And so the scene is repeated, played over in each generation. It may be the story of our own pilgrimage.

We, like those pilgrims of old, often begin with noble motives, high hopes, clear visions, strong resolve. We are, as they were, eager to shout "Hosannah!" The enthusiasm of those around us is contagious. Then comes a day when we realize we have not counted the cost.

Our house is too much. We have overbuilt. The enemy has out-manned and out-flanked us. It is prudent now to look the other way and to take up another song. The prevailing powers have made it quite clear about who butters our bread and where realism dwells. Our ideals are put aside for more "practical" approaches to life. And we allow ourselves to admit what we thought was a triumph was only a False Spring.

Yet even a False Spring can be a taste; a harbinger of things to come. Though winter has not had its last hurrah, spring will come again!

So take heart! "Palm Sunday" is a symbol of great things to come, of resurrection. The False Spring reminds us we cannot move from Palm Sunday to Easter without passing over Golgotha and through the tomb. For it is true that as soon as we are born we begin to die. It is also true that before we can begin to live we must learn to die. Only when we have mastered that lesson are we free for abundant living.

How can we master that lesson? Recall the Lord's word: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die."

We have passed from death to life. There is no need to live in the shadow of death, nervous as starlings that can be frightened by a mere clap of the hands. Once we have come to grips with that truth we can get on with what is significant. Realizing winter returns after a False Spring but knowing that true spring will come, we can abandon pretense and get on to living with purpose. Death has been conquered and we can sing the doxology:

"Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy victory?

O death, where is thy sting?

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:54-57)

We do not despair then. Today is only a kind of False Spring. Christ did not go riding into a mere piece of real estate, no matter how much or how often we call it a "Holy City." He rode to His destiny to seal His fate and the future of all who believe in Him.

This story is a symbol of things to come, of things as they can be, for that False Spring assures us the Kingdom will come to those who have eyes of faith.

Even as the shadow of a cross hangs over this parade, making our celebration short lived, let this festive day -- these songs of joy and triumph -- encourage us to walk in faith toward a garden of agony and a hill of suffering, confident that night will pass and a third day will be ushered in.

That False Spring says "Not yet. Wait a little longer. We must first pass the cross and the tomb."

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Pet. 5:10).