What A Moment
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:10-11 ESV)
Have you ever experienced a truly incredible moment in-person? An event that captured your attention so powerfully that you can recall the sights, smells, and sounds with precision even years later? Maybe you’ve been to a championship basketball game and your team won the title on a buzzer-beater or perhaps you saw your favorite band play ‘your’ song on that perfect summer night. You can close your eyes and picture it, and in a moment, you’re transported through time back to that moment.
I imagine years after Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey people were recalling every detail of what they saw that very first Palm Sunday. I can picture them sitting around dinner tables years later giving their first-hand accounts of that day: the day the Son of God was revealed for all the world to see.
Do you remember the moment you first saw Jesus as more than a good teacher or wise prophet? The moment this mysterious historical figure came into focus in your mind as God’s Son? I do. I was ten years old sitting in the back of a church listening to a Gospel message from a travelling preacher. I had been raised in church well before then, but that night as he spoke, something stirred in my spirit. It was as if the person I had always heard about from others introduced himself to me personally. I felt the same thing the Palm Sunday crowd felt: I was stirred.
Maybe your ‘moment’ of discovering Jesus as your Savior was a similar experience. Or maybe you’ve never paused to wonder exactly who Jesus is. As Easter Sunday approaches, I would urge you to consider asking what the crowds of Jerusalem asked: “Who is this?”