PALM SUNDAY & Sunday of the Passion April 13, 2025

Prayer of the Day

Sovereign God, you have established your rule in the human heart through the servanthood of Jesus Christ. By your Spirit, keep us in the joyful procession of those who with their tongues confess Jesus as Lord and with their lives praise him as Saviour, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Luke 19:28-40

28 After he had said this, [Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,

 “Blessed is the king

  who comes in the name of the Lord!

 Peace in heaven,

  and glory in the highest heaven!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Reflections for the day

    Recent protests in the US and other places connect powerfully and squarely with Palm Sunday—That rag tag procession was protest defying the most powerful empire in the world at the time. Cosmopolitan folk from Jerusalem would scoff at a parading troupe of Galileans who were always viewed with suspicion and a bit of derision.   Anyone marching or calling out “hosanna” risked being spotted by Roman spies and torture and execution wouldn’t be out of the question.

The improvised parade was parody of the carefully choreographed imperial parades  displaying military prowess and intended to coerce people to bend the knee, pledge allegiance to Caesar—and look to him for both their day to day survival and ultimately as the one who  would have claim over who lives and who dies.  To cry “hosanna” meant to reject Caesar as Lord and the one to whom we turn for daily bread. The word “Hosanna”roughly translates Lord, save us.  Sung “Hosannas” call into question loyal to an empire that expected compliance without question.

As Palm Sunday descends into Good Friday, the empire is exposed for what it is; brutal and oppressive.  Threat and violence are the only way things get done. So in reality,  the empire is a ghastly and evil parody of the realm of God—economic sanction and political violence mock God’s vision for the thriving and dignity of all and of creation. This collision is what Holy Week is all about—Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday where Jesus mandates love, Good Friday where God risks everything in the name of love, and Easter Sunday when love conquers death.

Today, the empire wins most of the time. Not always. Not forever. This is why Jesus marches. This is why Jesus washes feet. This is why Jesus willingly allows his own arrest. This is why in God’s good time God serves up the most decisive rebuttal to the empire’s claim over life and death.

This…is the Easter for which we wait.