Daily Encourager – April 5, 2020

To view today’s Palm Sunday Worship click here: https://www.stmarkknox.org/sermons

“Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it…” – Mark 11:2

Today, we celebrate the palms, the parade, the time when Jesus along with a great multitude of people are there as Jesus enters into Jerusalem.  It’s one of the high points of the church calendar year, and marks the beginning of Holy Week.

As I think about all that happens this week, I find that we may for once have more in common with Jesus and the disciples than what we realize this week.  Today is marked with the grand parade (and we won’t be doing any of that). However, the rest of the week the disciples are in places away from the crowds, at a home in Bethany, in a private upper room, in the garden of gethsemane.  These places show times of solitude, times of intimate gathering as Jesus gives his disciples their final instruction before Jesus ultimately fulfills the law of God and becomes the sacrificial lamb.

This week, in addition to the daily emails, I am working on some short video devotions to share with you about the events that lead to the Friday we call good.  I hope you will take the opportunity to explore these events with me.  Each day they will be posted on the church website and Facebook page.

On the day we celebrate, today; the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, he sent the disciples ahead of him, into the city, into the crowds, and there they were to find a young colt of a donkey.  This would be the animal, the “ass,” the beast of burden, that Jesus would ride triumphantly into the city as the crowds shouted Hosanna.  I welcome you to shout Hosanna! Shout it in your neighborhoods, and sing to your king, but please do not go into the crowded streets, and keep your “ass” at home. 

Blessings to you and your family on this beautiful Sunday,
Pastor Sam