Palm Sunday 2013

Palm Sunday 2013
I Love a Parade
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Luke 19:28-40

Who knows what Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, the New York Yankees, Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II all have in common?  They were all honorees at Ticker Tape Parades. 

Ticker Tape Parades have been given to honor special people in New York City since the 1880's.  Here's a picture of John Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, when he was running for president.  Ticker tape was a long strip of paper used in the stock market.  People used to throw ticker tape and other confetti from the windows of the tall buildings in New York City as the parade passed by.  You can see the long streamers of paper and smaller confetti in this picture.

The day Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey was kind of like a ticker-tape parade, only instead of throwing paper, the people who cheered Jesus' arrival in the city put palm branches on the ground in front of  him.  Some took off their coats and spread them on the ground as well. The crowd welcomed Jesus with shouts of "Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!!"  They knew Jesus was special, and they were very happy to see him.

Later in the week, things did not go so well for Jesus.  He was arrested, and the very people who welcomed him with palm branches and shouts of joy, welcomed his execution with shouts of "Crucify him!" a few, short days later.  How people can change their minds so fast is hard for us to understand.  But it was all part of God's plan and Jesus' job as our Savior.

There's more to the story--the best part of all!  But that we will save until next week.  I'll give you a hint: it's a story about nothing.

Let's pray.

Dear God, We don't always understand the world around us or the people in it.  We are glad to have you on our side.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

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