Devotion - Palm Sunday - Thine is the Kingdom

A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin for today.  Today we conclude a Lenten sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve

Our Gospel text today describes the entry of the King of Kings into Jerusalem. It is very appropriate to end our sermon series on the topic of His Kingdom to which we are heirs. Our sermon today pointed out that there are two items that are mentioned twice in the Lord’s prayer. One is “forgiveness” which is what God’s grace is all about and is a noble goal to strive for in our lives. The second is “Kingdom”. The sermon also pointed out three things in the Gospel text that relate to His Kingdom. Firstly, Jesus the Christ, is ceremonially entering the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, leading the observers/believers to believe that a new earthly King was about to be installed. They did not realize that Jesus’ Kingdom description and the prophecy was about a Heavenly Kingdom. Second, He was an unconventional King; using a lowly donkey colt instead of a prestigious warhorse-demonstrating His teaching of humility. Thirdly, the populace were shouting Hosanna, which means “save us”. They believed they were about to be saved by this King, from earthly governmental repression and torture. Then just days later the new King was dead. How could this happen? How could the prophecies all be so wrong?  What are we to do without our new King? Next Sunday, the Easter message, will answer all these questions and identify His Kingdom!!