From Palms to the Passion
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!”
John 12:13
Friends,
This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday. We will remember the way our Lord triumphantly entered Jerusalem amidst waving palms and shouts of Hosanna.
The story line starts with Palm Sunday cheers, but those cheers soon turn to Good Friday jeers. This is the journey of Holy Week. We start with Palms but we eventually find ourselves at the Passion.
We do it every year. And every year it shapes us and forms us as we recount this ancient story and the sacred truths that come to us as we walk with Jesus down the dusty paths of the Via Delarosa, the way of the cross, before we get to the empty tomb of Easter.
In 2009, Blaine and I made our first trip to Israel. We walked that Palm Sunday path, the one Jesus would have ridden down on the donkey. We prayed in that garden where Jesus would have prayed with His disciples for the last time. We sat in the place where Judas would betray Him, and we visited that most holy site of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
It was a life changing and faith expanding experience. As we stood in those holy places together, we knew that we would come back as often as we could, and we wanted to share this place with as many as possible.
We have that opportunity this November. We will lead a group on a study trip with Jerusalem University College. This is a wonderful opportunity, and it will most assuredly change the way you read your Bible by making those stories of our faith come alive in a powerful new way.
Blaine and I invite you to join us this Sunday at 12:15pm in the John Wesley Room to learn more about this upcoming trip. We will share slides of the land that we will be talking about throughout Holy Week, and we will share more information with those interested in this opportunity. I hope you will join us.
Praying for you all to have a meaningful Palm Sunday and Holy Week,
Pastor Holly