Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. This is always a bittersweet day for me because I’m reminded of the fickleness of the human heart. On this day, about 2000 years ago, crowds gathered fulfilling prophecy and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” They were giving praise and worship to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. Not even a full week later, most of those same people would be shouting, “Crucify him!”
The reason for their change of heart was that their true desires (or love) were exposed, and the object of their faith and hope were found to be in a self-constructed idea rather than a Person. You see, they wanted Jesus, but not as the Savior of their sins. They wanted Him as a superhero who could free them from the tyranny of Rome. Many just wanted someone to give them food and heal their physical diseases. To be fair, many of these people were living in poverty and all were under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. Life was hard, and it had been hard for a very long time with no end in sight.
During the difficulties of this pandemic, many around the globe are facing similar trials. You might even be under a tremendous weight of anxiety wondering how you will provide for your family or fearing disease or death. While it might seem unloving to talk about spiritual needs in the face of immediate physical hardship, God knows that there is a much more insidious enemy within that not only has the power to make this life fraught with sorrow and sickness but also has the power to damn your soul to eternal separation and death. Any form or act of love that doesn’t ultimately point back to God and our need for Him is empty of power and hope.
This was the reason Jesus often wept over the city of Jerusalem. He warned the crowds about their wrong mindset and their need to put their faith into Him alone as their source of eternal life. He could see that beyond their immediate need for a warm meal, they had an eternal need to be rescued from the deadly disease of sin. Read John 6:22-60 for a very clear picture of three different responses to Christ’s clear call to taste of Him, the true Bread of Life.
Now take a look at the most quoted Bible verse with the verses that follow to see Jesus’ call to believe in Him. Remember, life and love are not found apart from God. This isn’t a call to believe in some facts about Jesus and what He did on the cross, but it is a call to literally believe into Christ, or in other words, enter into the relationship with Him that He created you to have. It’s a union of love that we will explore more over the next several days.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:16-19)
Study it Out
- Read Ephesians 2:1-10 and Romans 3:23. What is your condition apart from Jesus Christ? Do you believe that you have a need for Him to make you alive spiritually and remove your sin?
- Read Romans 5:1-9. How has God demonstrated His love for you? Have you trusted in Christ fully for salvation from your sin? Do you believe that He is better than anything this world has to offer? Will you put your faith into His Word and His finished work for you today?
We will take a look at the incredible hope we have in Christ in the following study. Take a moment if you have it now, though, and see where faith, hope, and love are all mentioned or implied from previous Scripture passages you studied as well as the following passage. Let’s rejoice in the gift of grace God has given us to trust in Him as our Savior and enjoy His eternal love.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation [payment] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:7-18)
Additional Resources
Are you looking for more devotional or Scripture memory resources? Find gifts, artwork, crafts and other devotional printables at Etsy.com/Shop/BreathingGrace. You can also find the original Breathing Grace 50 day devotional on Amazon.com/author/RobertsSarah along with a 30 day devotional for Thanksgiving and a 31 day devotional and ornament maker for Advent. All devotionals are available in both KJV and ESV versions of the Bible.