Palm Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays of the church year. This was especially true during the years when Pastor Roger and I worked with a group of youth who mimed the events of holy week as the sermon for Palm Sunday. They began by portraying with hope and pageantry Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus’ followers were so excited that he was going into Jerusalem and in that moment, believed that he was going to be crowned the next earthly King of Israel. Truly they anticipated that the doors of the Temple would be the gates of righteousness and that this King Jesus would save Israel from the Roman Empire.
It is always sobering for me how fast the Palm Sunday story moves from one of earthly glory to one of earthly suffering. Only God could see that there is a glory higher than being crowned the King of Israel. On those special Palm Sundays our youth silently took us through the Garden of Gethsemane, to Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ arrest, His trial and time before Pontius Pilate. When they had finished telling the Holy Week story I felt that I had been prepared to walk through Holy Week in the steps of Jesus. I knew that the events of Thursday and Friday were the necessary precursor to hearing about Jesus’ true kingship and the Gates of Righteousness as the gates of Heaven.
This Palm Sunday let us prepare to remember the events of Jesus’ life that we honor in the coming days. Let us commit to thoughtful prayer and expressions of true thankfulness that Jesus took this difficult journey for us knowing every step of the way where He was headed.
Let us pray, “
Servant King Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice and gift of eternal life. Help us to be mindful of your earthly journey and incredible gift of eternal life. Help us to be mindful of our limited ability to see the greater gift. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Additional Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 31:9-16, Job 13:13-19, Philippians 1:21-30
Pam Black
