{"id":3012,"date":"2026-03-29T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/?p=3012"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:31:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:31:47","slug":"palm-passion-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/palm-passion-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Palm\/Passion Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
<\/strong>29 March  A. D. 2026

Year A Readings
<\/strong>Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11
+ Matthew 27:11-54

The Collect
<\/strong>Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Homily
<\/strong> 
          I think it wise for us, this Sunday of the Passion, to carefully consider the fact that human perception is highly variable. Individuals and groups observe and understand the world in different ways based on their culture of origin, their correlated assumptions about reality, and their willingness or ability to be flexible. In particular, we must reconcile the dramatic difference between the crowd which on one day cries, \u201cHosannah to the Son of David,\u201d with palms waving and bright eyes, and only a few days later screams, \u201cLet him be crucified,\u201d presumably all shaking their fists and bright red in the face. What accounts for this dramatic change? What is its meaning? Its origin? And what does this change tell us about ourselves?

          To begin, we must understand what Matthew intends by quoting the words of the prophet Zechariah, but very incompletely. Indeed, the single verse Matthew lifts from Zechariah is no more than the introduction to a long oracle, and it strikes me that Matthew shows Jesus in fulfillment of God\u2019s promises while also demonstrating his freedom to accomplish his purpose in his own way, regardless of how the prophet has portrayed him.

          Mark and inwardly digest this: According to Matthew\u2019s gospel, God in Christ acts independently of both what has been written about him and how that oracle has been interpreted through the centuries. God is not bound by what humans understand or what humans think the Bible means! This truth is most evident in the direct contradiction between how the Evangelist and the Prophet understand who the Messiah is. Listen to the differences; they are startling.


          Regarding the Messiah, Zechariah follows the invocation \u201cLook your king is coming to you on the colt of a donkey\u201d with this:

[The king] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.

For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior\u2019s sword.

Then the Lord will appear over them,
    and his arrow go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
    and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
The Lord of hosts will protect them,
    and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;
they shall drink their blood like wine
    and be full like a bowl,
    drenched like the corners of the altar.
Zechariah 9:10-15

Thus does the prophetic oracle depict the Messiah: he is an absolute conqueror who will drink and be covered in the blood of his enemies. But listen to what Jesus says about himself, according to Matthew:

          From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
          Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. \u201cNever, Lord!\u201d he said. \u201cThis shall never happen to you!\u201d
          Jesus turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.\u201d
Matthew 16:21-23

And again:

          When they came together in Galilee, [Jesus] said to them, \u201cThe Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.\u201d
          And the disciples were filled with grief.
Matthew 17:22-23

And finally:

          Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, \u201cWe are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!\u201d
Matthew 20:17-19

Far from drinking the blood of his enemies, Jesus will offer his<\/em> blood for the life of the world.

          It seems this reversal was too great a leap for the people of Jesus\u2019 time, who had been taught for centuries that the Messiah would restore and unite the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, throwing off the yoke of the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, or any other Empire until the end of time! This was their culture of origin. This assumption about the Messiah defined their reality. And in this worldview, they were entirely inflexible. We even find Peter rebuking Jesus for trying to alter their perception.

          In dramatic contrast to all of their expectations, Jesus reveals that the world in which \u201cmight makes right\u201d is a world possessed by the Devil.<\/em> Let this land in your heart and mind: a world in which might makes right is a world possessed by the Devil. We think satanic possession will be made manifest in some crazed humanoid, frothing at the mouth and breaking chains. But Lucifer is no fool; he\u2019s much more subtle than that. When Eve picks the apple, she\u2019s possessed by the Devil. When David rapes Bathsheba, he\u2019s possessed by the Devil. When Peter earnestly protests, with the best of intentions, that nothing bad will happen to Jesus: he\u2019s possessed by the Devil. You see, Evil loves only itself and will use us to gain whatever power it can. Jesus, however, uses power to liberate us from our emotional and spiritual blindness. But the power of Christ\u2019s self-emptying love is always invitational: Jesus is never coercive.

          The crowds who sing \u201cHosannah!\u201d have seen his liberating work, the Pharisees have seen, the Sadducees have seen, and the Temple Priests have seen: but in the end, the majority of them cannot allow their lived experience to alter their conception of reality. They live in willful ignorance, calling his divine origin blasphemous. Christ calls his people to learn his humility as the way through the world that leads to life. They take offense at him. Regardless, Christ demonstrates that absolute power and self-emptying love are simultaneous attributes of DIVINITY.

          In a sermon on the passage we\u2019ve heard today from Philippians, Martin Luther takes his flock to task for trying to separate the Glory of God from the Cross of Christ. Luther writes in the gendered vernacular of his time, but his argument strikes home nonetheless:

It [The self-emptying of Christ] was a willing service and gratuitously performed, for the good of men. It was a service unspeakably great, because of the ineffable greatness of the minister and servant\u2014God eternal, whom all angels and creatures serve. He who is not by this example heartily constrained to serve his fellows, is justly condemned.[1]<\/a>

But Luther doesn\u2019t leave his people without hope, nor does he allow them to dwell on their shortcomings. Rather, he points them to the joy of perceiving the depth of the divine love revealed in Christ\u2019s sacrifice:

Here Paul\u2026unlocks heaven and permits us to look into the unfathomable abyss of divine majesty and to behold the ineffable love of the Fatherly heart toward us\u2026 [Here Paul] shows us how from eternity it has been God\u2019s pleasure that Christ, the glorious one who has wrought all [creation], should [empty himself of glory] for us. What human heart would not melt at the joy-inspiring thought? Who would not love, praise, and thank God and, in return for his goodness, not only be ready to serve the world, but gladly to embrace the extremity of humility? Who would not so do when he is aware that God himself has such precious regard for him\u2026[2]<\/a>

What Luther wants his people to notice is that obedience in the imitation of Christ is born of love. Those who cried \u201cHosannah!\u201d could not believe in Jesus as the Christ, because they could not understand that he had chosen <\/em>his humility of his own freewill. They were unable to conceive of a God who would do this. Jesus\u2019 people were stuck in their religious worldview, somehow imagining that, because of the way they read their Bible, God owed them a triumphant Messiah. When Jesus refused this path, they could not love him for what he did give them, which was himself, his unconditional regard, his healing touch, and his joy in the One he called Father.

          But God is not bound by the meager understanding of human beings. God\u2019s name is I AM; God will be who God will be. And through Christ, we see that God will be a suffering servant. Any who accept him as he comes to us is given power to perceive the unfathomable totality of Divine Love by which he will draw the world to himself: That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow\u2014not out of fear, but in adoration, confession, and praise!

          As we enter into the challenge and blessing of this Holy Week, let us examine ourselves and pray the Spirit to show us where we have been blind to the true nature and call of Christ Jesus. May the Spirit convict us of those ways we have been ashamed of the humility of Christ; and may the Spirit give us joy in receiving the healing love of him who is the Living Word, the Anointed One of God. 

          Amen.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther<\/em>, ed. John Nicholas Lenker (Baker Books: 2000), volume 4.1, page 177.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., page 179.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday29 March  A. D. 2026 Year A ReadingsIsaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11+ Matthew 27:11-54 The CollectAlmighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Homily           I think it wise for us, this Sunday of the Passion, to carefully consider the fact that human perception is highly variable. Individuals and groups observe and understand the world in different ways based on their culture of origin, their correlated assumptions about reality, and their willingness or ability to be flexible. In particular, we must reconcile the dramatic difference between the crowd which on one day cries, \u201cHosannah to the Son of David,\u201d with palms waving and bright eyes, and only a few days later screams, \u201cLet him be crucified,\u201d presumably all shaking their fists and bright red in the face. What accounts for this dramatic change? What is its meaning? Its origin? And what does this change tell us about ourselves?           To begin, we must understand what Matthew intends by quoting the words of the prophet Zechariah, but very incompletely. Indeed, the single verse Matthew lifts from Zechariah is no more than the introduction to a long oracle, and it strikes me that Matthew shows Jesus in fulfillment of God\u2019s promises while also demonstrating his freedom to accomplish his purpose in his own way, regardless of how the prophet has portrayed him.           Mark and inwardly digest this: According to Matthew\u2019s gospel, God in Christ acts independently of both what has been written about him and how that oracle has been interpreted through the centuries. God is not bound by what humans understand or what humans think the Bible means! This truth is most evident in the direct contradiction between how the Evangelist and the Prophet understand who the Messiah is. Listen to the differences; they are startling.           Regarding the Messiah, Zechariah follows the invocation \u201cLook your king is coming to you on the colt of a donkey\u201d with this: [The king] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim    and the war horse from Jerusalem;and the battle bow shall be cut off,    and he shall command peace to the nations;his dominion shall be from sea to sea    and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;    today I declare that I will restore to you double. For I have bent Judah as my bow;    I have made Ephraim its arrow.I will arouse your sons, O Zion,    against your sons, O Greece,    and wield you like a warrior\u2019s sword. Then the Lord will appear over them,    and his arrow go forth like lightning;the Lord God will sound the trumpet    and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.The Lord of hosts will protect them,    and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;they shall drink their blood like wine    and be full like a bowl,    drenched like the corners of the altar.Zechariah 9:10-15 Thus does the prophetic oracle depict the Messiah: he is an absolute conqueror who will drink and be covered in the blood of his enemies. But listen to what Jesus says about himself, according to Matthew:           From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.          Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. \u201cNever, Lord!\u201d he said. \u201cThis shall never happen to you!\u201d          Jesus turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.\u201dMatthew 16:21-23 And again:           When they came together in Galilee, [Jesus] said to them, \u201cThe Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.\u201d          And the disciples were filled with grief.Matthew 17:22-23 And finally:           Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, \u201cWe are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!\u201dMatthew 20:17-19 Far from drinking the blood of his enemies, Jesus will offer his blood for the life of the world.           It seems this reversal was too great a leap for the people of Jesus\u2019 time, who had been taught for centuries that the Messiah would restore and unite the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, throwing off the yoke of the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, or any other Empire until the end of time! This was their culture of origin. This assumption about the Messiah defined their reality. And in this worldview, they were entirely inflexible. We even find Peter rebuking Jesus for trying to alter their perception.           In dramatic contrast to all of their expectations, Jesus reveals that the world in which \u201cmight makes right\u201d is a world possessed by the Devil. Let this land in your heart and mind: a world in which might makes right is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[364,237,363],"class_list":["post-3012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","tag-divine-love","tag-palm-sunday","tag-passion-sunday"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/march-29.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3014,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions\/3014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}