‘Hosanna! Lord Save us!’, was their cry.
Siblings,
I know, holy days are not always established with the right motives, but failing to recognize key moments in the life of Y’shua can be equally flawed. May our branches and prayers be favourably received by the Most High as we look to the commemoration of Y’shua’s Death and Resurrection.
We continue in our reflection from yesterday, as we contemplate God’s matchless power. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,’
Beyond the Scope of our Imagination
We have agreed (I hope), that God’s power is at work within us and we examined God’s ability, concluding that it was even more than just ability – hence, we agreed on God’s capability (power and skills combined in every circumstance). Within the Nougat however, especially as we look to the Cross, is yet another phrase worth considering. God, says Paul and his team, has the capability to ‘do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine …’. Siblings, that’s a lot right there to unpack. For example, when we cry out ‘Hosanna’, if we accept this clause in the Nougat, we are agreeing that God is capable of doing more than just a rescue from the circumstances of now, to offer salvation that takes us into eternity.
Self-Check
When we ask God to intervene, are we inviting immediate, short, medium or long-term intervention?
Application
Siblings, the Roman government was upon their necks. Taxation alone was keeping many in poverty. Furthermore, what the tax collectors didn’t take, corruption and poor health services did. Many of the people with whom Y’shua interacted on a daily basis seem to have been close to the poverty level … A few wealthy ones accompanied Him, though several seem to have been preoccupied with making their millions in profit. Y’shua Himself had prophesied that He would return to Jerusalem in glory, and glorious that procession was. Sitting atop that unused colt, with clothes and palm branches strewn on the streets, lest the colt’s hooves should touch terra firma –
Yes! This was what the Redeemer should look like! The revolutionary had come. One who had already started turning the regular order upside down. What they failed to notice was that Yhua Jesus’ entourage was a somewhat uneducated band of followers who would have been discipled for a mere 3 years. Soldiers, they were not.
Nevertheless they cried out, ‘Hosanna!’ Save us!’, in full recognition of His glory. They saw Jesus. They had a glimpse of Who He truly was. They made their ask.
But they could not imagine a King Whose war took place in the supernatural. A King Who needed to die, so that they could be saved beyond that moment of debt, death, and disappointment.
Like them, most of us can’t imagine beyond the immediate and short term worries of our lives. So I grieve the death of my nephew even now. I bemoan little disappointments, where Y’shua didn’t respond as expected. I plan life on this plane, because I can’t begin to imagine all that God has in store for me – even here on this side of eternity.
So we plan, and we commit those plans to God. We dream, and we invite God to water those dreams. Yet, when Y’shua gives us a bit more than we anticipated, we are beyond ourselves, unsure of how to process our ‘good fortune’. is it good fortune, or blessing that enables us to bless others? More critically, on this Palm Sunday, how far can our imagination go as we invite God’s intervention in our dreams and aspirations? Might we be bold enough to ask Y’shua to reveal His imagination and plans for us (imagination as in, the act (ation) of showing us mind pictures (images) we can grasp and begin to act on). Remember, they are plans to prosper us, not to harm us. Let us pray therefore for strength to overcome the weapons that will come our way. They are plans to restore hope and for our future. Let us breathe again, believing that God, all powerful, who is at work within us, is capable and already doing the needful for our transformation – short, medium, and long term, as well as in the immediate.
Point to Ponder
What are we waiting for – Let’s invite Y’shua’s intervention NOW!
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May all we seek be found in Christ
