14 Mar, 2008

Palms up?

Give a shout out before the rocks do!

Jesus Shows Up!

It was Palm Sunday and a little boy was feeling kind of sick. So he stayed home from church with his mom.

When the rest of the family returned home, the little guy's brother and sister were waving palm branches they had received in Sunday School. The little boy asked his dad, "What are those branches for?"

"Well, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved palm branches to honor him, so all the kids at church today got palm branches."

The little boy replied, "Oh great! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!"

If you had been a kid in Jerusalem on the original Palm Sunday, do you think you would have had your palms up for the Savior who showed up?

picture courtesy images.google.com

John 12:12-13

The Triumphal Entry

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!”

Luke 19:39-40

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (ESV)

What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about the story of Palm Sunday and how can we respond?

Palm Sunday is an event that we celebrate! As Christians in the 21st century, we have the privilege of reading the eye-witness accounts of Jesus riding into Jerusalem the week before His death. Jesus had chosen this time to announce that He was the Messiah! He knew that Israel would be gathered together in Jerusalem for their traditional celebration. Jesus also knew that He would be crucified for the sins of the world in just a few days.

The Jewish people threw a parade! But most of them had the wrong idea about Jesus Christ. They were going wild because they thought their liberation from the Roman empire was at hand. They were deaf to the words of their prophets and did not recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. In one week's time, they would go from waving palm branches and cheering to joining in the parade of crucifixion toward Christ's cross.

The Pharisees wanted Jesus to tell the crowd to stop their worship of Him. But Jesus told them that if they did, God would throw a "rock concert" in honor of Himself! The leaders didn't want Jesus to replace religion with a personal relationship with God through His Son.

Let's celebrate Jesus in our lives! This weekend (and every day) lift the palms of your hands to Jesus as a symbol of worship and surrender to His will.

How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
  • Confess any way in which you may have been ignoring or rejecting King Jesus riding into your life every day. Thank God for the privilege of knowing the Lord of the universe! Spend a few minutes praising Christ for who He is and what He does in your life. Let God's Spirit point out to you any area of your life in which you still need to surrender your will to Christ's will.
  • Every day between now and Easter, take two minutes to meditate on the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In your heart, throw a parade of worship in honor of the Lord.
  • Pick up a palm branch at a floral shop and keep it in your room as a reminder to worship Christ with all of your heart, strength and mind.

How can we connect today's story, God's Story scripture and our story to others?

  • Use today's DAILYBIDE to encourage another follower of Christ by sharing your intent to really focus on worshipping Jesus this Holy week.
  • Listen to some Christian rock music with friends. Use it as an opportunity to talk about what Jesus said about the rocks giving Him a "shout" if we don't.
  • Invite someone in your storysphere who needs Jesus to come to worship services with you this Palm Sunday and on Easter Sunday. Afterwards, ask him or her for their honest response. Be sure to listen and remember it's OK if you don't know all the answers to their questions.
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God's Story is brought to you by Youth for Christ. YFC works with young people on campus and in the community in over one hundred countries around the world so that they might have an opportunity to become a follower of Christ and be a part of a local church.

Our writer, Byron Emmert, has been with YFC for over 30 years and has served as Campus Life Staff, in leadership for DCLA, and as an author and speaker. Byron is available for speaking at youth or adult events and conferences. For booking, write to byron@3Story.org.

Byron and his wife Linda live in Minnesota and their family includes two married sons and daughters-in-law, a grandaughter, and a daughter in college. He loves sports, deep dish pizza, and spending time with his family.