In our desire to uplift our material and physical well-being we often clutch at straws by clinging to false promises
Palm Sunday is the day Christians commemorate the triumphant entrance of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the eternal city.
In many ways, it is a celebration of victory but only for a while. The real victory will come on Easter Sunday.
Palm Sunday is the start of the Holy Week which is the week before his resurrection.
On this day two millennia ago, Christ, astride a donkey, entered the Holy City and was met by a throng of worshippers, laying palm leaves, and spreading their cloaks along the path and crying out in acclamation Hosanna!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel.”
Jesus was the Messiah, the long-awaited Ruler of Israel, the culmination of all of God’s promises to his people.
The people, aware of the miracles and wonders he had been performing, believed that He was the messiah, the promised savior who would free Israel from the Roman oppressors.
The entry into Jerusalem came after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
No small wonder the multitude was awestruck.
They must have thought that if Jesus can raise a man from the dead and heal the sick, he can also drive the Romans away.
But fickle as they are, these very same crowds will condemn him to be crucified and cry out for his blood, choosing Barabbas, a murderer, and a known robber, to be freed.
Pilate offers them a choice between a known criminal over a failed Messiah and they chose the former.
Disenchanted that a while ago he was performing wondrous deeds but now before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate, he is utterly helpless and cannot defend himself from his malicious accusers.
Even Peter and the disciples who accompanied him during the three years of his earthly life, dare not lift a finger in his defense.
Jesus did not enter Jerusalem to be worshipped as an earthly king; in fact, it is the opposite – he came to be scourged, abused, spat on, mocked, rejected, and finally suffered the humiliation of being nailed on the Cross like a common criminal.
His kingdom is not temporary and finite but one that is everlasting.
He promises a kingship that will free man from the bondage of sin. His throne is the Cross.
Looking around, we readily discern why Christ allowed himself to suffer and die on the Cross.
Jesus on the Cross took it upon himself to carry the weight of man’s iniquity and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection.
Christ’s Cross, while unappealing to those who hate and do not love, if embraced with humility and meekness with love leads to joy, to the joy of being saved.
In our desire to uplift our material and physical well-being we often clutch at straws by clinging to false promises, singing Hallelujah to people who profess to serve our interests and instantaneously solve our problems.
Yet in doing so, we readily cast aside the Cross of Christ and to quick fixes and fast solution but destroy the sanctity of human life and environment. In the end, there is only misery and sadness.
One instance, during the Duterte years, in our desire to rid society of the scourge of drugs and criminality, many were more than willing to take the short cut — destroy life of the so-called undesirables and take recourse to barbarity; or even slaughter the unborn in the name of material prosperity.
Never mind the rule of law and the intrinsic value of human life which, as a civilized people, we ought to respect.
If there is one important lesson that Palm Sunday teaches, it is to tell us that life often offers a myriad of choices; either choosing the quality of leaders, or the way we comport ourselves in private and in public, and in general how to live our lives.
Making a choice is not easy.
But the best choice can be achieved only if we allow the Spirit and wisdom of God to guide us.
The Jews made a mistake in choosing Barabbas. As believers of Christ, we should never allow this to happen.
Let’s understand true triumph, real victory, and sing: Hosannah to our King!
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