Palm Sunday ©

INTRO: The Catholic Church all throughout the world has designated PALM SUNDAY as the opening of HOLY WEEK.

It welcomes and invites the entire world to HONOR JESUS with his triumphal entry into JERUSALEM! It must have been quite the scene!

ASK: May I ask, besides your home, what is the ONE, MOST EXPENSIVE ITEM that you own?

(Don’t really tell me…but think of it for just a moment. There is no wrong answer, but, in many instances the most expensive item that one owns IS EXTREMELY SPECIAL as well as valuable.

In Jesus’ day the MOST EXSPENSIVE item was THE CLOAK! Most people only owned ONE and it was constantly mended and never discarded. For some it was their shelter and their home!

Not sure if you noticed something missing in LUKE’S GOSPEL this morning as we blessed palms……..there was NO MENTION OF PALMS at all!!!!

Unlike Matthew and Mark’s account, Luke makes no mention of palms being waved or put down. In LUKE’S ACCOUNT the people place their single most expensive article of clothing – their CLOAKS – along Jesus’ path.

The people in LUKE’S narrative place all that they have at the disposal of the MESSIAH-KING.

Many call this: emptying oneself and laying it down at the feet of Jesus!

It means being ready to GIVE IT UP and let it go for the sake of others. It is all about …… RESPECTING others and letting others come first and taken care of.

We are not to be first, but, offering ourselves for the sake of “raising up” another human being.

CONCLUSION

This IS what makes for a very GOOD WORLD to live in!