Palm Sunday

March 16, 2008 was Palm Sunday, that Sunday one week before Easter on which the church has traditionally celebrated the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. For Year A (for those not familiar with the Lectionary, there is a 3 year cycle of scripture readings labeled Year A, B, and C.) in the Revised Common Lectionary, Matthew 21:1-11 is the Gospel passage that tells the story of this event.

However, I would like to focus on the Psalm reading for the day: Psalm 118:1-2,19-29.

This Psalm begins and ends with the same ascription of Thanksgiving:

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 118:1

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 118:29

Within this Psalm we find the verse that gives us the clue to the reason this passage was selected as a Palm Sunday reading. Verse 26a states: Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

But within this text, we find hints also of the sacrifice that is to come:

- For thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. (vs. 21)

- The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. (vs. 22)

- Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. (vs. 25) This appears to be the translation of the Hebrew "Hosanna" - yasha` 'anna' (from the BlueLetterBible).

- Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. (vs. 27)

And, in the midst of this Psalm of praise and salvation, we find a very familiar text: This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (vs. 24)

So, we find this Palm Sunday is a day of joy and gladness - a day of celebration and a day of looking forward both to the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation that would occur just a few days later and to the day when Christ appears again in glory and power, when once again He will be hailed as king - King of kings and Lord of lords.

* * * * * * *

On this Palm Sunday, I had the privilege of leading the Adult Choir of First Baptist Church, Jefferson, Georgia in three anthems - a mini-musical of sorts. First and most related to the Palm Sunday gospel text we sang the traditional anthem "The Palms" by Faure and arranged by Dudley Buck. Secondly, we recognized the significance of this day as Passion Sunday (hopefully my next posting) by singing the much loved anthem "Written in Red," introduced by reading John 3:16-17. Finally, we closed this portion of the service by reading Psalm 24:7-10 that begins: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in, folowed by the anthem "Crown Him." I was very proud of the choir and their presentation of this portion of the gospel/good news story.

May we find ourselves always blessing our Lord for the great things He has done for us.

In Christ,
Richard