‘A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven’ Matthew 21:8-9
Can you imagine what it must have been like as Jesus came into Jerusalem? To be a part of the crowd that laid blankets and palm branches down. To be the ones shouting ‘Hosanna – save now’ to Him. To see His kind, smiling face.
I wonder what it was like for Him. Riding into town, knowing this was the week that He would die. Our pastor said that He likes to imagine Jesus smiling as He came into town on the donkey. I had never really thought about it that way before. But I do imagine that He was joyful. Joyful but with knowledge. Smiling but maybe his stomach churning. I want to know Jesus in this way. This way that He is not a man from a long time ago that we call Savior. But a man who might have been scared, but because He loves me {and you} so much, he chose us. A man who knew the end of the story before it even began and still chose us. A man that could see every mistake I make, every lie I tell, every sin I commit and STILL chose me!
I know I will never fully be able to completely express my gratitude to Him.
But every day, I WILL say ‘thank you’ because of who He is.
Lulu's Grace 
Thank you for reminding us – He was fully man-fully Divine.
smiling? laughing with little girls in pink waving palm branches? joyous? YES.
scared? stressed? pained? YES.
“Yet for the joy set before Him (us), He chose the cross.”
A somber week-a glorious week. How do we carry such conflicting emotions? We worship.
I love you,
mom
‘how do we carry such conflicting emotions? we worship’ – this is so good.
We celebrated our family Easter a week early yesterday with my family in Cambridge, so I had a chance to worship at my home church. The pastor, who is an avid horse-woman, talked about this scripture yesterday, but shared some insight into the colt that Christ rode on into Jerusalem. One thing that struck me in her interpretation was about the cloaks or garments that were laid on the colt so Jesus could ride it into the city. She reminded us of these “layers” of garments that made it more comfortable for Jesus to ride, but for us to know these layers can also represent our relationship with Jesus. It is important that we remember while it may be comfortable for us to have many layers between us and Jesus — not getting too close — that our best relationship with Him is when we strip away these layers and just be close to Him.
I never put too much thought into this scripture from the colt’s perspective……but I walked away with wanting to continue to strip away any layers that I may have placed between me and my Lord. He just wants to be close to me and I need to be close to Him!
Thank you for sharing this. What a new – good way to look at this story. We always have layers to strip away, don’t we?