It was Palm Sunday, the first one, the one almost 2,000 years ago. It was a day of parade: Jesus came riding into the city of Jerusalem. And it is written that "the multitudes of people who went before him and they who followed after him shouted and cried aloud, saying, 'Hosanna! blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!'

Well, you and I are in that parade, my friends. We are among those who follow after him - a long time after, of course, a long time after the ancient event.

But Christ is not merely an ancient event; he lives, and is as current at today's sunrise. Therefore, if we follow after him at all, we are really not far away, because the living Christ is very close.

Here today we take our place in a parade that is almost 2,000 years long. Here today we join with others who "went before" and who will "follow after," shouting hosannas and saying from the heart, "Blessed is the King who comes ..."

And come he does - to each new generation, to each new age - the triumphant Lord, marching on through time. 'What privilege, what joy, is ours in our time to take our place in the parade of those who have marched with him, who do today march with him, and who will to the end of time continue to do so.