Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009

At the Procession with Palms

Mark 11:1-10

When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,
to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples and said to them,
"Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it,
you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you,
'Why are you doing this?' reply, 'The Master has need of it and
will send it back here at once.'" So they went off and found a
colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, and they untied it.
Some of the bystanders said to them,
"What are you doing, untying the colt?" They answered them
just as Jesus had told them to, and they permitted them to do it.
So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it.
And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road,
and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.
Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:
"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Hosanna in the highest!"

Reflection
Matt Giles
Class of 2011

In only a few short days, the people of Jerusalem went from laying palms at the feet of Jesus as He rode into the city to calling publicly for His execution. Once greeted as a prophet and servant of the LORD, Jesus is quickly shunned by the larger society and ultimately meets His fate on Calvary.

Much, unfortunately, is the same today. Some people are so quick to welcome Jesus into their lives but only when it is convenient for them. When our trials begin to get too hard, we turn on Him. When we can't reconcile the life we ought to live with the life we want to live, we turn on Him. When the people around us pressure us, question us, or mock us for our faith, it is all too easy to turn on Jesus.

This should not be so. Christ is constantly calling us into closer communion with Him in many different ways. Let us not turn on Him, but rather embrace Him when He comes. Let us always throw palms at His feet and proclaim His praise: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Let us also remember that we must not throw palms at His feet one moment and turn on Him the next.

Welcoming Christ is a life-long commitment, it is not just a moment in time, and we must always welcome Him because we are always being challenged to reject Him. With all that is swirling around us in this modern, fast-paced world, it is easy to lose sight, to lose hope, and to lose faith. Jesus never loses His faith in us; let us not lose our faith in Him.