Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 25, 2018

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 

“Hosanna to the Son of David! 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 

Hosanna in the highest!” 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, 

“Who is this?” 

The crowds answered, 

“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matthew 21:9-11 (NIV)

When I see the people in this scene, I wonder in which group I would have been comfortable if I had been there – the ones who went ahead, the ones who followed behind, the mildly curious, or the ones who had the answer but missed the point.

Would I have been willing to be at the head of the parade, bravely proclaiming that Jesus was indeed coming in God’s name? For the first two years of Jesus’ ministry, he had been pretty popular, but in the last year, his popularity had waned. He was stirring up the people, and many feared repercussions from Rome if crowds “got out of hand.” Would I have had the courage to openly acknowledge commitment to this one called “the son of David?” Would I have had the courage to call him Lord and shout Hosanna?

Or would I have hung back, following instead of leading? Even from behind, would I have shouted out the news of his coming, or would I have spoken timidly as we neared the city? Would I have played it safe and just walked with the crowd, wanting to be part of the celebration but lacking the courage to be bold?

Or maybe I would have been too busy with my own life to have paid attention to an itinerant preacher. Maybe when he passed by on the road, my curiosity would take me to the door to see the parade, find the source of the shouts, and lamely ask, “Who is that? What’s going on?”

Or perhaps I would have been a party to all the gossip and the guesses about the identity of this one called Jesus. Perhaps I would have settled for the thought that Jesus was just another Jewish prophet. That would have kept me out of the political fray and have required nothing from or of me.

Almost two thousand years later, don’t we still have to ask into which group we fall? Do we boldly proclaim the Lord’s coming on this Palm Sunday, or do we follow meekly behind? Do we with mild curiosity ask what’s going on, or do we answer, with conviction that this one who comes is God in the flesh? And if someone asks us these questions, how will we answer?  

Prayer: Father, help us to proclaim to the world – our world, our friends and neighbors – that this day our Lord triumphantly enters into the lives of all who will receive him. Amen.

Holy Week Devotional
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, March 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

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