Holy Week: A Journey With MatthewSampl

Palm Sunday | The Triumphal Entry

Matthew’s gospel contains twenty-eight chapters, eight of which summarise the last week of Jesus’s life, Holy Week, the most significant week in the church calendar. Beginning today with Palm Sunday, we are going to walk with Matthew through this week to discover what he learned.

Matthew has been called a disciple, an evangelist, an apostle, even a saint, but first and foremost, he was a follower of Jesus (Matt 9:9-13). As followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to respond as Matthew did. Can we encourage you to share this journey with some friends, comparing notes and reflections, as discipleship is best undertaken in community?

Matthew is encouraged by the crowd.

In the joyous moment of seeing the King of Kings enter Jerusalem on the day traditionally called Palm Sunday, Matthew makes special note of the large crowds that surrounded Jesus.The crowd greeted Him with praise, shouting “Hosanna!” which is both a shout of jubilation and a cry for salvation. Maybe some echoed the words of David who centuries earlier wrote “who is this King of glory? The Lord Almighty!” (Psalm 24:10). Matthew would have been encouraged in his own discipleship journey by seeing the crowd around him give praise to Jesus and it is quite likely he joined them.

A follower’s response: Praise

Terry Law wrote:“If you want to enter into God’s presence, there is no other way. Praise is the palace protocol”.* Psalm 100 encourages us to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise.” In shouting “Hosanna” those in the crowd, recognising their need for a saviour, gave praise to the One who would give His life a week later so that we may all be saved.

As followers of Jesus gather in crowds large and small around the earth today, let us also be encouraged in our journey of discipleship, and join with all of Heaven and Earth in praise to the King of Kings!

Prayer:

King of Glory, I give you thanks and praise for your presence with me now, and for your salvation. You are the Lord Almighty who humbled yourself so that I might have everlasting life. Help me to follow you and live a life of praise.

* Terry Law. The Power of Praise and Worship. Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. 2008. P.264