Today is Palm Sunday:

Behold the King cometh!

by Chitra R.L. Fernando

Ride on, ride on, in majesty! Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry; O Saviour meek, pursue Thy road, With palms and scattered garments strowed. Ride on, ride on, in majesty! Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh; The Father, on His sapphire throne, Awaits his own anointed Son.”

Christians all over the world commemorate Palm Sunday today, and this Hymn will be sung in almost every church, bringing to our minds, our Lord's last and triumphant entry to Jerusalem. The synoptic Gospels record this incident, giving minute details. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells two of His disciples to go to the village ahead of Bethany, near the Mount of Olives and find a colt, the young of a donkey, tied to a tree.

This animal has never been ridden by anyone and Jesus tells them, “if anyone were to ask you why you are doing this, tell them the Master hath need of him and will send him back.” Jesus tells us that He needs every one of us to do His will, and offer ourselves in His service.

Jesus goes as a triumphant King, not on a white horse brandishing a sword as earthly kings have done before. He shows us the great quality of humility in riding on the back of a donkey, the humblest of animals.

The donkey is elevated to a position by Jesus, the Son of God, and, G.K. Chesterton, a great poet, has written this poem about this animal, which goes like this:

When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born;With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings, The devil's walking parody On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,I keep my secret still. Fools! For I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweet: There was a shout about my ears, And palms before my feet. Doesn’t this poem speak volumes about this humble creature when Christ, the Son of God took him on His last journey to Jerusalem? And so it is with our lives when Christ enters and makes what seems utterly useless and dejected to have meaning and beauty which can be seen radiating from us to others.

There was another significant feature in this great episode. It was the crowd of people and little children shouting and praising God saying, “Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest heaven.” At this great applause, the onlookers asked, “Who is this?” Some answered, “This is the Prophet Jesus from Nazareth.” Others criticised and told the disciples to ask them to be quiet. Jesus answered them saying, “it is written that if these children kept silence, these stones will cry out.” Jesus says in the Gospel of St. Mathew that God will have children’s voices singing praises to Him.

By the mouth of children and babes in arms, you have made songs of praise. So we see that our heavenly Father accepts the radiating love of our children as they are models of love and peace and would be living examples to our lives. Let us remind ourselves that unless we become like little children, we can never hope to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Finally, let us think of that awesome God who came to this world as a humble servant, giving up all majesty, pomp and glory of heaven, to dwell amongst us, so that, the sons of men would become the sons of God.

Behold the King cometh! – are we ready to accept Him as the Lord and Master of our lives?