On Palm Sunday we recall the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. The crowds of people were so excited by the possibility that Jesus might be the Messiah, someone they expected to free them from the tyrannical rule of the Romans.
As the people welcomed this king promised by scripture, they cut down palm branches and laid him in the path leading into Jerusalem and they all shouted:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!”
This of course upset the religious leaders of the day who tried to get the disciples of Jesus to quiet the crowds. Jesus himself responded that if the people didn’t shout their celebration that even the rocks would cry out.
But just a few days later, everything completely changed and soon the disciples themselves were scattered as Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and faced execution on the cross.
It is amazing how quickly hearts and minds can change when the circumstances change. The crowds that followed Jesus were large when he was providing food to feed 5000 and 10,000 people at a time.
The crowds were large when the teachings were popular and easy to follow. But as soon as the teachings became difficult and the times were hard the crowds disappeared there was even one point where Jesus turned to his disciples and asked if they would leave him too.
But the 12 men that Jesus had chosen explain that they had given up everything to follow Jesus and because of this they had decided to stick with him no matter what.
We face a similar situation in our world today. As followers of Jesus Christ are few in number and those who hold to a strict biblical world view or even fewer.
It can be easy to follow Jesus when it is popular to do so and the crowds are filled with excitement in the promise of blessing hangs heavy in the air.
But when the road becomes difficult and inconvenient and the crowds evaporate that is when we see the true followers of Jesus.
In the same way, as our world becomes less Christian, we will quickly realize who is a member of the true church of the Lord.
So this Palm Sunday, as we celebrate Jesus as the king and the promised Messiah let us remember to follow Jesus both when it’s easy to do so and when the road gets really difficult.
