Scripture Reading
Mark 11:9-10
And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"
Reflection
"Hosanna" is a word of praise that is also a prayer: it means "save now." The crowds who lined the road into Jerusalem were not wrong about who Jesus was; they were simply mistaken about how he would save them. He would save not through military triumph but through the humility of a borrowed donkey and the wood of a cross. On Palm Sunday, we wave our branches and shout with honest hearts — we too need him to save us now.
Prayer for Today
O Lord, who on this day entered the rebellious city that later rejected you:
we confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem's,
that our faith is often more show than substance,
that our hearts are in need of cleansing.
Have mercy on us, son of David, Savior of our lives.
Help us to lay at your feet
all that we have and all that we are, trusting you
to forgive what is sinful,
to heal what is broken,
to welcome our praises,
and to receive us as your own.
we confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem's,
that our faith is often more show than substance,
that our hearts are in need of cleansing.
Have mercy on us, son of David, Savior of our lives.
Help us to lay at your feet
all that we have and all that we are, trusting you
to forgive what is sinful,
to heal what is broken,
to welcome our praises,
and to receive us as your own.
Amen.