SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 21
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’ [Ezekiel 21:26-27]
The most repeated word in this passage is “sword”.
This people has lived by the sword for years, attacking and oppressing and mistreating the weak, the poor, the lowly.
Now they will die by the sword they lived by – “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. [Matthew 26:52]
But the day is coming when the lowly will be exalted, and the exalted – rulers and leaders and the rich – will be brought low.
The crown will be restored to the one to whom it rightfully belongs, one that is humble and just and loving and faithful – to him I will give it!

When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” [John 19:5-6]
Here is the man that deserves the crown, the one to whom it rightfully belongs.
But still we find a people who live by the sword of violence – Crucify! Crucify!
Once again it seems that the sword of injustice wins over God’s good purpose.
And yet this moment in the life of Jesus is the major turning point, when the lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.
God turns the sword of injustice on the heads of those who wield it, and in the process raises up the right kind of leader – the promised messiah.

This crown is a mockery in the hands who do not share God’s heart and purpose.
But for Jesus this crown is the symbol of His true kingship – the lowly King to whom the crown rightfully belongs!
And the tables are turned; in God’s kingdom the one’s that are exalted are the lowly while those that exalt themselves are brought down.
Those that live for peace and justice receive it, while those who oppose justice or peace lose it themselves.
By God’s intervention, the world is changing, and the underdogs are being restored.
God is turning the sword against those that use it; He is unleashing injustice against those that promote it – it is the great reversal.
Through Jesus, it will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.
Today is Palm Sunday; let’s join the chorus in declaring “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” [Matthew 21:9]

PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for turning things around in the world. Crown me with the same crown that You wore, a lowly crown of compassion and mercy, grace and peace.