John 12:12-19 (NIV)

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 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!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

  see, your king is coming,

  seated on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Context: N.T. Wright (Paraphrase)

Palm Sunday is a powerful and symbolic act, not just a festive event. Jesus’ actions that day were a form of street theatre, with a deep message that couldn’t be conveyed in any other way. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, he was enacting a story—one that challenged the expectations of the crowd and disrupted their understanding of kingship. Jesus wasn’t just participating in the excitement of Passover, the time when people remembered the Exodus and God’s promise of freedom. Instead, he was reinterpreting that story and pointing to a new kind of king and kingdom.

Why do you follow Jesus? 

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. -Shane Claiborne 

• We will know when Jesus is truly our King when we discover that worship flows naturally out of our hearts 

Holy Week Preparation 

John 12:1-3 

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

The Aroma of The Worshiping Church 

2 Corinthians 2:14-16a (Message):

^14-16 In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.