On Palm Sunday over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh into thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey…

_ Zechariah 9:9

As Jesus entered the city, there was a great celebration. The multitudes laid down their garments and palm branches along His path, and they cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

But did you know, those same people would be crying out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” only a week later? Did you know that those people are you and me?

I don’t know about you, but I praise God daily for His mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. I start my day off with an hour of Bible time: memorizing Scripture, diving deep into His Word, praying. I lift my voice up to Him in worship on the way to work. I have gospel conversations with my co-workers who are far from God. But then I get home and gluttonously defile my body with four snacks in a row. On some nights, I let my kids round off their day with the television instead of the Word of God. Throughout the day, I’ll hear the Holy Spirit encouraging me to make healthy and holy choices, but I’ll make up ten excuses as to why I “can’t” obey.

What I’m trying to show you is that I cry out “Hosanna in the highest” with my praise, but I also cry out “Crucify Him” with my sin.

The thing is, so do you.

It’s so easy for us to stand here 2,000 years after Jesus was crucified and point back into history and blame the Romans. “Oh, we didn’t crucify Christ; the Romans did.” But you see, Jesus didn’t just die on the Cross for the sins of the Romans, or the Jews, or the Israelites. Jesus died on the Cross for the sins of all mankind from the beginning of time to the end of time. That includes our sins right smack dab in the middle of the timeline. Christ died for our sins. We killed Him.

We killed him

In a world without sin, Calvary wouldn’t have been required. But because we sin, an offering was demanded for God’s wrath to be appeased, for us to have peace with Him. An offering without blemish. Jesus was the only man that could offer himself as a lamb without imperfection. Jesus was not born of Man (sin), He was born of Spirit (God), therefore Jesus had no sin nature like us. He was born purely holy and remained holy all His life. Jesus was the only offering that could reverse the curse of sin. Therefore, on Good Friday, Jesus Christ laid down His life at Calvary to wash away the sins of the world.

Our sin sent Him there. Our sin cost Christ His life.

Now, I’m not trying to condemn you with this. Nobody wants to consider themselves the murderer of Christ.

I just want you to see why we must take sin seriously.

Your next question may be: Well, do the sins that I commit today and in the future affect the pain Christ felt over 2,000 years ago? Ask yourself the reverse of that: Does Christ’s death 2,000 years ago cover my sins of today and tomorrow? The answer is yes both ways.

When Christ died on the Cross for our sins, He died for all of time. Not just for the sinners at that moment in time, or for all the sinners who died before that point in time. He died to cover the multitude of sin over the course of time itself. So yes, our sins today hammered those nails into His hands back then.

As Christians, we don’t have to sin. Knowing we have a sin nature is different than indulging that sin nature. Next time temptation comes for me, I’m going to consider Christ’s suffering before I act.

Cover Art: Pinterest