CVC is partnering with our school body’s pastors — and we asked our pastors to give us some encouraging words and a meditation on a scripture that lined up with our theme: Living God’s Story. This week, we invited Tulare Community Church Pastor Ryan Hall.

“When he came near the place where the road goes down to the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.” Luke 19:37⁠
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Today, March 28th, the Church around the world will gather to worship Palm Sunday. Jesus’ triumphal final return to Jerusalem is known most widely as a coronation ceremony. ⁠
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Onlookers lay down their coats onto the dusty street as their King fulfills the prophecy made in Zechariah 9:9, riding atop a donkey as all kings would during a time of peace.⁠
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This prophetic fulfillment has been God’s plan all along, and in Luke’s telling, the mood is nothing short of celebratory. Luke 19:37 says, “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”.⁠
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What a moment! The Messiah, the Savior, has finally arrived, fulfilling God’s plan, and the crowd cannot contain themselves. ⁠
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However, there is a group, the Pharisees, who come out of the crowd and say to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”⁠
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Why?⁠
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The Pharisees know what this celebration will bring: persecution, punishment and maybe even death.⁠
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With joyous singing all around, the Pharisees still fear how God’s plan may turn out. They fear what is ahead for the One they call “teacher”.⁠
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But, Jesus says something remarkable, in response. Verse 40 read, “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”⁠
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On Palm Sunday, we are reminded that, whether we like it or not, God’s plans are inevitable. If the disciples don’t celebrate Jesus’ coronation, then the stones, the most inanimate of all natural things, will.⁠

On Palm Sunday, we are reminded that, whether we like it or not, God’s plans are inevitable.

If we didn’t know the whole story, this reality could leave us feeling unsettled. ⁠
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But it’s not the whole story. We know that there is another chapter, just a week away, and that new chapter will reveal Who God really is and the lengths He’s willing to go to to demonstrate how much He loves us.⁠
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The King is coming. Get your coats ready.

-Pastor Ryan Hall

Want to send your children to a school where the word of God is used as a reference to live life to the fullest? Choose CVC: cvc.org/apply