THE ONE WHO WALKS WITH US

      We have walked with determination the Lenten pathway of confession and self-examination for almost forty days. Much of the way has been a struggle as we have begun to see ourselves as we really are. We have realized the need to invite more of who Christ is into our very beings; to be “in Christ.” Now, as we approach Palm Sunday, maybe we can catch our breath and perhaps even celebrate for just a short time.   

      For me, Palm Sunday is the beginning of a roller coaster ride of up and down emotions and feelings of what was going on in Jerusalem during that first Holy Week. We read the Palm Sunday story; the story of Jesus’ joyful entrance into Jerusalem with the shouts of “Hosanna,” the palm waving crowds, the taking off their coats and laying them down for Jesus to walk on, and the donkey ride. This was such a happy occasion. The crowds were ready to celebrate Jesus as their political king.

      This was the “up” side of the roller coaster ride, because the rest of the week was downhill darkness. The hymns we sing on this Palm Sunday morning are a mixture of praises, on one hand, and reflections of sorrow and suffering on the other. We sing our praises, but we also sing about the suffering and sacrifice. Only Jesus knew what the end of the week would bring as he rode into Jerusalem that joyful day.

      We modern day Christians, looking back in time, can see and experience the joy of the crowd as they proclaimed Jesus, King and Savior. Yet, we know deep in our souls that we must go with Jesus to the Cross. It is at the Cross-we find grace, forgiveness, and transformation. We realize there can be no resurrection without the dying, no Easter sunrise without the darkness of Good Friday. It was true for Jesus, and it is true for you and me.

      So, today we can wave our palms and sing our praises, but we know that Friday will bring the pain, sorrow, and death at the Cross. We must present ourselves at the Cross before we can experience Easter. Steadily we go, with sometimes shaky confidence and suppressed fear, but we go because we know Jesus has gone before us and now, he goes with us.

      It may be that the emotional and spiritual roller coaster ride of Palm Sunday and the week after can also be found in the other weeks of the year. At times, our joy seems to overflow and the spiritual blessings appear to be unending. Then the darkness closes in and uncertainty fills our thoughts. We feel alone and abandoned. It is times like these when we reach out for the one who has already walked victoriously through both the joy of Palm Sunday and the darkness of Holy Week. We find it is Jesus who will lead us to the Cross, to death to our old life, and resurrection to a new life in him.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC March 24, 2013