Time to celebrate Him

David Jones on how the world has seen many cruel and tyrannical dictatorships that condone suffering

THE people of Jerusalem thronged to greet the coming of Jesus with palm branches and shouts of Hosanna on that first Palm Sunday.

The whole city of Jerusalem in party mood, celebrating the coming of the Messiah, the promised King. They had heard from Jesus words of peace and love; they had witnessed acts of kindness and healing that confounded the empty religiosity of the Pharisees and scribes.

There was such joy and excitement and the potential of new beginnings that the city was alive with excitement and expectations.

How, then, that by the end of the week the cries had changed to ‘crucify him’? The religious hierarchy’s response was typical of all that even today breeds hate and negates the basis of all true faith, which is love for God and our neighbour, whoever, wherever they may be. So those whipped up expressions of hatred and jealousy to such an extent that the praise and welcome Jesus received was soon turned to cries of hatred and condemnation.

Within days Pontius Pilate had washed his hands, the disciples of Jesus were scattered and the proclaimed kingdom of God’s righteousness and justice seemed well trodden underfoot. The likes of Caiaphas, the chief priest, and others of the religious elite smugly content that they had succeeded in turning praise to hatred and mob rule.

They were, however, doomed to failure. Jesus entered Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday to proclaim that evil and sin were on borrowed time. The people shouted ‘Hosanna’, a Hebrew word meaning ‘he who saves’.

He came to claim the city as his own and to establish for ever a kingdom of righteousness and truth which would be fulfilled on Easter Day, the day of resurrection.

The history of the world has seen countless kingdoms rise and fall and by today there are many cruel and tyrannical dictatorships that condone suffering and are silent to injustice.

Palm Sunday, which we celebrate this Sunday, brings the judgement of God on all who cause such misery and distress. That’s why again this year we proclaim ‘Hosanna to Him who comes in the Name of the Lord’, seeking always to serve in His name and to give thanks for His love as His citizens of God’s unchanging kingdom.

Giving the praise and thanksgiving to Jesus – Hosanna to Him who comes in the name of the Lord!