Prayer Tip--Lo, Your King Comes to You
Daily Scripture
Matthew 21:1-11 (CEB)
When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave two disciples a task. He said to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter, you will find a donkey tied up and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that their master needs them.” He sent them off right away. Now this happened to fulfill what the prophet said, Say to Daughter Zion, “Look, your king is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a colt the donkey’s offspring.” The disciples went and did just as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them. Then he sat on them. Now a large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others cut palm branches off the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds in front of him and behind him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. “Who is this?” they asked. The crowds answered, “It’s the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Today at Resurrection, we step into Palm Sunday as the first doorway into Holy Week. Throughout Lent this year, we are walking through each day of Holy Week together, one Sunday at a time. So, while the 2026 calendar names this as the first Sunday of Lent, our focus is on Palm Sunday in the story of Scripture, the beginning of that sacred and tender week.
Jerusalem was full of pilgrims who had come for Passover. Roman soldiers were visible. Political tension was in the air. People longed for freedom, stability, and hope. Into that atmosphere, Jesus entered on a donkey. The crowds held palm branches. Palms were symbols of national hope and celebration. They were used to welcome leaders and to mark moments of victory. When the people waved them and cried out “Hosanna,” they were praying, “Save us now.” Their hope was real. Their longing was sincere.
And there was tension.
They were celebrating a king who came in humility. They were expecting power that looked familiar. They were cheering for liberation, yet they did not fully understand the path Jesus would take. Within days, the city’s emotional climate would change. Human hearts are capable of deep devotion and limited vision simultaneously. We can praise with full voices and still misunderstand what God is doing.
Palm Sunday holds that tension for us–joy and fragility. Faith and partial sight. Celebration and uncertainty.
At the end of that day, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. The celebration was real. The tears were real. He saw the beauty of their hope and the reality of what lay ahead. His tears were not a rejection of the celebration. They were the depth of love. Love for a people yearning for peace. Love for a city caught between longing and fear. Love for disciples who were still learning.
That same tension lives in us.
We praise Christ. We also carry expectations. We want transformation in our lives and in our world. We pray for healing, justice, reconciliation, and renewal. We mean it. And we are still growing in our understanding of how God brings those things about.
Palm Sunday invites humility. It invites us to recognize our own fallibility with gentleness. We are devoted followers, and we are still being formed. We see in part. Christ sees fully. And Christ loves us deeply in the midst of it all.
Prayer
A Practice for This Week
When you see the palms on Sunday, notice what you are hoping Jesus will do right now in your life. Hold that hope in prayer. Whisper, “Hosanna. Save us.” Then add, “Shape my heart to recognize your way.”
Later in the week, take a quiet walk. Notice something living and green even in this late winter season. Let it remind you that God’s life often unfolds in ways we do not immediately recognize. Pray for steadiness. Pray for trust. Pray for a heart that can hold both praise and compassion.
Palm Sunday is celebration wrapped in humility. It is hope shaped by love. As followers of Christ, we learn to live in that holy tension, trusting that God is at work in ways deeper and wider than we can see.
Hosanna in the highest.
GPS Insights
Debbie Dellinger
Debbie Dellinger, who serves as a Pastor of Connection and Care at Resurrection, Leawood and as National Team Leader for The Caring Congregation, wrote this week's prayer tip.
