Passion Sunday with Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 AND Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56 (or Luke 23:1-49); Psalm 31:9-16
Today is the Sunday of two moods: we begin with reading about Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, with crowds cheering him on, throwing their cloaks on the ground in front of him. He’s the one, they say:
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,and glory in the highest heaven!
And Jesus goes along with it: when the pharisees ask him to get his disciples to stop, he refuses, telling them that “if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” We all love a parade, and here we are!
And yet, we know how the story ends. In case we have forgotten, the lectionary takes us to the story of the Passion. We read first of the Passover meal that Jesus had with his twelve closest disciples, where he washes their feet. Then, after he prays in the garden, he is betrayed by Judas, arrested, and brought before the elders. They ask if he is the Messiah, and he does not answer, but they take his non-answer as an admission. So they bring him to the Roman governor, who enforces the law. Yet neither Pilate, the Governor, or Herod, whose jurisdiction included Galilee, found any crime. Pilate proposed to flog him and let him go. And yet the leaders called for his death, joined almost certainly by some of those who just days earlier had cheered Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem.
Jesus was crucified with two thieves. One asked him to save them all, the other asked for his prayers. He died, and was buried.
This is a story where there are many places to pause and reflect. What strikes you in the story this year? Is it the Passover meal, with the disciples arguing over who is most important? Is it Jesus alone with his sleeping disciples in the garden, praying that he not suffer, but given strength by an angel? Is it Peter denying that he knew Jesus? Is it Pilate, refusing responsibility for his actions? Is it the two thieves, who like us both want to be rescued, and want to have Jesus pray for them? Is it the darkness and drama of Jesus dying? Is it Joseph of Arimethea tenderly burying Jesus’ body before the sabbath? Is it the women watching where Jesus was laid?
It is a familiar story. Each of us is at some point or other can find ourselves anywhere in it. We are, after all, human. Sometimes following Jesus is hard, and like the disciples we fail, we fall asleep or deny Jesus. Today we get to listen, from the triumphal beginning to the bleak end.
What part of this story resonates with you this year? What will you carry through this week?
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wLK6arQCQI8?si=LSjDg3WSZdyq0J2Q
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