April 14, 2019
Palm Sunday
For Palm Sunday the Children’s Word invited both children and adults into a loud celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem with paper streamers, popcorn, confetti, and of course palms! Needless to say we made a mess in the main aisle of the sanctuary that became our “street” into Jerusalem. For the Word, a special guest speaker unexpectedly appeared. Martha of Martha’s Street Cleaning Services came to clean up the mess we had made on our “street.”
She reminded us of the other parade that had happened that day-the legion of Roman soldiers who entered through the Western Gate. They marched from Caesarea in order to maintain order during the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. She told us how the Romans made sure that the people in Jerusalem never forgot which Empire controlled them and even the Temple itself. So who was this Jesus who entered from the back door, the Eastern Gate, on a donkey, and why did people act like he could save them? Why did he consort with wicked people like tax collectors and other sinners? Did he really raise Lazarus from the dead? What did he mean when he talked about the Empire of God? Filled with these and other questions, Martha abruptly leaves her work cleaning the “street,” so she can find and follow Jesus and ask him the questions that trouble her so deeply.
