After the raising of Lazarus, imagine how word must have spread. Jesus was no huckster, no magician. Lazarus was really dead—dead and buried for four days. Then Jesus came and called Lazarus out of the grave. He obeyed.

Communication networks in the time of Jesus were not as sophisticated as our media, social platforms and digital outlets. Yet word got around. Quickly.

Jesus, the man who raised Lazarus from the dead, the one who fed thousands multiple times, he’s coming here, to Jerusalem.

Who doesn’t want to come and see his arrival.

And so, the crowd unfolded and grew. Palm branches waving. Coats thrown on the ground in a frenzied worship. And yet it was not as we might have imagined, a humble man, riding on a donkey.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Hear all the tribes hosanna cry;
O Savior meek, pursue Your road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.

Perpetua, a pregnant slave in second-century Rome, had come to faith in Jesus and was sentenced to death. but the spectacle of her execution was delayed due to her pregnancy. After she gave birth to her child, she was paraded into the Coliseum with two other women of faith also condemned to death. She was the first of the three women to be wounded. The crowd cheered. A bull released to finish the job of her death mysteriously would not attack, so gladiators had to do the killing. Before her execution, guards asked her about being killed so soon after the birth of her only child. She answered: “When I face the beasts there will be another who lives in me, and will suffer for me since I will be suffering for him.” A Christian family adopted her infant.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Your triumphs now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin.

In 1555, John Rogers was paraded to his place of execution in London. Though he petitioned for chances to visit with family members during this incarceration, such requests were rejected. His children were among the crowd as they followed him to the place of death. Here is part of the exchange he had with his executioner:
“Will you revoke your evil opinions of the Sacrament?”
“That which I have preached I will seal with my blood.”
“You are a heretic then.”
“That shall be known at the day of judgment.”
“I will never pray for you.”
“But I will pray for you,” Rogers answered, just moments before he was engulfed by flames.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
The host of angels in the sky
look down with sad and wond’ring eyes
to see th’approaching Sacrifice.

When Ahmed decided to follow Christ in the 1990s, his Hindu family rejected him. But he devoted himself to the church and to sharing the gospel with his Hindu neighbors. During Ramadan he gave away the gospel on audiocassette and then began to leave the media in public places for people to take. As his ministry has grown, Ahmed has become a target, so he moved his family around often for protection. His family moved 185 times from 2000 to 2019. Things have calmed down, but he says “In the Bible, when persecution comes, the ministry grows. …If there is persecution, I can face it. …I wish to see great transformation among the Kashmiri people. If I am killed, I will have fought a good fight. I will have run a good race.”

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Your last and fiercest strife is nigh.
The Father on His sapphire throne
awaits His own anointed Son.

This report from this week’s Prayer for the Persecuted Church prayer sheet:
Anisha and Ashish, who married early in 2023, went to a local church in search of healing from demonic spirits that harassed Ashish. Church members prayed for them, and Ashish was healed. The newlyweds began to read the Bible they had received at the church and soon wanted to place their trust in Jesus Christ. When Ashish’s parents found the Bible, they insisted that the young couple renounce Christ and stop going to church. Ashish agreed, but Anisha did not. She was forced to leave the home without money for food or shelter, so the local church helped her with basic needs. Soon, Ashish decided to join her again. Now Anisha asks for prayer for the strengthening of her husband’s faith and that they would together stand firm and be witnesses for Christ in their families. They are currently considering attending a training program to grow in their knowledge of the Bible.

Let's ride on, ride on in majesty in this parade of palms, casting down our cloaks onto the ground where the humble King rides. Let us live in sacrifice and service in our parade of faith.