Sermon: Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday,  the Church recalls the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem on what was to be the last week of his life.   He was accompanied by a large crowd of people who greeted him as their king.  By the end of the week people were shouting for his death,  so what happened to change their minds? 

Let’s look at who these people were.  Were they already in Jerusalem or had they travelled with Jesus from Galilee and other places?   There were many people who had cause to be grateful to Jesus for what he had done for them.  There were blind people to whom he gave sight.  There were lepers whom he cleansed.  There were deaf people whose hearing was restored.  There were people who had heard Jesus speak and for the first time they had understood what life means and how they relate to God and for the first time had experienced peace and happiness in their lives.   There was Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from death.    So I think we can assume that some of these people may well have accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem.  It is therefore no surprise that all these people started this demonstration of support for Jesus.

As with any demonstration others joined in, probably many who did not know of the teaching, healing and preaching of Jesus.   Some may well have joined in because they saw Jesus as a new king who  would free them from Roman imperial rule.  So in that crowd there were many who for various reasons welcomed Jesus into town.

The demonstration soon drew the suspicion of the religious and political authorities.   The religious authorities soon decided that they must find a way of putting Jesus to death.  They achieve this by a number of false trials from which they bring Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pilate.   They were afraid that even thjs would not be enough for Pilate to sentence Jesus to death, as Pilate would see that Jesus was no violent criminal who threatened the stability of the empire.

In order to convince Rome that Jesus should be put to death they had to get the crowds to turn against Jesus.  They succeed in this and soon had the crowd calling out for Jesus to be killed.  By now, Pilate is afraid of a riot so gives in to them.

Was this a change of opinion by the people who shouted “Hosanna, praise the King”  and three days later shouted “Crucify him”    In fact, it could be, but not on the part of all the people.   Many people in the crowd acclaiming Jesus as King were after a few days disappointed when they realised Jesus was not going to use violence to bring in  his kingdom.   The perceived him as being weak when he spoke of a kingdom of peace.  For this reason they turned against him.

As we know there were others in that crowd on the first Palm Sunday who were completely loyal to Jesus,  those who were grateful for all he had done for them.  I find it hard to believe that these people would turn against him.  However, let’s remember who they were.  These people were poor people, they had no influence in the corridors of religious and political power.  It would be an easy task for the authorities to suppress these people and make sure they did not shout in support of Jesus at the trial.  They could do no more than quietly follow at a distance, which in fact some of them did – even to the cross itself. 

As we begin this observance of Holy Week, how do we see this story which many of us have heard so many times?   I think the collect (the special prayer ) for Holy Week gives us a clue.  We pray that  “we may follow the example of his patience and humility”.   This is not just any story. It is our story, and on Palm Sunday we take our place with that crowd as we acclaim Jesus as our King, and remember all he has done for us and how he blesses our lives.   We too may not be powerful and  influential but our story is following Jesus in patience and humility.   The collect continues by praying that we may be “partakers of his resurrection.”.   So we are partakers and not spectators.   We ourselves are part of the events of this Holy Week.

Let is take the opportunity that this Holy Week offers by following Jesus in patience and humility through Bible reading, through prayer and worship.  This will lead us as we prepare to celebrate Easter to be ourselves partakers of his resurrection.