Palm Sunday

Today, April 5, is Palm Sunday. At least that's what the Sunday before Easter used to be called. And on this Sunday, my father always preached about the Lord's triumphant ride into Jerusalem just prior to the events leading up to his betrayal, crucifixion, and Resurrection. His meteoric rise to fame was something in that day. No TV or teleprompters to get his message across. Just crowds in the hot sun on the side of hills around the City.

Christ came into Jerusalem as a King. He was honored, worshipped, adored. Five days later he was dead, killed by the His church with the help of the government, or do I have that backwards.

Makes no difference. My point is that I haven't heard a message on Palm Sunday regarding Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem in over 20 years. No longer does the choir or a soloist sing "The Palms". No longer do soloists sing "The Holy City". I miss that. Two musical pieces that can only be sung on a certain Sunday in the year, are only a memory in elder minds and hearts.

Our Palm Sunday service did not include palms laid down the center aisle, we were told to visualize what it was like for Christ to ride into town on the back of a donkey while people laid those palm fronds as a way before him. We rejoiced at the beginning of the service, then as the service wound down, daddy would let us know that the most difficult week of our Savior was coming and we left knowing what the following week would bring -- both in Church services and in our minds and hearts.

If you haven't read this part of Christ's life recently, do so. You can find it in: Matthew 21:1-11; Jude 19:29-40; and Mark 11:1-11. (that would be in the Bible)