In preparing a sermon for Palm Sunday, I discovered that I didn't understand the correct meaning of the word sanguine. I had heard it many times but thought it meant sad or melancholy. However, as I did some research, I found I was quite mistaken. The word first and foremost is a color, "blood red." Further, it means to be optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. Other synonyms include bullish, hopeful, positive, disposed to look on the bright side, confident, cheerful, cheery, bright.

"When Jesus entered Jerusalem the people spread their clothes in the way and strewed branches before Him in order to do Him honour. Jesus rode upon an ass, according to the word of the prophet. His feet did not touch the road which was decorated in His honour. It was the ass which trod upon the garments and the branches. But the ass would have been very foolish to have been uplifted on that account; for the road really was not decked in its honour! It would be just as foolish if those who bear Christ to men were to think anything of themselves because of what men do to them for the sake of Jesus." Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), Indian Christian missionary

"When Christ entered into Jerusalem the people spread garments in the way: when He enters into our hearts, we pull off our own righteousness, and not only lay it under Christ's feet but even trample upon it ourselves." Augustus Toplady (174-0-1778), Anglican clergyman and hymn writer best known for penning "Rock of Ages"

"Practically everyone has known the taste of Palm Sunday, the sweetness of success and popularity, and nearly all of us have tasted the bitterness of Good Friday, of failure and rejection. What saves us from an endless round of ups and downs, what frees us from the tyranny of events over which we have no control is our commitment to press forward in obedience to God - it is trust in God's love to bring about Easter morning, - knowing that the meaning of life is to be found in the knowledge and love of God,- and in sharing that knowledge and love with those who accompany us on the way." Rev. Richard J. Fairchild

"Everyone who lined the streets had a different reason for waving those palms. Some were political activists; they'd heard Jesus had supernatural power, and they wanted him to use it to free Israel from Roman rule. Others had loved ones who were sick or dying. They waved branches, hoping for physical healing. Some were onlookers merely looking for something to do, while others were genuine followers who wished Jesus would establish himself as an earthly king. Jesus was the only one in the parade who knew why he was going to Jerusalem - to die. He had a mission, while everyone else had an agenda." Bill Hybels (1951- ), author, founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, and leader of the Willow Creek seeker-style movement

"But what are we really doing when we join this procession as part of the throng which went up with Jesus to Jerusalem and hailed him as King of Israel? Is this anything more than a ritual, a quaint custom? Does it have anything to do with the reality of our life and our world? To answer this, we must first be clear about what Jesus himself wished to do and actually did. … Jesus set out as a pilgrim towards Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He was journeying towards the Temple in the Holy City, towards that place which for Israel ensured (in a particular way) God’s closeness to his people. He was making his way towards the common feast of Passover, the memorial of Israel’s liberation from Egypt and the sign of its hope of definitive liberation. He knew that what awaited him was a new Passover and that he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. He knew that in the mysterious gifts of bread and wine he would give himself for ever to his own, and that he would open to them the door to a new path of liberation, to fellowship with the living God. He was making his way to the heights of the Cross, to the moment of self-giving love. The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being." Pope Benedict (1927 - ), currently Pope Emeritus of theCatholic Church, having served as Pope from 2005 to 2013

"When I consider the story of that first Palm Sunday, I am struck by the thought that … a coat might not be worth much after a donkey walks on it. In a crowd like that there was no guarantee that once you laid it down you were ever going to get it back. For some reason, the text leads me to believe those people probably weren’t real interested in coats at that moment when Jesus rode by. No, these people, many of them probably very poor, weren’t as concerned about coats as they were about praise. For the people on Palm Sunday, praising Jesus might … cost them something. That sounds a little bit like a sacrifice. The Bible speaks of a sacrifice of praise. Fitting, isn’t it, for someone who saved our lives by sacrificing his own?" Matthew Rogers, as published in a sermon on battlecreekchurch.org

The Scriptures prophesied the coming of the Messiah in two remarkably different scenes. One prophecy has him entering the city of Jerusalem on a donkey, while the other describes him arriving on a great war stallion.

"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).

"Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords" (Revelations 19:11-16, NLT).