by Sarah Bourns Crosby

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” —Luke 19:38

Act I

You triumphantly entered the city

Amidst praise and admiration.

You were lauded, hailed king;

They bowed down in adoration.

Throwing cloaks, waving branches

They rejoiced in jubilee.

“Hosanna, in the highest;”

They proclaimed your victory.

Act II

You woefully wept over the city

With pain and lamentation.

“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

I have seen your desolation.”

“Would that you had gathered

Your children to my wings.

Would that you surrendered,

But no, you were unwilling.”

Act III

You fiercely turned over the tables,

With angry indignation.

“My Father’s temple was to be

A house of prayer for all nations.”

“Oh, you den of robbers,

Woe, you cheats and thieves.

I’ve come for the blind, the poor;

To bring healing, to set free.”

Reprise

In the very same city,

On the very same day,

The very same Jesus

Showed us The Way.

To live with this tension

Of both triumph and weeping;

To hold seeming contradictions

Of both breaking and healing.

So, may we too, today

Carry both hope and lament.

May we lift hands in praise;

May we rend hearts to repent.

And may we hear the same Jesus

Give the same sweet invitation,

To pick up our cross

And walk the same road of salvation.