Hymn Study - Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

1 Ride on, ride on, in majesty! Hark! all the tribes hosanna cry. O Savior meek, pursue Thy road, With palms and scattered garments strowed. 2 Ride on, ride on, in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die. O Christ, Thy triumphs now begin O'er captive death and conquered sin. 3 Ride on, ride on, in majesty! The angel armies of the sky Look down with sad and wondering eyes To see the approaching Sacrifice. 4 Ride on, ride on, in majesty! Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh; The Father on His sapphire throne Expects His own anointed Son. 5 Ride on, ride on, in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die. Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain. Then take, O Christ, Thy power and reign.

Today begins Holy Week. In just seven days we'll put on colorful clothes, eat sweets, have a lovely family dinner. Most importantly we'll all go to church to celebrate Jesus defeat over death and sin which is our defeat over sin and death. There's a lot to be excited for on Palm Sunday as our savior makes His way to the cross! Oh yeah, that.

Easter is a bittersweet holiday, Good Friday is a bittersweet holiday, likewise Palm Sunday is a bittersweet holiday. Jesus first fulfills the prophecy given in Zechariah, He miraculously instructs His disciple on how to prepare for this event and now we see Him, riding on a donkey where people treat Him like a king laying down palm branches and cloaks. It's easily the most glorious He ever was short of transfiguration and this side of Heaven.

I wonder what people would say if you had pulled them aside that very first Palm Sunday. Do you think they'd sound a little like Peter? Not I Lord! Put You to death, I'd rather pick up my sword for you King Jesus than to let one be taken to You. But it doesn't matter, because unlike Peter these people didn't weep bitterly. In fact when they finally realize what they had done they were terrified Matthew tells us. Surely this was the Son of God, we're told they proclaimed. What were they saying then on that first Palm Sunday?

But then again, who am I to question them? Here I am telling you that the Lord Jesus was fully deserving of the praise that first Palm Sunday. Here I am telling you He deserves praise now. So imagine if you will, if you were miraculously taken to me during any of the many sins I commit on a daily basis. Do you think you might want to ask me about the article I wrote about the bittersweet celebration of Palm Sunday, and likewise if I were taken to you, might I want to ask why you aren't glorifying Jesus at the minute?

Palm Sunday was nothing more than a death march and Jesus knew this. Jesus knew the celebrating wouldn't last, He knew that this was the last of His moments before dying and it weighed heavily on Him. That said, He graciously and willfully did it. He died for my sin and yours, He died for those laying palm branches and He died for the sins of those cheering a crown of thorns. I'm not worthy of it either, no one is, but that's the beauty of God's grace, we deserve it because God the Father sees only innocence because of Christ.

The hymn almost has a consistent irony throughout. Ride on! Ride on in majesty! Hosannas! But that message disappears, though the tune remains cheery. Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die. It says that the angels watch grieving from Heaven. Bow your meek head to mortal pain. Jesus is going to suffer, and just like those laying palm branches we sing with a smile on our face, we smile at Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the tomb. Why? Because we smile at the empty tomb, we smile at the fulfilled promise, we smile at Jesus who is home in Heaven making it ready for us, but with us at the same time! Never take what Jesus did for you for granted, but at the same time celebrate what He did, because it only served to glorify Him further!