to Jerusalem, he was on assignment. This was not a pleasure trip or vacation. He clearly understood the implications of his arrival and the possible problems it could cause. He understood the implications of his riding a colt as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.” His entrance was a clear indication that he was indeed the King of kings and the foretold Messiah. And while many of the Jews were happy (because they thought deliverance was at hand) there were a number of haters in the crowd as well.
The assignment of Christ wasn’t simply to parade through Jerusalem to adoring fans. His assignment was to die at Calvary for our sins. Nothing short of his death could pay the price. Nothing short of his crucifixion could bring salvation to humanity. So while the palms and accolades were certainly a bright moment in a week that would turn terribly tragic, for Jesus to focus on Palm Sunday would have been a grave mistake. A mistake too many of us often make.
If you focus too intently on Palm Sunday, you will never make it to Calvary. Calvary was the destination of promise, power and conclusion. It’s at Calvary where Jesus pronounced, “IT IS FINISHED”. Had he stopped short of Calvary, all would have been lost. We would still remain lost.
Beloved, here’s the good news. Not only did Jesus finish his assignment, he got up from the grave and stayed around some 40 days after. Now you may question why he did that if his job was finished. Well, yes he was finished, but he was still hiring. Salvation was secured, but he still needed laborers to share the Gospel and spread the Good News. And guess what? He’s still hiring today. He’s just waiting for you.
God bless
