How many of you have ever been to a parade? Do you like parades? What is your favorite part? We have the Chasco Fiesta parade each year. Lots of people go. There is a Christmas parade too. Well today is a special day. It’s Palm Sunday!
Do you know what these are? (Hold up the palm branches.) These are branches from a Palm tree. In the country where Jesus lived, the Palm tree was everywhere. They are here also. I got this right out of my yard this morning. The branches of the Palm were a symbol of victory.
The Bible says this. “The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" John 12:12-13. 2000 years ago when Jesus came in it was a bit like a parade. We think because of the time of the year that there were several million people there for this. Very crowded. It took place in the city of Jerusalem about 2000 years ago. People lined the streets of the city hoping to see Jesus. He came riding on a small donkey, and as he rode through the streets of the city, the people waved palm branches. Possibly laid them down for Him to ride across. Everyone was ready to make Him King.
But things changed. People got mad. People got jealous. They were afraid they were losing power. Just a few days later, Jesus was arrested, tried, and led to a hill called Calvary to be crucified. The cheers that he had heard on Sunday now turned into them booing Jesus. Many of the people who just a few days before shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" had now turned against him. They were now shouting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him! He is not our king. We have no king but Caesar."
And that was the beginning of what we now refer to as Holy Week. A week that would see Jesus cheered, then arrested, tried, beaten, and put to death on a cross. But as that week came to an end, another week began just as the previous week had begun, with a celebration. Who knows what happened? We will talk some about that today and again next week.
Dear Jesus, our voices join with the voices of the people in Jerusalem some two thousand years ago. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen.
