Traditionally sung on Palm Sunday, Ride On, Ride On in Majesty is a musical journey through Holy Week, from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) through his crucifixion (Good Friday) to his glorious Resurrection (Easter).
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
Hark! all the tribes hosanna cry;
Thy humble beast pursues his road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, thy triumphs now begin
o'er captive death and conquered sin.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
The angel armies of the sky
look down with sad and wond'ring eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;
the Father on his sapphire throne
awaits his own anointed Son.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow thy meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, thy power, and reign.
I can't have a favorite line in such a wonderful hymn, but if I did, it would be "The Father on his sapphire throne awaits his own anointed Son." Nothing that happened during Holy Week came as a surprise, but was known and expected since the beginning of time. It was not, as a priest tried to tell us one Easter, something that caught Jesus off guard, but rather the very sequence of events for which he was born—and he knew it.
Today is Good Friday. But Easter is coming!
The Father on his sapphire throne awaits his own anointed Son.
