Line upon Line

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Three or four weeks ago many Christians celebrated a yearly religious event known as Lent. This forty day period of fasting or abstinence is meant to prepare traditional Christians for Easter. While we as LDS Christians do not participate in this tradition, it does remind most Christians in a very physical way that Easter is just around the corner. Since few Christians remember the vernal equinox formula for calculating the exact date of Easter, Lent provides a valuable calendaring marker for the upcoming celebration.

As a Christian faith, Mormons have been faulted for not celebrating or emphasizing Easter very much.1 While we do celebrate it, our commemorations usually consist of a special musical performance in our Sacrament meetings and perhaps a nice Sunday meal. Often even our Sunday School, Relief Society, and Priesthood lessons that day deal with other topics like tithing, home teaching, or reverence.

This Easter casualness raises the question why we as LDS don’t place more emphasis on this event. Certainly it cannot be attributed to a diminished doctrinal position. In both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon the first Easter receives unsurpassed attention. In Jerusalem they ran with “awe and great joy”2 to bring others word of His victory. In the new world many gathered at the temple and marveled at the signs and the great changes that had taken place.3 Even the practice of Sabbath day worship on Sunday can be traced to the early saints meeting on the day of the resurrection of Jesus.

In addition to ancient prophets and saints celebrating Easter, our modern prophets have placed Easter as our most important commemoration. President Hinckley in three separate Conference addresses emphasized that Easter morning is “the greatest” event of all time. In his final statement he even heightened his superlative by adding: “I do not hesitate to say that.” Scores of other modern prophets have also added their testimonies of this singular event.4

With these combined voices from our modern prophets as well as from our primary scriptural texts, it remains quite odd that we of all Christians would struggle to really celebrate Easter appropriately. But research verifies that we often prepare for Easter with almost the same emphasis that we give the Fourth of July and far less than we do for Thanksgiving or Christmas.5 Combining these two strands of our doctrinal emphasis and our practical neglect, forces us to ask the introspective question, Why do we struggle when so many of our other devote Christian neighbors give appropriate attention to Easter?

The answer to this question I believe lies in our separateness from other forms of Christianity. Stated more simply, we as LDS tend to avoid non-scriptural, Christian traditions. Yet in avoiding these Easter traditions, we handicap ourselves in one large way. Because we have no Mardi Gras nor Lent, we never really know when Easter is upon us.

Since the problem centers around no pre-Easter markers, why not observe the obvious, scriptural, pre-Easter markers? The best pre-Easter, scriptural, marker for all Christians has to be the formal beginning of the Easter week. In all four New Testament Gospels the writers mention in considerable detail the grand entry in Jesus’ ministry known as the “Triumphal Entry.” This occurred as he ceremoniously entered Jerusalem at the start of the Passover celebration and multitudes flocked to see and welcome him. Today this event is remembered by most Christians as Palm Sunday. For Christians it marks the beginning of their formal Easter celebration.

We could do well to let Triumphal Entry also commence our Easter Week. During the past couple of years the Church has made a concerted effort to heighten our Easter worship. Beginning in 2014 the Church announced special Easter initiatives such as, “Because of Him” (2014), “Because He Lives” (2015), “Hallelujah” (2016), and this year, “The Prince of Peace.” Of particular note is the 2015 posting where the Easter initiative outlined a separate Easter emphasis for each of the eight days of the Easter celebration.   This posting also suggested that to begin the Easter Week we ought to first turn our attention to the Triumphal Entry. And now this past week, in his Saturday afternoon Conference talk, Elder Ballard recommended that we celebrate Palm Sunday in preparation for Easter Sunday.6

So what would be appropriate ways that we could celebrate Palm Sunday? The first might be to understand more fully what occurred on that notable Sunday many years ago. From what the scriptures detail, the Savior spent most of his ministry in Galilee and came down to Jerusalem only occasionally to participate in the Passover feast. As his ministry was drawing to a close, he made his way towards Jerusalem one last time. En route he visited the home of Mary and Martha, which was just over the hill from Jerusalem. There in a spectacular display of his power over death, he raised Lazarus from his tomb, even after his body had begun to rot (See John 11).

Shortly thereafter, as he made his way into Jerusalem, he orchestrated his final entry by procuring a young donkey in fulfillment of ancient prophecy.7 He entered the city from the east. Owing to the Passover, the raising of Lazarus, and his open entry into the city, great multitudes came out to welcome him. They honored him specifically with two symbolic gestures. First they covered his path with their garments, symbolizing the welcome given to royalty when entering a city. And second they used palm branches to represent his victory over all. The convergence of these symbols should not be overlooked. The prince (clothing on his path) of peace (the donkey) rides into the city victorious (the palm branches).   What powerful symbolism filled that first Triumphal Entry.

But is it not possible, that perhaps it was more a curious crowd who had heard of this Jesus and finally had their chance to see him? No, this notion was dispelled completely with the messianic greeting that the crowd shouted that Sunday morning. “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The Pharisees were beside themselves with contempt and reviled him because of the crowd’s devotion. His response was an in-your-face comment about how even the stones would rebel if he were to silence their adulations.8   Thus the Triumphal Entry became the most public display of support for Jesus during his entire mortal ministry. How interesting in the Father’s plan for his begotten son that four days before he would descend below all things, he would be praised and adored by most.

So what aspects of Triumphal Entry could we incorporate into our Palm Sunday activities? Here is a short list of possible suggestions.

1. We could reenact the three dominant symbols of his triumphal ride into the city. Little children love to ride on the back of a makeshift donkey (i.e., dad) and others can wave apricot or peach blossoms and put blankets down in front of the procession.
2. We could then discuss the three symbolic gestures and how Jesus was the perfect embodiment of each of those symbols.
3. We could participate in an act of service for someone else on this day. Service is one of the surest ways to feel peace in our hearts. This then can be related to the fact that on Palm Sunday we welcome the prince or the author of peace into our lives and our homes.
4. Finally, we could discuss in some detail the phrase Hosanna and its Hebrew meaning of, “save us now,” or “salvation is now.” This was a messianic proclamation during the Triumphal Entry and it signified the people accepting Jesus as their personal Messiah and Savior. (see Psalms 118:25-26) Likewise our modern day parallel to this is the Hosanna Shout which we now give in our temple dedications. In essence with our temple dedications we are proclaiming as those of the original Palm Sunday, ‘You, dear Lord, are our Messiah and we now accept you into our lives and into your holy house.’

A few years ago I realized how little my own children understood this deep symbolism. We had all attended a temple dedication in our local stake center. After the dedication on the way back home, I asked my children what they had enjoyed the most about the dedicatory services. They mentioned glowingly the beauty of the building, the talks by the prophets, and the celestial choir numbers. However, they overlooked the one that I was hoping for, and so when the conversation began to lag, I put forth the question, “So what did you think of the Hosanna Shout?” After an awkward silence, my oldest daughter blurted out, “Dad, it was kind of weird!” And then it hit me. I had done nothing to connect them with the majesty of the Triumphal Entry and that original, special moment, when the multitude shouted for joy, ‘save us now, our personal messiah.’

When we come to fully appreciate President Hinckley’s repeated refrain, “It was the greatest event in human history,” then I believe we will see the significance of a week long celebration beginning with Palm Sunday.

 

1. https://religionnews.com/2014/03/05/mormons-lent-cross-jesus/
2. Matthew 28:8 New English Bible
3. 3 Nephi 11:1-2
4. Ensign 5/94, 5/96, 5/99
5. Celebrating Easter, Thomas Wayment and Keith Wilson, 2007 p.213-214
6. See LDS.org
7. Zechariah 9:9
8. John 12:13, Luke 19:40