Palm Sunday is a most perplexing day in the church year. It looks great what with all the praising and celebrating and affirming the Kingship of Jesus, but one doesn’t have to look too closely to see that, in fact, there is trouble in River City, or Jerusalem as the case may be.

It’s a paradoxical day, too. The average guy on the street apparently gets what the most learned of the Spiritual scholars couldn’t grasp. They saw that Jesus was the One who came to them “in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38). It looks like they knew their Scriptures too, because that’s a quote from their Psalms (118:26). And, in looking at Him they could affirm the truth, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38).

How deeply the truth ran in them we don’t know. We do know that five days later in Luke, many of them were calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. Maybe their vacillation was what led Jesus to weep over the city as he approached it (Luke 19:41). We don’t know; we just know that on this one day they got it right, so much so that Jesus said “If these become silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).

Here’s my concern. From “praise Him” to “Crucify Him” in a period of a few days is scandalous information. I fear that it is far too easy to get caught up in crowd mentality and lose oneself in the swarm.

I can’t speak for anybody but myself but may God help me to know what I know, to believe what I believe, and to stand for Him on Palm Sunday or Good Friday. If I’m going to praise Him on Sunday then surely I will have enough gumption and drive to live for Him when the powers that be call for His demise.

After all, if He is Lord on Sunday then He is Lord everyday of the week and in whatever situation we find ourselves. If He is Lord on Sunday then we must pick up our cross and follow Him on Friday.