Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash
It occurs to me that I’m drowning in corona virus news. It can be depressing for sure. The other news is that it is Palm Sunday this weekend. Whether we are able to meet in church buildings or not, it is still going to be Palm Sunday. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a branch in my window as some have recommended. But I can still celebrate the fact that Christ is King.
Imagine the excitement of Jesus’ true followers that first Palm Sunday. Everyone was praising Him with the words, “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
For that one brief Sunday that Jesus was here on earth, even the crowds, fickle as they were, acknowledged that He was King! It must have been awesome to be there. For Jesus’ disciples, the joy must have been astounding! Imagine what it must have felt like to finally have their leader recognized for who He was. It was unbelievable. Of course, just a few days later, they realized how unbelievable it truly was as their hopes and dreams were dashed. There Jesus was dying on the cross, after being rejected by everyone.
But this one day, Jesus was recognized as King of the Jews. Now He reigns in heaven as King as well.
It’s easy for us to put our trust in our efforts when it comes to things we can control. But right now we are in an arena where things are way out of our control. This virus is something we can’t see. We don’t know if we have washed our hands enough. Have we breathed in air that is contaminated? Are our masks protective enough? There is no way to know. We have loved ones who may or may not be cooperating with warnings. We can’t control them. We have lost control of many aspects of our situation.
But this one day, Jesus was recognized as King of the Jews. Now He reigns in heaven as King as well. #JesusisKing, #Hopeforthejourney, #PalmSunday, #Marthagrimmbrady Share on XThis week it is good to be reminded that Christ is King. He is in control of what is happening around us. Even if the worst happens, He will be with us. Of course we don’t want hard things to happen. But the hopeful thing for us to remember is that He is King over all. He is sovereign over everything that is happening. Nothing is taking Him by surprise. No matter what happens, He will be with us and will care for us.
We can take all our cares to Him in prayer. Not the formal kind, but the kind where we pour our hearts out to Him.
As we carry our needs, our fears, our burdens and worries to Him, we can trust Him to carry everything. We can know that He has the resources to answer and deal with everything we bring to Him. So as you think of Christ your King this weekend and in the coming days, rejoice that He is in control of this horrible disease that has been affecting the whole world. He is guiding doctors as they look for short term and long term solutions. He is healing some people temporarily and they are surviving it. He is taking some people to heaven and healing them permanently. Their families are suffering their loss.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
We are all learning to trust GOD in new ways or more intense ways than we have had to in the past. It is good for us. But it is also hard and painful.
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out,
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified,
then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and
raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.
The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.John 12:12-18 ESV
