If You Had Only Known

4/10/2022

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done” and those whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.”

C.S. Lewis – The Great Divorce

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:37-42 (NIV)

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the day we know as Palm Sunday was a spectacular event. The crowds roared in praise and adoration of Him. It describes people waving branches and laying their coats on the road.  The event was prophesied in the Old Testament book of Zechariah (9:9). “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The crowd was expecting a King and a deliverer from Roman rule and oppression. But Jesus understood His mission and could see past the accolades to the events later that week and even beyond. “If you, even you, had only known…..” were the words of Jesus spoken in tears that day as He wept over the people for their lack of understanding of His mission and their true need. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” – Hosea 4:6.   

In our human frailty, we are often blind to the realities about ourselves and will even ignore the truth about our greatest needs. Like the people of Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday, we need a Savior to deliver us from our sin. A terminal spiritual condition that is beyond the realm and power of a human king, a politician or even a superhero. Jesus came to deal with that foremost human issue – our sin nature.  Once we come to terms with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, all other life issues are put in perspective.

Palm Sunday began a week of events that were foretold by the prophets of old and laid the foundation for a restored relationship between God and man. The Crucifixion and Resurrection which soon followed Palm Sunday are the great truths of God in Christ; truths that if you are willing, bring understanding. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18).