Last Sunday was widely recognized by Christians as Palm Sunday (Mark 11:7-10). In the words of the late great Sam Cooke, a change is on the way. We all know about anticipation — waiting for something to come, waiting for something to happen; being in a state of looking for something or somebody. For the most part, it is an exciting time. It’s like a damsel in distress waiting on her prince to come and rescue her: she’s tied up with ropes, lying on the train track, and the train is coming at full speed, and he says, “Hold on, I’m coming!” Or someone hanging over a cliff, and the rescuer tells her, “Hold on, I’m coming!”
It is for somebody who has been waiting for something to happen but it has not yet happened. It could be a time of desperation, when we think the worst is about to happen. We know how we are; when we receive bad news, we often think the worst. We want change, and we want it right then — times when we need a miracle, when nothing less will do. That’s where we are this morning. I don’t know about y’all, but when I need help, I want it immediately. Maybe it’s me, but if I’m hurting in my body, I want relief right then — Novocain, Tylenol, Advil, or something else. And so do some of you; we look for pain relievers.
When we must go to the emergency room, it is because we have an emergency! We want somebody to come quickly and see to us. We don’t want to sit in the emergency room for five or ten hours. I know service is based on the severity of the emergency, not first come, first served, but nevertheless, we want someone to come to our aid as soon as possible.
Saints and friends, I’m talking to somebody I know when I say this: when you pray about something for a long time, you pray and pray for a specific thing, and in all honesty, it seems that God does not hear you. Nothing changes; in fact, sometimes it gets worse. We want God to show up — come on now, right then. May I remind us that God hears the prayers of His children? When we call out to Him, He hears. Yes, He does! As it says in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call upon me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and mighty things.” Sometimes we have to pray, “Lord, I don’t know what to do; our eyes are upon You” (2 Chr. 20:12).
The Hebrews prayed that prayer for over 400 years while in Egyptian slavery. Parents of children at St. Jude’s Hospital battling cancer are praying that prayer now. And there are those praying for the Lord to come back for the church, His bride. They are ready to go home to be with their Lord. With all the chaos, violence, bad news, immorality, temptation, and persecution for their faith, they are ready to meet the Lord. Their prayer is, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
When somebody breaks into our home to rob us, we call the police, and we want them to come quickly. In fact, we say, “Hurry, please!”
You know, when we are going through something, we want the Lord to show up. But be encouraged this morning. Listen: we can hear Him say, “Hold on, I’m coming!” At His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He finally does. He didn’t come when they wanted Him to come, but He showed up right on time — God’s time. Somebody this morning is asking, “How long must I go through this? The pain, the suffering, the trials, this sickness, chronic pain, chemo, radiation, dialysis — how long, Lord?” Anybody ever said that?
His word to them on Palm Sunday was, “Hold on, I’m coming!” And here He is. That’s His word to somebody today: “Hold on, I’m coming!” God always shows up for His people — always! Look at Christ. This is the beginning of the end. Knowing what awaited Him in Jerusalem, can you imagine what was going through His mind?
We worry about what we think is going to happen. We get in a frenzy over things that may not happen. But Jesus knew what was going to happen. Still, He came. Our King, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Peace, the precious Lamb came riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and He was not afraid. He rode as a King.
This was the week of Passion. In just five days, He who knew no sin would become sin for us. Community, to be honest, I don’t know if I could have done it. I mean, He was going into Jerusalem to die!
But He did say, “Greater love has no man than this, that he will lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). So He rides to Jerusalem to die — not to heal the sick, not to give sight to the blind, not to cast out a demon, not to feed some people some fish. He didn’t go there for them to sing, “Every Praise is to Our God!”
He came into Jerusalem to die on a cross. And aren’t we glad He came? He came then, and He’ll come now. To those of us waiting, hear Him say, “Hold on, I’m coming!”
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