Sunday, the Sixth Week of Lent

Palm Sunday

   “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, ‘Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”. (John 12: 17)

   The people lined the way, welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem.  They placed palms on the path before Him, singing praise to Him.  By Friday morning some of them would be in the crowd at Pilate’s home calling for His crucifixion.

   I’ve wondered how so many who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem could so quickly turn on Him and demand His crucifixion.  What changed their mind?  How could people who were so obviously followers of Christ so quickly join those who wanted Him dead?  How could their faith be so weak?

   If we consider our society today we can see that we also suffer from a weakness of faith.  How many of us sing Hosanna on Sunday but never at all during the week?  Once we have fulfilled our obligation to keep Holy the Sabbath we live the rest of our week as if Sunday were the only day that God’s commandments are to be kept.  We don’t keep the whole Sabbath holy, just the hour or so we spend at Church.  Some don’t even wait for the service to be over, they slip out early to get a head start on the rest of the day.  We can’t even get out of the Church parking lot without cutting off fellow Christians in our rush to get on with the day.

   In many ways we betray Christ just as those who welcomed Him on Sunday and condemned Him on Friday.  We say we believe but our lives don’t always show it.  We are far too lukewarm in our faith, allowing others to sway us in our convictions.  We don’t have the courage to stand for what we know to be right and condemn what we know to be wrong.  We find it easy to fault those Jews who demanded the crucifixion of our Lord but would we have had the courage to resist those who wanted Him dead?

   Today and every day let us join in the chorus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”