Remembering

Throne of God

Last Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday, when Jesus came in riding on a donkey, palm branches waved by the crowds exciting proclaiming, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the Greek means “save, we pray”. He fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 which says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Just four days later, those same crowds would shout, “Crucify him!” Oh, we are a fickle people! But Jesus knew and understood the heart of man. In John 2:24-25, it says “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people  and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

The Lord commanded days of remembrance for the Jews, special holy days where His people would meditate on what He had done for them because He knew that man is fickle; he forgets easily, and twists truth. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not man that He should like, nor the son of man that He should change His mind.”  And we likewise have these with Christmas when we remember and celebrate the birth of our savior, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, and the holy week leading up to Easter when we remember and meditate on the events of Christ’s triumphant entry, Passover with His disciples, His mockery of a trial, His own people choosing His crucifixion, His death, the veil of the temple tearing in the earthquake that followed, and His rising from the dead leaving an empty tomb.

Let us each as believers, spend time remembering and meditating on these events, and the demonstration of God’s great love toward those who are called by His name. As a pastor friend reminded us this week, let us not jump to Easter bypassing the great physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain our Lord went through on our behalf “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”