Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation ... His rule will extend from sea to sea. Zechariah 9:9-10
One of my favorite winter vacations as a child was to Florida. The 26-hour drive was a key to the adventure, the long hours adding to our anticipation, along with my parent’s promise: “We’re almost there.” As soon as we crossed the Florida state line, we could immediately smell it. The humid salt air was unlike anything we knew in Indiana. We couldn’t see anything, but we could hear the exotic palm trees, so unlike any tree up north, swishing in the ocean air. We had arrived!
The swaying palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna” this holy Palm Sunday tell us we too have arrived. We have arrived at the holiest week of the year: Our Lord’s Passion. Although you can’t see it, you can sense the salty tension in the air as the plot to get rid of our Savior grows (see Matthew 21:15). How quickly the “Lord Save Us” salutations turn to cries of “Crucify Him!” Today we wave our own palm branches, ancient symbols of victory and triumph, knowing that Jesus is King, who reigns forever, from sea to sea. First though, we will pass through the long night of His suffering.
The first morning in Florida, my brothers and I would race to the beach to see the wide blue ocean, so powerful and vast. So too on Easter morn our Beautiful Savior, powerful and limitless, stands to greet us. First, we must pass through days of darkness ahead. But hold onto the promise: We’re almost there!
Prayer: All glory, praise and honor to You Redeemer King! Hosanna! Amen.
Response: Save your palm branches to burn for Ash Wednesday next year.
(Devotions from "Cross of Ashes" by Christine Weerts, a Lenten devotional provided by Lutheran Hour Ministries. Copyright 2005, Int'l LLL. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend.)
Today's Bible Readings: Numbers 26-27 Luke 1:1-20
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