In my childhood church, we did not celebrate Holy Week. We did not recognize the impact of what we call Palm Sunday, and Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We celebrated Easter by wearing new clothes and having an "egg hunt," but never an Easter egg hunt. We were taught that we celebrate Jesus' resurrection every Sunday. These lessons were taught in a sincere, heartfelt way, and in an effort to neither add to nor take away from what the Bible says. After all, we do not know the exact date of Jesus' birth (thus Christmas was only celebrated in a secular way), death or resurrection. In many ways, these teachings came from fear...fear that Jesus' death and resurrection were not quite sufficient to save us, and so we needed to jump through the right hoops and do all the right things and believe all the right things and maybe then, just maybe, we had hope for an eternity in heaven, which, sadly was some place among the clouds where we were disembodied spirits lazing away the time.
Many people and events and, what I believe to be, whisperings of The Spirit, have caused me to believe that something else altogether seems more appropriate. Of course, those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus are blessed to remember Him daily. It is our gratitude for our salvation that causes us to want to live lives of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But, there is something marvelous in the celebration of this Holy Week. It is celebrated around the world, and what a pity if we lose that bond between believers of every nationality ~ protestant and catholic.
"The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival 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!
Blessed is the king of Israel!'
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
"Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming seated on a donkey's colt."
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him." John 12:12-16
Oh, and God bless those disciples, who spent 3 years, day in and day out with Jesus and who still did not understand. They are a comfort.
On this Palm Sunday, may we contemplate how we will honor this week in our own lives. May we all feel the loving attention of a gracious God.
