Most churches celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday to commemorate Jesus’ triumpant entry riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, as the ancient prophecies foretold, and marking the first day of Holy Week.

Jesus had been teaching about the kingdom of God and His identity as the Jewish Messiah for about three years when the time came for Him to formally and publicly make that claim in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem (John 12:12-15). When He arrived, people greeted Him with a famous ancient symbol of victory—palm branches. The thousands of Jews carrying the branches had heard Jesus’s teaching about God’s kingdom and had been beneficiaries of his miracles. Many believed that He came to usher in the new kingdom promised in the Old Testament. They had waited 400 years to hear from God. Now, here was who seemed to be God’s Son, claiming He was the king of Israel.

But they didn’t understand God’s plan. He was not there to free them from Roman rule and establish a Jewish kingdom.He came to show us who God is, who He is, and to save us from ourselves. While thousands of people cheered, Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44). Seeing the city, Jesus wept because the people failed to recognize him as the Messiah, rejecting the peace he offered, which he knew would lead to their destruction.

And then Monday came.  He taught in the temple of Jerusalem. He shared parables that used simple imagery to explain the kingdom of God. The Jewish leaders thought he was being blasphemous by doing so and questioned him (Matthew 21:23). Later, as he walked through the temple, Jesus became angry that the holy place of worship had become a place for buying and selling—and taking advantage of the poor. In his zeal, he overturned tables, enraging the vendors (Matthew 21:12-16). His actions challenged corrupt religious practices and demonstrated His authority.

We read these stories, already knowing the endings. And yet, in our own lives, we often make the same mistake as these people did.

We want to design a Jesus who will give us the life we want. 

Jesus existed before the foundations of the world. He created the whole universe beside His father God. He has complete authority over us; we have no authority over Him.

What is even better than what our limited vision could design is that Jesus loved us so much that He left the glory of Heaven to humbly live among us, show us who God is, WHO HE IS, and save us from eternal destruction, adopt us as His own, and prepare a place WITH HIM in Heaven for all eternity.

As we continue following Jesus’ steps through Holy Week, He will reveal His divine nature and authority to us. But for today, let’s meditate on these thoughts:

We will only get to know who Jesus really is by spending time with Him; reading His Word, worhipping Him, and praying, asking Him to continually renew our mind so that we can know and understand Him as our lover, our Savior, our God. As we surrender completely to Him, His perfection will be revealed to us, and our lives will be redeemed and restored to the “us” He created us to be.