Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10
ABOUT PALM SUNDAY.
The Remarkable Events That Marked
the First Day Of Holy Week.
COMING OF NAzARETH'S PROPHET.
The Great Procession Welcomed With Song
and Palm Branches.
A LOOK AT THE SINS OF JERUsALEN
WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCH. ]

What is it that sanctifes this week 50 that
we call it Holy Week? What is it that sets
it apart among the weeks as Sunday is set
apart among the days? Why is it that the
church doors stand open, and the services
are multiplied, and the number of wor-
shippers is augmented, and people kneel
here praying with sober faces, tears in their
eyes, new love in their hearts? What
makes this difference between the days of
this week and all the other days of all the
other weeks of the whole year? The evan
gelists tell US in the gospels.
| That is the sort of sermon that they
preached in the old days, at the beginning
They did not take text and exDound it,
story-the most beautiful, the most helpful,
the divinest story ever told in any tongue
the story of the life and death of Jesus
| They told what they had seen and heard and
learned of Him-His wonderful uplifting,
revealing words, His deeds of mercy and
marvel, His blessed sacrifice upon the cross.
They tried to bring the people close to
| Christ.
Trying to Make the Blind see.
They went about among the men and
women who had never seen Him, or seeing
had failed to see Him, and they tried to
make them understand, to open their blind
| eyes, to show them the face Of Jesus, that
they too might share the divine secret
which brought heaven near, and changed
doubt into assurance, and made life worth
living. "Jesus Christ and Him cruciied, I"
they preached, over and over, day after
day, never getting weary.
We ought to have Palm Sunday sermon
of that kind to day. Let us remember
about Palm Sunday. Let us try to get the
story clear, and understandable, and real.
Let US 60 back across the seas and the
centuries.
We are in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is
crowded with people; for the Feast of the
Passover is near at hand. Every house is
full of guests; all the country villages are
thronged with visitors; even the fields are
white with the tents of the pilgrims. And
around about, among these crowds of people,
is passing a question without an answer.
Everybody is discussing it, and wonder
ing about it. Is the Prophet of Nazareth
here? Will He venture to be present at
the Passover. Everybody knew about Him.
Many had seen Him walking in their
streets; many could tell of words which He
had said, of miracles He had done, of sick
people on whom His hands had rested in
healing benediction. In Jerusalem, this
morning, and in all the country round
about, there is much wondering talk of
Jesus of Nazareth.
The Cause Losing Ground.
Last night, some say, He was at Bethany,
and sat at supper there in Simon's house;
and Lazarus was with Him, and Mary
poured precious ointment over His feet, and
wiped them with the tresses Of her hair;
and Judas, one of the Twelve, complained
about it. Better to have taken the price of
the ointment and to have spent it for the
poor Judas, it is likely, was not the only
one who said that Day by day, for weeks
and months, the cause of the Prophet of
Nazareth has been losing ground. Little
by little, He has been losing His hold upon
the people. One after another they who
have called themselves His friends have
turned their backs upon Him and forsaken
Him. The great people, in the Church and
in the State, the clergy, the wealthy and in.
auential laity, have been against Him all
along.
Ard these last months the hatred and the
number Of His enemies have increased to-
gether, especially in Jerusalem. In
Galilee, and in the country generally, some
enthusiasm fingers. And the apostles are
still faithful. But all the power of the
land stands in opposition. And the end is
certain. Will He venture into the presence
of His open enemies? Will He attend the
Passover? He is over there in Bethany,
across the Kedron bridge, on the other side
of the summit of the Mount of Olives. Will
He come nearer?
The Master Was Coming.
At last in the middle Of the morning
there is a rumor. Certain have hurried
down the slope of Olivet, and over the
bridge into the city, and have brought word
that the Prophet Of Nazareth is coming, in
deed, and is coming to-day. Early this
morning He sent two Of His disciples to a
village near to Bethany, and told them that
at a certain corner they would find an ass
colt tied And when they began to unloose
the colt and the owners stopped them, they
answered: cit is for the Master" Every
body knew who that was
The village had its share of Passover pill |
grims, and they had been asking at that very
corner. standing there and talking, Will the |
Master 60? And they all knew what that |
meant The question was answered now |
Probably some started straight from that |
village street corner, and hastened |
into the city with the news. And so
60 out to meet Him. And presently there is |
a sound of voices, trampling of feet, and
there comes around a corner Of the hill the
company of Bethany pilgrims, and people
from all the mountain side, and the apostles,
and amid them, riding on the ass colt, the |
Master.
1t Was q Glorious Reception.
And we all begin to shout at the sight of
Him, and to greet Him with acclamations,
and we tell each other where we have seen
Him before, and what we have seen Him
do and heard Him saw, and we cast our long
royal carpet for Him and We pull down
branches from the palm trees and wave them
in the air, and fling them at His feet, and
we are all singing with all our hearts and
all our voices, the pilgrim welcome: "Ho-
sanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He that cometh in the.
name of the Lord-Blessed the kingdom
that cometh, the kingdom of our father
is He that eometh in the
name of the d-Hosanna-Hosanna in
the highest-Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest!"
The words are familiar words They are
sounding these Passover days, along all the
roads which lead to Jerusalem, greeting the
pilgrim companies. But somehow we sing
them with new emphasis and q new mean
ing; SO that certain Pharisees among us cry
out in anger against the enthusiasm of our
welcome, saying. one to another, perceive
ye how We prevail nothing? Behold, the
peal to Christ Himself-Master, rebuke
INV d;ecinIea tn which the Pronhet of |