March 29, 2026 "Palm Sunday"

Palm Sunday *

Matthew 21:1-11

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Matthew 21:12-16, 33-46

Matthew 26:1-16

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

 grace and peace to you

from the truly powerful one

who comes riding on a donkey. Amen

From the very beginning of his gospel narrative

 Matthew has been contrasting

the power and authority of God

 with those who claim authority and power in the world.

After Jesus is born,

the magi come to King Herod

asking for the child who had been born king of the Jews,

 an event so powerful that it was written in the stars

 but so lowly that Herod had no idea what they were talking about.

“When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3)

 so frightened

 that when the magi,

warned by an angelic vision

 leave by another road,

Herod has all the children around Bethlehem

 who are two years old or under

killed to eliminate his potential rival.

Of course God ensures Jesus’ survival

 through flight to Egypt

and brings him back when the coast is clear

but this is only the first of many contrasts that Matthew makes,

the king of the world born so humbly as to escape notice

while a king in the world

 is so insecure he kills babies to ensure his position

The contrasts continue

 as Jesus starts preaching and teaching;

he contrasts those who are blessed by God

 with those who are considered blessed by the world.

The meek, the merciful, peacemakers,

these are the blessed in the kingdom of heaven,

 the ones who are trampled by the mighty,

the ruthless, the warmakers

 those the world honors. (Matthew 5)

Jesus’ teachings provide such a contrast

that he begins to be accused of departing from the law,

 the tradition of his people

but he says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)

Jesus is God’s way of fulfilling the law,

And Matthew provides many helpful quotations from prophets

 throughout his gospel to point to this,

including as Jesus enters Jerusalem for the first time

 this time with a nod to the prophet Zechariah (9:9)

As usual Matthew paints a picture in contrasts,

Jesus the messiah, the king

 entering the capital city on a humble donkey

as opposed to a mighty war horse,

 surrounded by a motley crew of disciples

 rather than armored legions,

 and yet this entrance

draws a great crowd

 shouting Hosanna to the Son of David

 and Matthew tells us that “When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking ‘who is this?’”

Once again Jesus disturbs the great city of Jerusalem,

 once again it is the humility of his entrance

 that disrupts a city used to great shows of power (https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching-series/palm-sunday-jesuss-triumphal-entry-matthews-version) 

Conquering kings and armies

 Have paraded through city streets

 sending the message to the people,

 ‘look how powerful we are, we just beat your army,

we’re in control now, bow before our might and authority”

a procession of domination.

 Jerusalem

 the city that has been conquered many times

is used to that.

What disturbs it

 is a man entering a city riding on a donkey

an everyday event one must imagine,

 donkeys being the economic transportation model of the day,

 and yet for this man a crowd gathers

and lays their cloaks on the road

 and cuts branches to soften the path,

and it is the crowd who proclaims who is arriving

 “Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

This is true authority,

 authority that has no need to explain or justify itself,

 it just does what it has come to do

and that in and of itself is powerful

the crowd responds and it disturbs the city. 

Jesus enters the city and goes to the temple

 and the contrasts keep building

Jesus uses the temple as a place of prayer

a place of healing,

 rather than commerce,

the chief priests and scribes observing the works of God Jesus does

get angry when the children who are also witnesses

cry out “Hosanna to the Son of David”

acknowledging a higher authority than themselves

 proclaiming the truth that the leaders are rejecting.

Perhaps most disturbing of all

 is Jesus’ reason for coming to Jerusalem.

He has come to serve.

He’s here not for himself

but for the sake of others

and therefore he doesn’t need to manipulate

 or coerce others to achieve his agenda

he doesn’t even need to defend himself

 he is in control in a way that those whose authority

 rests on the whims of the crowds can never be.

This is true power

This is our Messiah,

 the Christ

“who though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name”

This is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,

 riding on a donkey. Amen

*I chose to go off lectionary a little bit this year and do just Palm Sunday instead of the Palm/Passion Sunday of the Revised Common Lectionary instead of the passion I took the congregation right up to Maundy Thursday in the narrative of Jesus' last days.