Oh the Deep Deep Love......

I wonder how Jesus felt, in the depths of is soul, on Palm Sunday. On that day when his donkey walked across the coats and palm branches of those who welcomed him into the city as their coming king. As he listened to the shouts of "HOSANNA!"

^{John 12:12} 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. 

  

I can only imagine that at the very moment he was being glorified by these people was he was also thinking of all that would happen in the coming week. And that just a few days later these very same people that sang their "HOSANNA!" would scream " CRUCIFY HIM!"

John 19: ¹ Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³ and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

 ⁴ Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

 ⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

   But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

 ⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

 ⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

 ¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

 ¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

 ¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

   “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

 ¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

   “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

   “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

 ¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

  

Knowing full well what he was going to be enduring, Jesus even asked God to let it not be. And merciful Father gave Him strength to go through with all!

^Luke22:39 And he came out, and went, as his custom was, unto the mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed him.
 ⁴⁰ And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
 ⁴¹ And he was parted from them about a stone's cast; and he kneeled down and prayed,
 ⁴² saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
 ⁴³ And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.


I am so so grateful and thankful for this precious gift of salvation.

^{Romans 5:8} But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
 ⁹ Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.
 ¹⁰ For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life;
 ¹¹ and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 


And so I shout praises and
“Hosanna!”

   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

   “Blessed is the king of Israel!”