On Palm Sunday we commemorate the day Jesus, the humble servant King of Israel, entered Jerusalem, as King David had done so many years before. Son of David. Son of God.
Of the increase of His government and peace,
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
(Isaiah 9:7)
I love that last line. The zeal of the Lord will perform this. As our little wisp of time in the long span of history progresses, it is easy to fluctuate between optimistic zeal and discouragement. As Islamic tyrannies fall, we hope whole new parts of the world will be free to hear the Gospel of Christ Jesus. As a woman whose only crime is being severely disabled dehydrates under the watchful eyes of a so-called medical facility, we despair that the Gospel has lost its influence in our part of the world.
Yet King Jesus has established His kingdom. Of its increase there will be no end. As we do what we can to obey Him and do what pleases Him with the time and resources He has given us, we can be confident that no matter how well or ill things may appear to us to be, His perfect zeal, not our faltering zeal, will perform His will and His kingdom will increase.
Palm Sunday is also a day of personal commemoration for me. It is the anniversary of my baptism, the day I received the sign and seal of what God had done in heaven: including me, a sinner who deserved only God's wrath, in the Covenant of Grace. He made me a subject of good King Jesus when what I deserved was to be a bond servant of the lord of death. I don't know why He did that, but it certainly wasn't because of any merit of mine. Just as it is His zeal that will perform the increase of His kingdom's influence in the world, it is His zeal that will perform the increase of His kingdom's influence in my life.
So this Palm Sunday, as I contemplate the ups and downs of the goings on in the world and in my own personal life, I can take great comfort in knowing that King Jesus is working out all things according to the perfect will of God. As much as I might have reason to doubt, because of human weakness, the human governments that rule over me, I can ultimately rest in the One who rules over them all.
Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
(Mark 11:9,10)
Comments