Greetings!
How was your weekend? I pray it was great. God gave me the joy of celebrating my birthday with some of my friends. The weather was great to be outdoors. As you know we met at Shark Valley and we finished a 15 mile ride. I want to thank Vivian and her mom for joining us, they were on the tram tour. Jorge, Lisie, Barbara, Maarten, Gaby and Maria, thank you for coming out and for spending the day with me, I enjoyed your company very much, thank you for your friendship. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and blessings, they mean a lot to me. Love you much.
Yesterday I attended Christ Fellowship Coral Gables and I met with Min & Derek and Carla & Jorge, it felt great to see my family in Christ and worship God together....This Lent, has come and gone too fast, I can't believe Easter is here in just a week.
Palm Sunday:
The Triumphant Entry
John 12:12-15 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!"
The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war. Therefore, a king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out he was coming in peace. Therefore, Jesus' entry to Jerusalem symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king. In many lands in the ancient Near East, it was customary to cover in some way the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honor.
The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in Jewish tradition, and is treated in other parts of the Bible as such (e.g., Leviticus 23:40 and Revelation 7:9)
The significance of Jesus riding a donkey and having his way paved with palm branches is a fulfillment of a prophecy spoken by the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9). In biblical times, the regional custom called for kings and nobles arriving in procession to ride on the back of a donkey. The donkey was a symbol of peace; those who rode upon them proclaimed peaceful intentions. The laying of palm branches indicated that the king or dignitary was arriving in victory or triumph.
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