We prepare for Palm Sunday, the penultimate moment before the observance of The Passion.
 
Monday – Matthew 21:1-3
There are two possibilities. One, Jesus supernaturally knew and worked out to borrow the animals. Two, he had talked and prepared ahead of time with someone in a very normal way to borrow the animals. Which seems more likely to you? Why?
Pray for the person from whom you have recently borrowed something.
 
Tuesday – Matthew 21:4-5
This passage is not the words of Jesus, but the words of Matthew the writer. He is quoting Zechariah 9:9 and seems to indicate that our Lord was very aware of the messianic expectations the people had. What messianic expectations do people have today? Are they legitimate?
Talk to the Lord about your own expectations, and maybe confess some ‘requirements’ you’ve put on God.
 
Wednesday – Matthew 21:6-8
Something special is indicated in the throwing of the cloaks and the cutting of the branches. They are decorating the roadway and the path for Jesus to enter the city. What can we do as we prepare to enter the presence of God in worship and devotion?
Today is a good day to engage in holy imagination: imagine you are there, cutting branches and throwing down cloaks: let the praise flow off your tongue.
 
Thursday – Matthew 21:9
Hosanna is the familiar cry of Palm Sunday. It means ‘Save us’ or ‘Save us right now’. For the people of Jerusalem at that moment it was a very literal salvation they cried for – deliverance from Rome. Jesus disappointed them because his was not a political movement. Why is Jesus’ deliverance better?
Pray ‘Hosanna’ to the Lord today and list to him the issues and concerns in your life where you need his deliverance.
 
Friday – Matthew 21:10-11
Jesus entry – with the performance art of riding the donkey and the choreography of the branches, worked! The city was stirred up. He did not come into the city passively and quietly, hiding. He came in bold and ready to work. What did the crowds say about him? In what way were they right? In what way were they wrong?
Open the email from this week marked ‘Prayer and Praises’ and pray through the prayer list.