Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 2, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 21:1-11 (Procession) and 26:14-27:66 (Passion). Theme: The Message of Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is unique among our liturgies for two reasons, one of which is that the Gospel is proclaimed two times instead of just once. The first sets the scene for what is to unfold before us during Holy Week while the second jumps ahead to the first Good Friday, giving us a kind of preview and preparation for the greatest events that took place in human history. And this is why, also unlike most of our liturgies, today’s commemoration has a double name as well as a double Gospel: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. This double name reminds us that the palms we bless, distribute and then carry in procession today point us to Good Friday. They also can teach us three things about ourselves as we enter upon this most Holy Week.
First, Palm Sunday shows us that we are fickle, so often living as “fair-weather friends” of God. It’s so very easy for us to judge and condemn the cheering crowds of Palm Sunday who then turned on Jesus just a few days later, calling for his crucifixion. They wanted a Messiah who would defeat the Romans and bring autonomy to Israel. So when Jesus was arrested and taken captive by their oppressors, they saw their hopes trashed and they turned on Him. He wasn’t the kind of Savior they wanted. And yet…before we point a finger at them…we have to stop and examine our own attitudes towards Jesus. Have I ever shaken a fist at God, like the people in that crowd, because he wasn’t acting like the kind of Savior I expected and wanted Him to be in my life? And so, we have to ask ourselves quite honestly if we also see in Him only what we want to see for our benefit?
Secondly, Palm Sunday makes us participants in the Passion. This is why we read the gospel in parts with the congregation representing the cheering (and then condemning) crowds of Jerusalem. The various characters of the Passion are not just historical figures of the past but they include us! And like them, we have also called for the crucifixion of Christ, not with our lips but choices made in our lives. The history of each one of us shows that there have been times when we have betrayed Jesus with Judas; we have denied Him with Peter; and we have abandoned Him along with the other disciples. Every one of us can relate to Pilate’s cowardice in caving into social pressure and choosing popularity over doing what was right. Palm Sunday reminds us that we are people of the Passion because our sins we have contributed to the suffering and death of the Lord.
Thirdly, Palm Sunday is a proclamation of Jesus’ ultimate victory. Despite the fickleness of our hearts and the litany of our sins, Christ died for us. And not just for “us” as in the cumulative sense of the human race. But individually and personally, for each one of us, as if you or I were the only ones in the whole universe who were in need of salvation! And on top of all that, while struggling to breathe on the cross, He asked God the Father to forgive us because we truly do not realize what we are doing when we choose to sin. And so the palms we hold in our hands and carry in procession today are a sign of the victory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The victory of love over hatred; the victory of grace over sin; the victory of forgiveness over condemnation; the victory of eternal life over everlasting death.
So when we bring our palms home and put them behind our crucifixes - or wherever you display yours during the Easter Season- let them be a silent but powerful reminder about the message they convey. Let them assure us that despite our fickleness and our failures; despite our part in contributing to His Passion, Jesus shows us in an unmistakable way that selfless love is the very nature of God. He calls each one of us to believe this and trust in Him with all our hearts. To withhold this trust wounds His Heart which was pierced through for us in His Passion. Christ wants us to go forward into the bittersweet days of Holy Thursday and Good Friday never forgetting that it brought Him - and will bring us - to the victory, glory and praise of Resurrection!
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