"Palm Sunday" 

From 'mountaintop to mountain top' takes you through a lot of valleys.

Mark 11; Luke 22.1; Mark 14:14-26

In Mark 11 and Luke 22 we find the great, victorious story of the 'triumphal entry' Jesus made into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey that hadn't been 'broken' to ride. The disciples undoubtedly felt that day that this entrance into Jerusalem was a 'mountaintop' experience that was the beginning of incredibly great things. 

There was excitement as  the crowd was singing and chanting the great Psalms of victory. It doesn't seem that the disciples were giving any thought to the context of those psalms' prophetic origins - the 'Hallel.' 

That was the 'song' that Jesus and the disciples would be singing later in the week as they went out into the night (Mark 14:26) and headed up to the garden where Jesus would be betrayed (Psalms 113-118).

Ps 118.20. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 
21. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 
22. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 
23. the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 
24. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 
25. O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. 
26. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. 
27. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 
28. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 
29. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

How powerful this is! 

Jesus and the disciples were singing this traditional old Passover song as they walked away from the upper room in which they had just been celebrating what was called the poor man's, or traveler's Passover (not the full Passover but the part using only the 3rd cup of wine, the cup of blessing) - with Jesus saying, (Mt 26.29) I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

They had, just earlier in the week, triumphantly entered Jerusalem with Jesus on the back of a donkey and the crowds throwing palm branches in the roadway before Him. It was an exciting time in which it would have been easy to sing the first phrase of the Hallel - Psalms 113
1. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
2. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.
3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

But the disciples and Jesus weren't singing the Hallel as they entered Jerusalem that day when the crowd was cheering "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD." The disciples and Jesus were singing the Hallel as they progressed up the path to the garden where Judas would meet them with the soldiers.

It's easy to sing praises to the Lord on the way to church. It's more meaningful to sing praises to the Lord when you are on your way to Human Resources carrying your pink slip, to turn in your employee id badge.

Our testimony of the faithfulness of God isn't important when the crowd is cheering. Our testimony of the faithfulness of God is important - and exhibits its validity and power when the crowd has turned on us and is ready to kill us. Then we lift our head and our hands to the Lord and sing as did He on that evening two millenniums ago, "You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you."

My dear friend, are you going up the mountain today or are you headed through a valley? Whatever your situation today - "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."