Today is Palm Sunday. Some important things come to mind about this day in the life of Jesus.

PalmHandsNot everyone on earth when Jesus lived among us could be called the enemy of the Saviour. Some already lived under the hand of God. Some thrilled that the Messiah had come and accepted Jesus as the Promised One.

These people, of all ages, greeted Jesus on that day, welcoming the One riding on a donkey as Sovereign and Prophet and Chosen.

Recently I went over the trial of Jesus to confirm that the chief priests, leaders and scribes called for the crucifixion, not the whole population of Jerusalem as the movies portray and some preachers teach. I chose not to add all the verses here because I don’t like long posts.

When they cried, “Hosanna” they called Jesus’ name, for the name given to the Saviour was, “God Saves” and “Hosanna” means “salvation”, missing the God prefix only. It echoes one of my favourite stories, the one about Zacchaeus. It ends with Jesus saying, “Indeed, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save people who are lost” (Luke 19:10 God’s Word©).

PalmSundayIt was the chief priests and scribes who ordered Jesus to stop the crowd from shouting the Good News words of salvation (Matthew 21:15). Luke adds that Pharisees joined the silencers, and that Jesus said even if the followers did not shout those wonderful words the stones would make the proclamation (Luke 19:39-40).

So, despite the stern calls of organized religion to stop the public declaration that Jesus saves (and not denominations, ecclesiastical laws, authorized leaders or sanctioned institutions) the innocents and followers should shout louder, “Jesus saves”.

Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and wept because the place God assigned as a house of prayer had been turned into a commercial centre of budgets and coercion. Paul says our bodies are now that assigned place. Paul writes simply, “While I was with you, I decided to deal with only one subject – Jesus Christ, who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2 God’s Word©).

As even the stones know the Good News story starts with, “Jesus saves”.

Hosanna!