| Hey Mosaic Family, Palm Sunday is in just a couple of days. And if you’re anything like me, it’s easy to let it sneak up on you, and suddenly it’s Easter and you’re wondering, “where did the time go?” So this week, I want to invite us to slow down just a little before we get there. Here’s something I’ve been sitting with. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that Sunday before his crucifixion, the crowd went crazy. They pulled branches from the trees and spread them on the road. They threw down their cloaks. They shouted Hosanna — which, if you trace it back to its roots, means save us. It was an unbridled, spontaneous outburst of celebration and longing all at once. By every measure, it looked like worship. And in many ways, it was. But there’s a detail worth paying attention to: many of those in the crowd were welcoming a king they had largely invented in their own minds. A military deliverer. A political answer to Roman oppression. Someone who would finally make things right on their terms. The palms they laid down were real worship wrapped around a misplaced expectation. They got the who right — Jesus is absolutely worth every bit of celebration — but they were still, in their hearts, calling the shots on what His saving should look like. And honestly? That’s not just a past event. That’s us today. We do this too — lay our palms down with one hand and hold onto our agenda with the other. We welcome Jesus enthusiastically, and quietly assume He’ll show up for us the way we want Him to, on the timeline we prefer, in the form we’ve already decided makes the most sense. Our worship is real. And so is the version of Jesus we’ve quietly constructed to go along with it. Palm Sunday invites us to acknowledge that. The king who rode into Jerusalem that day didn’t come on a warhorse. He came on a donkey, humble, purposeful, and heading somewhere the crowd didn’t fully understand. He wasn’t there to fulfill their expectations. He was there to fulfill something far greater, at far greater cost, in a way none of them saw coming. So as we head into Palm Sunday, I want to offer a simple question to sit with: What are you laying at his feet this season? Is it open-handed worship, genuinely saying, have your way? Or is there a wish list tucked underneath the branches? This isn’t meant to produce guilt or shame about the ways we’ve misunderstood Jesus. The hope is to urge us to simply come to God with open hands. To welcome not the king we’ve hoped for, but the one who’s actually riding toward us, humble, faithful, and sufficient for everything we actually need. Hope to see you Sunday. Blessings, Barnabas Willis Executive Pastor |
