The Most Explosive 7 Days in History — Carol McLeod Ministries
“Hosanna!” was the word that began the most explosive seven days in all of eternity.
The seven days preceding the event known as “Easter” are a hallowed time filled with remembrances of the most difficult—yet most powerful—days in Jesus’ life.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus was celebrated and hailed as a King.
Palm Sunday is a prelude—it is an invitation.
It is a prelude to the glory of resurrection, and it is a sacred invitation to worship your King Triumphant.
Palm Sunday.
Just days after Palm Sunday, Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, beaten mercilessly, tried, and then cruelly crucified.
Hosanna!
Never would there be a week—nor a word—that would so profoundly impact every life ever to be born.
It was Passover week in Jerusalem, and multitudes of people were crowding the streets of this ancient city.
All adult Jewish males were required to come to Jerusalem three times a year; Passover was one of those times.
What a week for the presentation of a King!
Hosanna!
“On this day He entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along His way. Let these branches be for us signs of His victory, and grant that we who bear them in His name may ever hail Him as our King, and follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns in glory with You and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.”
— Book of Common Prayer
As Jesus rode through the jammed streets, the mass of humanity threw their cloaks on the way ahead of Him.
Fittingly, this was the historical way a population would welcome their victorious king home from battle.
This exuberant crowd also cut branches from trees along the way and threw them in front of the King on His donkey.
They waved the branches high above their heads as they proclaimed:
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
“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!’”
— Luke 19:37–38, NIV
The people who lined the streets of Jerusalem were worshipers.
Are you a worshiper?
When Jesus enters our life—our personal Jerusalem—we must respond with wholehearted obedience and genuine praise.
We must enter into an experience of worship so dynamic and so compelling that it causes us to sacrifice our comfort and tradition.
Has the presence of Jesus Christ caused a genuine stir in your life?
Have you responded to His triumphant procession with the reckless abandon of absolute worship?
When confronted with the Kingship of Jesus Christ, many of us hold back and refuse to change our style of worship.
A genuine experience with the Son of God always initiates an expression of worship that goes beyond—way beyond—the official structure of acceptable worship.
When Jesus comes your way, religion no longer has any meaning.
When Jesus enters your life, traditional expression loses its vitality.
As the crowds were roaring in joyful commitment, the Pharisees were grumbling in disbelief and pride.
“And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”
— Luke 19:39–40, KJV
Perhaps it is Palm Sunday that measures the depth and sincerity of our praise to the King.
Will you sing? Or will you murmur?
Will you welcome Jesus? Or will you merely murmur with empty and stale religion?
As we prepare our hearts and lives for His death and resurrection, we must first join with the voices of history and declare—passionately and sincerely—“Hosanna in the highest!”
Holy Week refers to that sacred space between the roar of the crowd on Palm Sunday … the ugly mass of humanity who cried, “Crucify Him!” on Friday … and the glorious moment when women discovered that the impregnable tomb was empty.
Holy Week encompasses the days that the Christian church sets aside to mourn the death of Jesus and to celebrate His resurrection.
It was a week of wretched betrayal, loud hosannas, good-bye meals, and desperate prayer.
It is a week that never fails to sober me.
It is seven days of measured time that compels me to evaluate my commitment to Christ—and my desire to worship.
Easter has a way of forcing me to examine the woman that I am, and the course that He has for me.
