Palm Sunday’s Fleeting Affection

Categories: Devotional,Proverbs,Luke

Palm Sunday reminds us of many important things in the history of God’s people.

One of them is to remember how on that Sunday the crowds laid down their cloaks in front of Jesus, an ancient gesture to say, “Here is the One who has the right not just over my coat, but over everything I have.” If only it had ended there, but in just a week that same crowd turned on Jesus with equal intensity. Affection spun to hate. The crowds soon spurned their charismatic deliverer.

God’s people have often been that way. Quick to abandon the ones that lead them. Quick to flee when their leader tells them things they don’t want to hear, or when things don’t work out the way they expect.

It was that way for Moses who dramatically led the people out of Egypt. David had similar troubles. Many prophets were loved and then rejected by their own people.

Referring to some of them, Jesus said:

Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world (Luke 11:47-50).

One amazing thing about that week of Palm Sunday is how fleeting the people’s loyalty was for Jesus, the promised deliverer!

“Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find” (Prov. 20:6).

Author: Toby Larson

Toby Larson leads Celebration International. He is a husband and father of 5. Whether he's teaching, hitting tennis balls, sailing a Hobie, serving in Asia, skiing on water or snow, Toby is passionate about the love of God and the love of life. Read more ...