Palm Sunday
It’s Palm Sunday.
A day commemorated by Christians across the globe that marks Jesus’s
entrance into Jerusalem before thing go bad.
This year, most churches will not be occupied, so there is a distinct lack
of palm leaves this year in church going houses across the nation.
When I was a kid, I enjoyed getting palm leaves on the way
out of the church service down at the First Baptist Church of Wildwood. It also meant that Easter was right around the
corner. Easter is a bit of a
disappointment for kids. Don’t get me
wrong, candy is nice—but Christmas is better.
Let’s face facts, wax chocolate sucks—especially in bunny or egg forms.
Easter, coming up next weekend, is—for believers—what it’s
all about. The resurrection. This is the largest tenant of the Christian
faith—the sacrifice for sin, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ’s victory over sin, over death, for
you and for me, and—if you believe that, then you to will share in that victory,
too. This is what it is. The biggest tenant of one of the three
biggest religions in the world.
Some of the faithful, instead of calling it Easter, call
it Resurrection Day. Some of the faithful
call this Resurrection Week, starting today.
Today, however, is Palm Sunday. As
per a quick look at Wikipedia, “Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that
falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal
entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels.” It may be identified as a “moveable feast”
but there are no decent feasts that I am aware of surrounding it. None that I have ever taken part in, mind
you. The best you can hope for are a
substandard pastry called, “Hot Crossed Buns”.
No, you’re going to have to wait until next Sunday for the spiral ham
with all the trimmings. THAT’s a
feast. Before the feast, children wake
up Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny has left them in their
baskets. This is one of the more
ridiculous aspects of this whole thing. I
suppose someone wanted to exploit a religious remembrance to make a profit. He was probably a chocolatier.
I blame you Willy Wonka!
Of course, I’d be wrong.
As it turns out (as per a little internet sleuthing, https://time.com/3767518/easter-bunny-origins-history/)
the Easter Bunny is, probably, a Germanic tradition about an egg bearing hare
that leaves eggs in a nest, called an, “Osterhase” or Easter Hare. Behold the research…
“According to some sources, the Easter bunny first
arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in
Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called
“Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature
could lay its colored eggs. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and
the fabled rabbit’s Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and
other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests.
Additionally, children often left out carrots for the bunny in case he got
hungry from all his hopping.”
So, there you have it.
The Easter Bunny is a pagan. Perhaps
he is a Christian Pagan? It could happen—this
is, after all, the age of grace and I don’t know what the Osterhase takes on
faith.
But I’m getting far ahead of myself. This is Palm Sunday—Easter’s precursor. The same people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
will be the same people who scream for his blood, come Friday. And they’ll get it. Who killed Jesus? We did.
Humanity.
We haven’t really changed at all, have we? We rail against so many things, we set up our
barricades, our preconceived notions, our confirmation biases, circle the
wagons, come hell or high water to be ‘right’, to be on the side of the argument
that justifies our own conclusions. Blind
to the fact that we may be miscarrying the truth, justice, or subverting the basic
reality of any given situation for our own gain.
“Give us Barabbas!” We’ll be shouting come Friday. And we’ll get him. Thanks to our confirmation bias we are completely
oblivious to the fact that we are about to crucify the truth.
Fortunately, there will be ham come next Sunday.
Selah.
