Palm Sunday 2026 Expectations

Messianic Expectations

Posted on by

It’s Palm Sunday – and our series on ‘From Faith to Faith’ was a perfect fit for the day! As one looks back on Jesus’ ‘Triumphant Entry” into Jerusalem, the conclusion that it was anything but ‘Triumphant’ is hard to miss.

The Jewish people DID recognize their Messiah, primarily from 3 major clues…

Jesus entered Jerusalem on one of the most pivotal dates in the progression of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks in Daniel 9:25-26. The date landed on Nisan the 10th, precisely 4 days before the offering of the Pascal lambs for Passover.
Jesus’ entering Jerusalem immediately followed His having raised Lazarus from the dead AFTER decay had already begun to set in – a miracle which was of great significance to the Jewish people of that day.
Additionally, Jesus entered the city just as Zechariah had predicted, riding on a donkey (Zech. 9:9).

So the Jewish people had great reason to see Jesus as the Messiah.

For the next 4 days, Jesus was under the scrutinizing gaze of all Jews in Jerusalem. Jesus’ actions and teaching that week laid an axe to all their unscriptural expectations of the Messiah which led to their rejection of Him by week’s end.

Little did they know that in their unjust judgment, they were actually judging Him worthy to be the Passover Lamb of God, sacrificed for all of Israel and the world itself.

How this fits our teachings on Faith, is that Israel had all the prophetic foretellings before them. That word was near them, in their mouths and hearts and yet they missed it due to their selective reading of these passages. Their desires dictated their understanding and their unscriptural understanding gave them expectations which were out of step with the divine order of God’s plan.

The cure? Reverence for God which is stronger than our natural desires and seeking God with all, NOT PART, of our hearts. It isn’t enough to know the scriptures – we need to know and respect the God of who inspired them.

Continue reading→
Song of Solomon Dazzling Unexpected

Dazzling & Unexpected

Posted on by

Song of Solomon 5 kicks off with a one verse depiction of the wedding night, followed by a fun-loving reimagining/retelling of the Shulamite’s dream from chapter 3. After this the Shulamite offers a descriptive Wasf, very much like that offered by Solomon in description of her beauty.

Our lesson concludes with connections made between the scenes in this chapter and the relationship we both have with Christ and that which we will experience in the future when we are joined with Him!

Continue reading→
Dream matrimony poem wasfs

Of Serendipity & Matrimony

Posted on by

Well this one had me off balance at first! As I did my due diligence studying historical references to Jewish betrothals, parental involvement, scheduled and non-scheduled visits between the engaged couple leading up to the wedding attempting to reconcile the text to Jewish customs and the morality of the Law. Finally, as I was praying (a little frustrated in how things were going) it occurred to me that these initial verses in chapter 3 were probably a dream of the Shulamite. Only later was I to discover this is a commonly held thought among theologians and scholars. So I feel as if I heard correctly.

The person speaking in the second half of chapter 3 is unidentifiable and may just be an unnamed narrator. The other options are the Shulamite or her bride’s maids, the “daughters of Jerusalem”. This depicts Solomon coming, in traditional Jewish fashion to retrieve his bride from her father’s house and speed her away in a Palanquin to his estate where the consummation of the marriage will take place just before a 7 day wedding feast.

Nearly all of chapter 4 is Solomon, giving a traditional wasfs – which is a poetic description of the beauty of his bride-to-be.

That all of this is brilliant imagery depicting the believer’s relation to Jesus as “the bride” is sobering and telling. It really calls you out of your comfort zone and challenges notions and expectations of deity, you probably didn’t even know you had.

For example, to have Jesus – the Creator of the natural universe, look at the church (also His very Own creation) and say, “You have stolen my heart, with one glance of your eye” is something serious followers of Christ will have to take time with to allow the Spirit to capture it for you in ways you can comprehend and accept… and THAT is my challenge to anyone who reads the book or listens to this message.

Continue reading→
Maturing Faith Hope

The Faith the Just live by

Posted on by

The GOAL or “end game” of a Christian’s faith is to be matured into the likeness of Christ. This is also stated by Paul as being our great hope in the faith. These two things being true – having and maintaining an ongoing and active trust in God, that He will mature you into the image of Jesus Christ is the primary expression of faith for a believer. In fact, all other expressions of faith MUST support this primary goal!

Believers often make the mistake of taking earthly hopes, wishes and dreams into the “hope” the scriptures are talking about. This is a monstrous substitution which tends only towards thwarting spiritual growth, affirming things which Christ died to free us from and can in the most severe of cases shipwreck one’s faith.

All expressions of trust in God must have this as its central focus and underpinning – it keeps faith relational, it doesn’t lose sight that true faith originates from and in placed in God, it makes faith God focused rather than focusing on our flesh and it works towards the purpose of God in the believer’s life which is to form Christ in us!

Continue reading→