Where There is Faith, There is Hope

Palm Sunday is the time that we remember and celebrate the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Savior and King. As Jesus rode a donkey into the town of Jerusalem, a large crowd gathered and laid palm branches and their cloaks across the road, showing Him great honour and respect. I always like to hear, "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!" (John 12:13).

As the distribution of the palms takes place on Palm Sunday at St. John’s, and as we hear this story of Jesus’ welcome into the city, I often think that it sounds like a number of the political rallies I have attended – people passing out flags and pins and clapping and shouting when the new leader appears. Is there much difference between the people looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and restore their rightful place, and Barack Obama being applauded every time he said “Hope and Change?” Or Justin Trudeau being cheered for his promise of “Sunny Ways” to come?

I think we can feel the happiness and joy of those people two thousand years ago when they saw Jesus riding into the city on a donkey. They had faith, and thus they had hope that better times were coming. Of course, they couldn’t know that just five days later, Jesus would go from being hailed as a great leader to being crucified.

But today, we know the rest of the story and still, if we have faith, then we also have hope for the future.

Susan