I admit it: I love parades — especially the drum lines and the bagpipes. When I was growing up in Toronto, Canada, my family went to the annual Christmas parade and it was a big deal. Here in Rabbit Lake, we don't have that kind of sophistication though. At last summer's Rabbit Lake Days parade, the joke was, "We tell folks our parade is two hours long; we just don't say that the same people went around the town over and over again."

That got me thinking. Even in Rabbit Lake, population maybe 60, the people in the parade and the people watching it had to get ready for it. Even for Palm Sunday — when we usually gather in the church — somebody has to order the palm branches, and the congregation is told ahead of time about waving palm branches to celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem! So, why were the people in Jerusalem ready with palm branches when Jesus made His entry? How did they know?

Exodus 12:3,6 – Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. (NIV)

You see, on the tenth day of the month of Nisan, the day that we celebrate as Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem traditionally gathered with palm branches at the ready, because the high priest would return from Bethlehem, where all the temple lambs were raised, with the flocks for the Passover lamb selection day. The crowd would then wave their palm branches and shout, "Hosanna to the lamb of God who has come to take our sins away!" as the high priest went by.

On the day that Jesus came to Jerusalem, He may have followed the high priest's procession closely enough that the crowds would not miss the connection that He was the Lamb of God, as John the Baptist had called Him.

The amazing thing is that the crowd recognized Jesus for who He was: the Messiah. They called Him "Son of David", a Messianic title, and they shouted "Hosanna", which means "save now" — taken from a Messianic psalm. The Lamb of God was greeted as Messiah, high priest, and king by the people — the true sacrificial Lamb who would save, not only them, but everyone who trusted in Him, from their sins. They had watched as the high priest, the representative of the old covenant that God had made through Moses, went by with the sacrificial lamb, and then, they greeted the Representative of the new covenant that God was about to make through Jesus, the final sacrificial Lamb. And they were ready for Him.

Our powerful, loving, caring God sent His Son because He so loved the world, the Son who willingly died for us as our sacrificial Lamb, and who is now at the right hand of the Father, interceding as our high priest. Are we ready for Him? Are we ready to give Him all the praise and honour that is due Him?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are so amazing! Thank You for showing us in such a meaningful way who Your Son really is, and why You sent Him to this world. Thank You, Jesus, for being who You said You were. Help us always to be ready to praise You and give You all the credit for everything You do. Hosanna! In Your name, we pray. Amen.

Psalm 98:4-8 – Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn — shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy. (NIV)

I have a problem with joy. It's supposed to be a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and since I have believed in Jesus Christ, I have the Holy Spirit within me. So, I should feel His joy, right? You guessed it: I don't. Or do I? Maybe I'm confusing it with "happiness".

Nehemiah told the people of Israel that the joy of the Lord was their strength and that they were to celebrate it. The joy of the Lord was their strength. And the psalmist told the people in this festival psalm that they were to shout for joy, just as the sea and the mountains and the rivers expressed their joy.

Hmmm. As Christians, we believe that God the Father created the universe through Jesus His Son with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our God created it all, including us human beings, just because He wanted to. It gave Him great pleasure to do it. Is that why the psalmist could give human characteristics to rivers, mountains, the sea and everything in it — the whole world — and say that they are to show their joy? If joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, then our God must be full of joy. Jesus Himself was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 12:2b – For the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NIV)

It was His joy that gave Him strength. And so, it is His joy that sustains everything, because He keeps everything in this universe going.

So maybe I do have the fruit of the joy of the Holy Spirit within me, since our God made me — us — with joy, and sustains us with joy, too, like the rest of the universe. Maybe all I have to do to feel that joy is to surrender to Him, once again, everything that works to steal that joy. All we have to do is to surrender to the Holy Spirit everything that works to steal His joy from us, whenever pain and hurt and sorrow muscle in to our lives. Then, we will have His joy for ourselves. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come to You with everything that steals the joy of the Holy Spirit away from us. We surrender it all to You, and ask that You take care of all the problems, all the difficulties, all the hurts, and all their causes. We ask that You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit instead, that we may know Your joy. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.