Palms Away!

March 30, 2015 Monday Message:

“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!’” John 12:13 NIV

Last Sunday, most of our churches celebrated Palm Sunday. Let’s take a second look at the first Palm Sunday.

In 538BC, the Jews were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple. They used palm branches in the rededication, and the palm became a symbol, a type of logo, for the Hebrew people, the Jewish religion and the Temple.

Minted coins were to feature the image of Caesar, but twice, during wars against Rome, Israel minted coins featuring palms. Waving a palm branch at a Centurion was highly confrontational, and would surely get you arrested.

God had promised the Israelites a Messiah for quite some time, and many believed that Jesus was the anointed one. But they were expecting a Messiah who would liberate them from Rome. They hadn’t considered that the Messiah would rescue them from sin and open the doors of heaven.

So on that day, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem, and out came the palm branches and bright clothes to line the street, as would be done for a king. The crowd shouted, “Blessed is the King of Israel!” They honored Jesus, not Caesar, as King of the Jews.

Some things are not Caesar’s.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) gathers at 10 a.m. every Sunday in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This week, April 5, Pastor Michael Pilla teaches about the empty tomb.