Never Will the Rocks Cry Out in My Place

This past Sunday was Palm Sunday.  We planned a skit for the kids to do in which they basically re-enacted Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.  We opted to not bring a donkey into the church.  However, palm fronds seemed to be a necessary item to have on Palm Sunday.  So I got the ladder, leaned it up against the side of the palm and climbed up the tree.  When I got to the point at which the palm fronds were, I took the Harbor Freight foldable pruning saw out of my back pocket and began sawing.

As I sawed, they dropped to the ground below.  I sawed about 10 of them in total and then climbed down.  It would be best if each child could hold a palm branch and say, "Hosanna!  Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD!"

Here's the thing with our palm branches, though.  They have these huge thorns that stick out and cut you.  I never can prune this tree without shedding blood.  I had Benjamin cut off all the thorns with some pruning shears so the little kids would cut up their fingers while waving the branches.

While I was brainstorming how to do this skit, I figured just having palm branches wouldn't alone capture the feel of Old Town Jerusalem.  We needed something more!  I figure Jerusalem probably was a bustling city with street markets with vendors trading their wares and probably... Yeah, there were probably goats bleating along the streets.  I'm sure there were baby goats, too.

So the kids carried palm fronds and some carried baby goats.  The kids (and adults) enjoyed the skit.  I'll admit that I was straining, hoping that the goats wouldn't make a mess (#1 or #2) on the carpet in church.  Fortunately, they didn't.

"Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD!"

The climax of the drama to me at least, was when the Pharisees told Jesus to stop the people from praising Him as if He were God.

In Luke 19:40, Jesus answered: "I tell you," He answered, "if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out."

God's Will will be done.  He is sovereign.  If we are reluctant to do His Will, He will work his will through another willing vessel.  How sad, though, that rocks could take the place of His Creation in praising Him?

Some of those people praising Him, however, days later were yelling, "Crucify Him!"  How fickle we can be.  How we can allow the prevailing winds of the world sway us back and forth!  May we remain faithful to Him.  As we prepare for Resurrection Sunday, may we be thankful for the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross that reconciled us with the Father.