WEEK 7
Day 40
PALM SUNDAY
The one who changes everything. Matthew 21:1-11 Focus verse: Matthew 21:10
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
Reflection
Prayer
A s Matthew tells the story, the world shakes whenever Jesus draws near.
At his birth, all Jerusalem shakes with fear (2:3). At his death, the earth itself trembles, and rocks split open (27:51). Now, in this Palm Sunday moment, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, Matthew says the whole city is in “turmoil” – which in Greek can also be translated as “shaken” – by his arrival. The ground is rumbling not with the thunder of war horses or the heavy march of soldiers – the kind of royal parade the people were used to – but with something stranger, deeper. A different kind of power is entering the city. Jesus doesn’t ride in as kings usually do, mounted high on stallions, wrapped in armor, flanked by troops announcing their dominance. He plods on a donkey. Yet Matthew suggests the earth responds to him with the same seismic force, as though creation itself knows: This is the one who changes everything. No wonder the crowds cry out. No wonder the city shakes with questions. Jesus’ entry announces a kingdom that conquers not by fear, weapons or spectacle — but by truth, mercy and the kind of sacrificial love that shakes things up. This love unsettles injustice, disrupts the comfortable order and rattles the powers that rely on quiet compliance. This love trembles through the world like a holy earthquake, shifting what we think is immovable. As we stand at the start of Holy Week, we too may feel the rumbling: in our churches, our neighborhoods, our strained relationships, our hopes for the world. Christ’s entry into our lives unsettles us because he calls us to a different way. The question that shakes Jerusalem’s people still shakes us: “Who is this?” This Holy Week invites us to answer not just with words, but with our lives.
Where do you sense holy rumbling in your life: places where Christ’s presence unsettles, challenges or reorients you? What might Jesus be riding into and asking you to see or surrender or receive anew? Humble King, as you enter Jerusalem, enter also the trembling places of our hearts. Shake loose what needs to fall away, and steady us for the road ahead. Give us courage to follow your way of peace, even when you unsettle our expectations. Let your gentle strength reshape our lives, our communities and our world. Amen.
2026 Lent Devotional | 43