Sacred Holidays: A Devotional Leading Up To SummerExemplo

DAY FIVE:  

Today we come to one of the most popular roads in the Bible--the road where Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem on a donkey. 

Read the full account in Mark 11:1-10. 

I don’t know about you, but I find the fact that Jesus came into town on a donkey a little strange. Wouldn’t you expect the King of the Universe to have a little bit more of an entrance? Except this was just like Him, and it was also just as it was said it would be. Zechariah 9:9 had said, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey…” This was always Jesus’ way. He didn’t need a great entrance because He was already great in Himself. So He came lowly, even though He also came victorious. 

As Jesus came riding in on this donkey, they didn’t travel along the road as usual. We are told that many of the people started spreading their cloaks and leafy branches on the ground, making way for him to come (this is where “Palm Sunday” comes from during Easter time). Just as we would roll out the red carpet, laying these two things down was highly significant. Laying their cloaks down symbolized their submission to Jesus, just as one would submit to a king. Laying down their palm branches was a Jewish traditional symbol for victory. They were laying their cloaks and palms down as a way to say that they submitted to this victorious king, who was Jesus.

Everyone—those who were in front, along the way, and behind—was shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”  This word Hosanna means “Save!” or “Please Save!” They had waited for the promised one to come, and here He was on their very road! And all they could shout at seeing Him was, “Save me! Please save me!” 

Reflect for a moment and imagine this scene. Picture that you are right there on the edge of that road. What would you throw down in surrender to Jesus? What would you ask Him to save you from? 

Just a few days after this day, Jesus would walk a different road, carrying the cross on his beaten back. His act on the cross (and the resurrection afterwards) would be the thing that did, in fact, save us.

Read Acts 4:12 and note who can give us salvation. 

No one and nothing else can bring about salvation in your life, only Jesus.

Wrap up today telling God, for the first time or for the thousandth time that you need Him to save you. Thank Him for the saving work He has done in your life. 

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