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)
Miracles
Dr Aisha Khatib, a professor at the University of Toronto, was about one hour into her Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Entebbe when the call went out. In spite of exhaustion from her grueling work schedule back in coronavirus-plagued Toronto, Dr. Khatib, did not hesitate when a voice on the intercom asked if there was a doctor aboard. A Ugandan migrant worker travelling home from Saudi Arabia was about to deliver her first child. The baby, early at 35 weeks, was born healthy, and was named Miracle Aisha, after the doctor.
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A coincidence: when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous. God cares deeply about you, and speaks into our lives daily with miracles. Most of us don’t even notice these daily miracles. But sometimes the miracle He performs can’t be missed. It might be healing, or providing for you just when your own resources have run out, or in a variety of other ways. That was much of Jesus’ ministry, and so it’s no surprise when on the first Palm Sunday we read, in Luke 19:37-38: “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!’” Jesus was the miracle-working Messiah and on the first Palm Sunday they praised Him for all He had done for them. They would soon fall away, however, and few would be with Him at the Cross. That was heartbreaking, because while the miracles were wonderful, what they, and we, really need is a redeemer.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley