Choose the Lamb
The crowds shouted as they marched along. Palm branches were strewn on the pathway as Jesus entered Jerusalem, a moving scene with throngs of people anticipating an end to the oppressive iron tyranny of the Roman government. Coats were flung off shoulders and laid at His feet. The donkey walked over buttons, pockets, sleeves and collars, totally unaware of who was riding on his back.
“Hosanna, Hosanna.” Palm branches held tightly in their hands, the fronds rustling in the wind, the people waved in time to their footsteps.
Such joy, such excitement. What would happen next? Shockingly, only a few days later, the throngs raged, emotions high with fury.
How could it be that such a short span of time brought a total turnaround? Now the words “Crucify Him” rang through the stone streets of Jerusalem.
The day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem is known as Palm Sunday, and I always loved the special event as a child. So much mystery, so many questions but such a grand celebration. Most Palm Sundays, palm branches were provided for us to wave and experience a bit of the excitement of the day.
My childhood anticipation grew many years later the day I discovered a hidden truth to this momentous occasion.
On the tenth day of Nissan, the first month of the year, the Sons of Israel were instructed by Moses, who’d heard from God, to choose a lamb and to keep it for four days (Exodus 12).
On the fourteenth day of the same month, that sweet, innocent little lamb, who otherwise could have become a beloved pet, was slaughtered. The Israelites were told to gather hyssop branches, dip them in the lamb’s blood, and apply it to the doorposts and lintel of their homes.
The threat of the tenth plague hung in the air. The firstborn of every household was about to die. Even the firstborn animals were part of the curse. When the death angel moved through Egypt, he passed right over every doorpost that had the blood applied.
In the New Testament, Jesus' blood was spilled on the cross. He died for our sins, so that we could pass over death right into HIs eternal home. The details are remarkable.
The lamb was chosen on the very day we celebrate the palms waved high above their heads…Palm Sunday.
Was Jesus saying,” Choose Me. Choose Me”? Yes, He was chosen to die, but there is more. All who believe have the wonderful privilege of choosing Him, for the journey from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday provided the Only Way to be reconciled with the Father in heaven.
Choose the lamb today.
Our destiny is a matter of choice not chance.
