The Faces of Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday brings back memories, pleasant ones, of days gone by. I think of the cheerful faces on children as they come up the aisle towards the altar, waving palms overhead, as we all sing "Hosanna!" Some years, the children included were my own, other years they were just children of the church, a few years, grandchildren. But it never wavered... the faces were the same.

Looking at the picture I shared, I am struck by the thought that the faces have always been the same, all the way back to that original Palm Sunday. As Jesus entered the city, the crowds shouted, "Hosanna!" as they celebrated the arrival of the Messiah. Palm branches were waved about and placed on the ground, creating a path into the city. The children still laughed and smiled as they waved palms, just as they do today, centuries later.

While it is celebratory, it is not a casual result of chance. Much preparation occurred before hand, including the ministry of Jesus, when the Disciples arrived, and much earlier, with sharing prophecies in the temples.

And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” 

Mark 11: 8-10

 

Of Preparation and Prophecy

As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.  If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.”     Mark 11:1-3

Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, didn't just happen by chance. No, even small details such as the use of a donkey colt had to be arranged. Like many others, they were coming into the city in order to celebrate Passover.  Coincidence? I think not.

It reminds me that Mary rode a donkey into Bethlehem... when it was time for Jesus to be born. And while the disciples did not realize it then, this trip would end in a most unexpected way, one that changed history. But there's more...


 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."       Zachariah 9:9
 
Long before the birth of Christ, His entrance was foretold in prophecy. This seemed odd to people hoping for a Messiah that would enter like a mighty kind to rescue them. This king would surely ride a fine horse, wouldn't he? Yet, they were told it'd be on a lowly donkey.  It wasn't even a normal donkey, but one that had never been ridden on. I guess you could say that it was pure, just as the one riding it.  Donkeys are beasts of burden, so appropriate for carrying the One that would bear the burdens and sins of all mankind.

But the Messiah did arrive on a donkey, and to the cheers and celebrations of the crowd... the same crowd that turned on Him just a few days later. He came to observe Passover with the disciples, and did so much more... so very much more.