Are You a Fan or a Follower?

A Series on Lent
The stories of Passion Week - the Palm Sunday crowd
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
John 12:12-19 

[Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection with the purpose to prepare your heart to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. In this series on Lent, we will be looking into the stories of Passion Week. How the people who were directly involved were impacted and how that applies to us today.]

  

On Saturday, December 9, 2023, the Columbus Crew won their third MLS Cup by defeating the Los Angeles Football Club 2-1. The following Tuesday there was a huge victory celebration in downtown Columbus.

 

My daughter and her family had season tickets and actually went to the championship game! On the day of the victory parade and Championship Rally, they were there chanting and yelling along with all the other Crew fans.

 

Palm Sunday was a victory parade for Jesus. After raising his good friend Lazarus from the dead, Jesus made his grand entrance into the city of Jerusalem. It was Passover, so throngs of people had made the pilgrimage from all across Judea.

 

With news of Jesus’ expected appearance, the roads were jammed. He had instructed his disciples to go into a village to find a donkey that had never been ridden. The symbolism of this was humility and suitability for religious purposes.

 

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, a “very large crowd” embraced him by laying down palm branches which was a sign of the celebration of victory and a symbol of Jewish nationalism. They welcomed him as a victorious king.

 

¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”       NIV

 

Hosanna is a Hebrew expression meaning ‘save!’ The second line is a quote of Psalm 118:26, which is about the one who defeated the enemies of the Lord. The third line is a reference to the royalty of King Jesus.

 

Make no mistake about it! Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was his public declaration of who he was. That’s why he rode a donkey. The significance of this goes far beyond the symbolism of humility and suitability. It was the fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah quoted from Zechariah 9:9.

 

¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming,
    riding on a donkey’s colt.”       NLT

 

Like the Crew fans, the great crowds that greeted Jesus and gave him a king’s welcome soon returned to their daily lives. With time, they may have told their grandchildren how they were amongst those who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem. But the real question is, would they have understood who he was.

 

As we enter the season of Lent, it is important to ask ourselves the same question and not just be a fan of Jesus, but a follower. Do you understand who Jesus is? Are you a fan or a follower?

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com