Lesson from Palm Sunday

It seems that this year has been moving so fast from the first day of the month of January till now. Palm Sunday is here again and before you know it this year would have rolled to a close. So what is Palm Sunday? Palm Sunday begins the Holy Week. On Palm Sunday we commemorate the triumphant entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem when people cut palm branches and threw them on the road acclaiming Jesus as the son of David. On this day, we read the long passion narrative of Jesus with so many characters playing themselves out in the life of Christ. His friends betray him, others denied him, and all ran away from him. What a life? There were so many discordant voices trailing Jesus even as he carried his cross. False witnesses arose against him and the powers that be called for his head. Pilate condemned him even when he knew that Christ was innocent. He not only condemned him to a painful torture and death on the cross, he humiliated him first by having him flogged. Women cried for him but men despised him. On Palm Sunday we cry out Hosanna to the Son of David but then very soon on Good Friday we will shout crucify him. That is what life is all about, isn’t it? When the world seems to be singing our praises we should be aware that very soon they might be calling for our heads. Christ was not fooled by those cries of hosanna; he knew what was awaiting him. So what does Palm Sunday teach us?

Palm Sunday teaches us to be grateful to Christ for loving us. It calls on us to seek to love God in return. Palm Sunday teaches us also that the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is a story of love. This day teaches us that we should be careful of our friendships. When faced with difficulties, we may not have any of our friends out there to defend us. We should not expect too much from our friends. If the stand by us, then good luck to us. If not then we should be prepared to travel our lonely path alone. If we succeed in any of the projects we undertake in life we should thank God and be grateful to those who have assisted us. But at the same time we should know that our Good Friday might not be too far away. The same people, who praise us today, may be the same people who seek for our heads tomorrow. Even as it happened to Christ, why should we presume that it might not happen to us? Christ puts it this way, “Remember the word I spoke to you. ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours’, John 15:20. Good luck to you as you celebrate your Palm Sunday while you look forward to your Good Friday.