Saturday, March 24, 2018
Revelation 7:9-10 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"
THE TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO THE NEW JERUSALEM
Do you notice the similarity between our Revelation passage above and the events of Palm Sunday? On both occasions a great multitude of people is waving palm branches and singing Hosanna (the Hebrew word Hosanna means "save now" or "salvation"--as the hosts in Revelation sing).
Jesus did not have any false hopes of grandeur when He rode into earthly Jerusalem amid the shouts of Hosanna. He did not think, "Finally the people are receiving Me as they ought. Things are looking up now." No, He knew very well what lay ahead of Him in the earthly Jerusalem. He was entering Jerusalem devoted to His purpose of saving us. He came to suffer and die at the hands of men.
Because Jesus entered the earthly Jerusalem as the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the sins of the world, He has opened the door of the heavenly Jerusalem for us.
He wore a crown of thorns, so that we could wear a crown of glory.
He was forsaken by God Himself, so that we could be accepted by God into perfect peace and glory.
What a glorious procession that will be when we wave our palm branches and join the angels in singing Hosanna to our God!
On Palm Sunday we have a little foretaste of the glorious entry into the New Jerusalem. What a great day to which we can look forward. But we do not have to wait until then. We can sing our praise to God with our whole heart now. Just as we eagerly anticipate that we will "serve God day and night in His temple" of heaven, we can serve Him now with our whole life.
As we celebrate Palm Sunday, let us praise Him who opened the way for our triumphal entry into the New Jerusalem--Heaven!
