PALM SUNDAY

4/5/09 Palm Sunday of the Lord’s passion

Gospel: Mark 11:1-10

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

It takes a special kind of courage to be an astronaut. Cutting ties with the world, they step into the elevator and take that long, final ride up the gantry. At the top, they enter the capsule or the shuttle. The astronauts are literally strapped to a mammoth bomb waiting to explode in power. When the situation is “Go” for launch, it’s a lot like the moment the Jesus entered Jerusalem. There is no turning back.

Long before he got there, Jesus knew that death awaited him in Jerusalem. From across the Kidron Valley, the mighty walls of the city must have seemed formidable. Yet he went on. As he descended into the valley, those walls towered over him, yet Jesus continued up toward the gate and the throngs of the people waiting to hail him as king. Like the obedient animal that carried his weight up the hill, Jesus courageously faced the final days of his life.

Deacon Dick Folger