WHY PALM BRANCHES?
Kingdom Kids yield personal will to Yahweh in this Lenten series
John 12:9-19
John 12:13: “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!’”
Check out the lesson linked below for events that led to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
In the Bible’s New Testament’s 4th Gospel, only John deliberately reveals that palm branches were used to greet King Jesus into Jerusalem. Some believed that the palm tree could not be broken. The Greek philosopher Aristotle and the historian Plutarch taught that the harder one tries to break a palm tree equals the palm’s resistance against breaking.
This dynamic tests the will—both the tree’s and what tries to break it.
Jesus’ will was severely tested in Jerusalem. Did He recognize the parallel between Himself and the palm branches?
Isaiah is a book in the Bible’s Old Testament that was written by God’s prophet. Isaiah foretold truths that must happen. The words meant nothing when Isaiah wrote his book. But when Jesus came as the Word made flesh (John 1:1), Isaiah listed prophecies that Jesus must fulfill. So when Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” in John 19:30, He knew for certain that His earthly work was done.
Holy Week (from Palm Sunday through Easter) tested Jesus to the max. Isaiah 53 uses dramatic verbs that describe prophetically [pro-FET-i-kal-ee] what Jesus faced in Jerusalem.
Jesus would be betrayed rejected by menvs3, arrested a man of sorrows and familiar with sufferingvs3, slandered despisedvs3, accused unfairly He was oppressed and afflictedvs7, pronounced guilty yet He did not open His mouthvs7, tortured and as a sheep before her shearers is silentvs7, sentenced to crucifixion by oppression and judgment He was taken awayvs8, and died for He was cut off from the land of the livingvs8, to save people from our sin for the transgressions of My people He was strickenvs8.
Take Home Nugget
Isaiah 50:5-7 foretells Jesus’ resolve to finish His purpose why God sent Him to earth as a human. Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies during “Holy Week.”
“The Sovereign LORD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.
“I offered My back to those who beat Me, and My cheek to those who pulled out My beard; I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting.
“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.”
Help me Father, to resolve like Jesus’ did to fulfill Your will for me on earth. I pray this in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Adapted from “Palm Branches, Part 1”, a devotion by Rev. Erik J. Rottmann. March 25, 2018. Portals of Prayer devotional magazine. Missouri.
The Chinese Bamboo compares to the Eastern Palm tree.
J.D. Griffith
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