Palm Sunday is sadly ignored by most modern calenders, but this sad omission may be indicative of modern society’s uncaring side…
On the wall in my office is a wall planner published by ‘Teach Primary’. It contains an extensive list of important dates from many world religions including obvious events like Christmas, Easter, Ramadan and Diwali, as well as more minor dates like All Saints Day and Ash Wednesday. As I was studying the planner recently, I noticed a surprising omission. Palm Sunday was missing! Later, I checked all the other diaries and calendars around our house and found that only one noted that this coming Sunday April 13th would be Palm Sunday.
I believe that Palm Sunday is an important date and shouldn’t be ignored. That’s one of the reasons why I recently published a short Palm Sunday children’s musical: ‘The Donkey’s Tale’, which tells the story of Palm Sunday from the donkey’s point of view. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey, the people shouted ‘Hosanna’, which literally means ‘save us’.
The people of Jerusalem were hoping that Jesus would save them from Roman occupation. Of course, that wasn’t the case, but the reason this story always impacts me is because it reminds me of all the people in our world today who are also shouting ‘save me’…
Famine, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters regularly leave people in terrible circumstances, people who are saying ‘save me’! But we tend to only think about such things when there’s an item in the news or a television appeal.
People in our own towns and cities are also saying ‘save me’. The abused, the vulnerable, the victims of crime, the sick, those in poverty and debt. But we tend to only think about such things when it’s ‘Comic Relief’, or ‘Children In Need’ day.
The fact that modern society largely ignores Palm Sunday seems indicative of the way that we ignore the millions of people in our world who are simply saying ‘save us’.
In these few days leading up to Palm Sunday, in your school assemblies or church services, why not talk about those people who need saving? Why not take a special collection for a charity like Christian Aid or The Red Cross? Challenge people to match their spending on Easter eggs with donations to charity?
To help you out in your Palm Sunday assembly or service, why not download our Easter Assembly CD which includes a ready-to-use Palm Sunday assembly, as well as a several suitable children’s song.
Happy Palm Sunday!