The Triumphal Entry
21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,[a] the foal of a beast of burden.’”
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,[a] the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
We sat in the circle of prayers before we began the "Stations of the Cross" program. While we did not plan on it, we had subconsciously ordered ourselves so that every other person was either from the Catholic Student Association group or our Methodist Student group from Broad Street. Amber led those who were Catholic in the group to recite the "Hail Mary", and then I entered into an opening prayer. After we had broken and started the program, I couldn't help but keep reflecting back to our prayer.
One body in Christ.
We begin the celebratory road to Easter in the city of Jerusalem as the Savior enters into the city on a donkey with palm branches waving to welcome. It's the beginning of a series of even that would literally change the world. It is a story that is pivotal in the faith story of those of us who identify as Christian.
The "Stations of the Cross" depict the darker side of that Passion story. It is full of death, pain, despair, and what seems a hopeless situation. It leaves you feeling bleak on the Monday of Holy Week thinking, "well where do we go from here?". (As if Mondays weren't bad enough). However, I think it was poignant to have the death aspect of the Resurrection story begin our week. A week that is supposed to be reflective of what exactly that cross and the sacrifice that was laid upon it mean to us as Christians.
I found myself thinking about what comes after the tomb has closed though. How that is NOT the end of the story. Christ does rise! His story and therefore our story carries on for generations to come. The blessing is that I was also reminded that while we may all belong to different branches of the Christian tree, we are all still ONE body in Christ. We all have the same gift of grace and salvation that was given to us, and we all celebrate that.
We as Catholic and Methodist (and Presbyterian) students came together to demonstrate to our college campus that while certain traditions or prayers may divide our denominations, Christ is that unifying central point. We all have the same Messiah.
I think we can become guilty in getting caught up in what divides us as Christians or even other faiths. We forget about the one true God that unities us all. I think we also forget the Savior who died for ALL, who loves ALL, who we are all working for the good of. No one gets left out of that circle. Just like no one was left out of our prayer circle.
As we journey to the cross this week. Let us remember who we travel with. Just as there were many in the crowds that Palm Sunday, there are many of us in this crowd of faith. However, we are all waving our palm branches and shouting "Hosanna in Highest" for the same King of the Jews.
