Wandering Heart: "Songs of Loudest Praise"

Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

-Come Thou Font of Every Blessing

This Sunday we begin the long road to Easter.  Holy week is my favorite time of the entire church year!  I have always loved every moment of it from the pomp and pageantry of Palm Sunday to the solemnity of Good Friday to the celebration of Resurrection Sunday. 

There is something so special about Palm Sunday with the waving of the palm branches by the children as we sing hymns of Jesus Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  The joyfulness of that moment as we sing and shout, Hosanna! Hosanna!  Hosanna! 

Then there are the emotions of the disciples as they celebrate the Passover feast.  The joy around the table takes a sharp turn as Jesus speaks of what is to take place in the next few hours.  It is the somberness of Maundy Thursday that finds me catching my breath, as we share in the Last Supper, remembering the sacrifice Christ would make for us. 

Then to the agony of the garden, as Jesus prays so hard he sweats blood.  There in the Mount of Olives, with olive trees that are bent and gnarled, Jesus wrestles with what is to come.  It is there that he prays for us, for those that would follow.  It is there in the garden that he accepts his destiny, the excruciating pain and agony that is to come.

From the Garden things move fast.  A trial, a mockery of a trial really, as Jesus goes from authority to authority with no one wanting to make the final decision.  Finally, after hours of standing and questioning, Pilate gives the final decision to the people…Crucify Him! The crowd that only a few short days earlier was shouting, “Hosanna”, is now chanting “Crucify Him!”

The long road then leads to the cross.  Capital punishment that was saved for the most heinous of criminals.  It is on that hill, on that cross, that Christ’s life had been leading to from the moment of his birth.  “It is Finished,” were the last words he spoke that day.

But the story doesn’t end there…it is to be continued.  (I don’t want to spoil the ending!) 

Holy Week for me is about the anticipation of what is to come.  We know the story, we know the happy ending, but my challenge to us to not to rush to the end but instead may we sit together, with all the emotions that come as Jesus walks the long road ahead.  Palm Sunday is just the beginning…looking forward to starting this journey with you this week!

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

  - Mark 11:10