Palm Sunday 2024

Palm Sunday, the start of a liturgical re-enactment of the most important week in human history.  This week we walk along side Jesus; from the entry into Jerusalem, the last supper with the institution of the Eucharist, the demonstration of servant ministry in the washing of feet and the great Mundate…the command to love one another as Christ loved us. 

Then on Good Friday, we accompany Christ to Gethsemene, along the stations of the cross and to his death on the cross for our salvation.  We hold vigil with Christ’s mother and disciples at the Great Vigil Saturday night until the Son rises Easter morning to the ringing of Alleluias. 

It all starts today, with the Entry into Jerusalem and the procession of the palms.  For us Palm Sunday is a time of celebration and parade, but for those who witnessed Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem it would have been laden with meaning.

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would have instantly brought to mind the triumphal entries that took place when a Roman victory was won.  Jerusalem was very familiar with the pageantry and the symbolism of a Roman Triumph as well as the power of those who received a triumph.

In a Roman Triumph the victorious general would enter clothed as Jupiter the Ruler of the Roman gods, and be hailed for the day as King.  He would ride the streets of Rome in a chariot, be crowned with gold, and flowers would be thrown to carpet his way.

The great Victor would be taken to the temple where prisoners were sacrificed as a offering and the Victor would offer up his golden crown in token of his humanity and humility before the gods.

Jesus’s entry mimicked these Triumphs, and the local population would have seen this and knew their roll to play

“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, saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’”

 

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.  Not in the name of Rome. Not in the name of oppression or war or military victory, a different king and a different triumph.

But the crowds weren’t the only ones who recognized the dramatic and highly inflammatory political statement Jesus was making; the Pharisees, who acted as gate keepers of the status quo also recognized Jesus’ statement and feared the possible consequences for the Jewish people if Rome saw Jesus’ entry as a threat. 

The Pharisees looked on in anxiety and called for the crowds to be silent, not to draw the attention of the authorities.  Jesus however did not listen, and declared beautifully and poetically “I tell you, if (the crowds) were silent, the stones would shout out”.

The very stones would shout out, hosanna to the King. 

I love this image, and the depth of meaning it contains.  Jesus triumphal entry, the start to this tumultuous and eventful holy week is not a matter for humanity alone, it is a matter for all of creation, at Christ’s triumphal entry, the very earth and all creation cries out “blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.”

This week’s liturgies re-enact the story of salvation.  The way in which God devested himself of power, enfleshed himself in humanity, and gifted us with salvation.  This week shows us the depth of love that God has, the lengths to which God will go in order to bring about that salvation.  Health, healing, and wholeness, and not for us alone.

God is God of all creation, not just of humanity and it is such a beautiful image Jesus gives us, that even without humanities participation the very stones that line the paths of Jesus entry into Jerusalem would be depicted as participating in crying out in triumph, in calling to the king, the God of all our salvation.

Humanity tends to be somewhat, or more honestly, incredibly self centered.  We have taken the imperative from Genesis to have dominion or rule over the earth as a dictatorship, rather than a stewardship over the earth.  As a result, many if not most of the civilizations that have evolved, have taken the mentality that the earth and its creatures exists to fulfil humanities needs, whims and desires, with disastrous results.

Yet, here we find Jesus saying the earth will praise God and cry out for salvation, for heath, healing and wholeness.  It is not just for ourselves that Christ has come, nor simply for ourselves that Christ will die, and it is not only for humanity that Christ will rise and come again, it is for all of Creation.

We read in Revelation:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals.  He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them he will wipe every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’”

 

Christ’s salvation, which we witness this week, will ultimately result in a new heaven and a new earth, all things made new.  Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.  Not among people. Not amidst the earth.  All that brokenness will be healed.

 The damage we do in sin; to ourselves, to each other, to God’s creatures and to the earth itself will be healed and there will be a redeemed and new creation.

A fulfilment of the covenant that God made with Noah, that the earth will not be drowned or destroyed…a reminder that all of Creation was made by God for God, each part with it’s own purpose to fulfill, to the glory of God. 

A point made clear throughout scripture, wherein we find creation praising God unceasingly. In Isaiah where the mountains and hills are singing and trees are described as clapping their hands in joy.   The whole of Psalm 148, which describes the earth as being called to praise God; sun and moon, earth and heavens, and in Revelation we read that all of the creatures of the earth praise God.

All things were made for God’s glory, and all things have been impacted by humanities sinful nature, which has done damage to all aspects of God’s beloved creation.

That is the reason Christ came, the reason this week’s events were necessary, because God so loved the world... the world damaged and broken by sin, that God would give anything to restore creation to wholeness once more.    

Our sin and God’s grace.

 Each week we celebrate Christ’s triumphant resurrection in the Eucharistic feast, but often we forget the reasons we pray that prayer of Humble Access beforehand.  We say by route, that which we should know in our hearts and minds.  That we should not presume that we deserve all God has given us, that we have neither earned nor merited the miracle of salvation.

 Rather, we recall that we are a broken people, prone to sin and error, in need of God’s salvific love.

That is why each year we spend this week recalling, in liturgical re-enactment, the means by which God has brought forth this salvation which we need so desperately.

Today, we start our holy week journey; welcoming Christ with open arm shouting hosanna and laying palms and leaves before his feet, acknowledging Christ as King.  However, we know the path this story will take and this week we will see humanity at it’s best, and at it’s worst.  The cries of hosanna will turn, and those same people who shout with praise, will soon cry out in violence, a poignant example of humanities ability to rise and fall. 

And alongside the crowd, stands creation, bearing witness; crying out hosannas of praise this day and at Christ’s death turning the sun dark in anguish and making the earth quake in grief.   We remember though that the earth will shake again, heralding the angel that will roll back the mighty stone that sealed Christ’s tomb, and the sun will shine it’s light into that darkest place to show us that death is not the end and salvation is near at hand.

This holy week we walk with Christ and bear witness with all of creation the means of our salvation.  May it be a reminder for us of our place in God’s world and the sacrificial love God has show for us, as witnessed by all of creation.

amen