On Palm Sunday hopes

Just under a year ago I visited Jerusalem, in slightly more luxurious circumstances than Jesus and his disciples did 2000 years ago. One thing I soon found out was it is a very crowded place. I have vivid memories of the Church of the Holy Sepulchure being packed with tourists and pilgrims.

In the story of the first Palm Sunday we read of Jesus being greeted by crowds carrying palm branches (John 12: 12 - 16). Why palm branches? Well, apparently they had become a nationalist symbol in the centuries preceding Christ. The words the crowds shouted 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' and 'Blessed is the King of Israel' shows that the Jews greeted Jesus as the promised Messiah. 

The Messiah the Jews wanted and expected was a military leader, one who would free them from Roman domination. They wanted to be free from oppression. But Jesus subverted their expectations, and instead fulfilled another prophecy, by Zechariah, that told of a peaceful king who entered Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a donkey. This king, Zechariah tells us, does not intend to make war (Zechariah 9: 9 - 10) but 'will proclaim peace to the nations'.

 Jesus came to do God's will, not the Jews and not ours. Often God does not work as we want; he does not always answer the prayers as we expect, because he has a bigger and better plan. I wonder what would have happened if God had answered the Jews' prayer for a military Messiah? A free homeland for the Jews 20 centuries before it was meant to come about? That would have been great, but one thing is for sure: what happened at Easter was far, far greater than that! God's plans are far greater than our own. Maybe you feel God is not answering your prayers at the moment. If so just think: maybe he has a greater plan for you than you can ever imagine.