This is the Pastor’s Blog for the Service on Sunday March 29th at 10:45AM. Included here is the primary Scripture of this message and the Pastor’s notes. Prior to the service it will include an excerpt of the Pastor’s notes and following the service the complete notes will be added. Also following the service a link will be provided at the bottom to Replay this service. We hope you will join us in Worship on this special Palm Sunday.
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Pastor’s Message:
For the last 34 days and 5 Sundays, we have been on a Lenten journey. We’ve entered this season of the church year and considered different words from scripture to help guide the way: wilderness, born of the Spirit, living water, sight, new life.
Perhaps these words have piqued our curiosity, or have given rise to wondering and questions. Maybe they’ve helped deepen our relationship with the Divine.
On this Lenten journey, we may have been surprised by who or what we’ve encountered. When faced with a surprise in any journey, we can choose to be resentful or embarrassed or angry. Or maybe we’ve recognized that the most beautiful surprise of all is that our mistakes and shortcomings are forgiven by a God whose compassion knows no limits.
Through each stage of this pilgrimage, we have traveled with Jesus on his own pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He has been right with us, beckoning us to follow, and to be faithful to the journey—to see it through.
And here we are. In Jerusalem. We’ve shifted to the present tense. What do we notice?
The crowd of disciples has grown, and there’s a lot of excitement about what might happen in the coming days.
Passover is near, and Jerusalem is full of pilgrims who have come to have their lambs blessed by the Temple priests and sacrificed for Seder feasts.
Pilate and a cohort of Roman soldiers are here as well—more soldiers than usual. The Passover story recalling God’s liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt makes Rome edgy. The Romans don’t want any of these pilgrims getting ideas about such a thing happening now. Pax Romana is the rule of the day, and Pilate and his soldiers want to be sure it stays that way.
The religious authorities are on edge, too. They’ve been watching Jesus for awhile now, and they’re concerned that his work – his teachings, his healings, his miracles – may spark an insurrection that seeks to usher in a Messiah who will kick the Romans out. If that happens, so some of the leaders think, Rome will surely destroy us. Some of those leaders have decided that Jesus should die, rather than the whole nation suffer.
The city is overflowing with all kinds of people, and the atmosphere is thick with expectation that something is going to happen.
Jesus has ridden into town on a donkey—not a particularly strong show of power, but he tends to do things that way: teaching about the first being last, and the last being first. Talking about being “born of the Spirit.” Conversing with Samaritans of all people. Curing a begger born blind and then raising Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. All the while this Jesus has been talking about being the Son of God and showing God’s glory. Who does such things? How can such stories, teachings and behaviors do anything about throwing off Roman oppression? And does this man have anything to do with God anyway?
The whole scene in Jerusalem is so jumpy and tense one can taste it. Smell it.
Where are you in the crowd?
What do you see? Perhaps the eastern gates of Jerusalem as the crowd of Jesus’ disciples comes from the Mount of Olives. The houses packed against the city walls. The enormous edifice of the Temple. Maybe the glint of Roman helmets coming from the western side of the city, from the direction of Ceasarea. Maybe the tip of a spear.
What do you hear? Shouting? Singing? Cries of excited “Hosannas”? Chants hailing Jesus as King? Scolding from some to pipe it down? Perhaps the clanging of metal, the creaking of wood, the clop-clop of hooves, the distant bleating of lambs.
What do you smell? Maybe the barnyard-iness of animals, of minerally dust blowing up your nostrils as cloaks and green branches are being laid on the ground ahead of Jesus and the donkey. Maybe the green scent of chlorophyll as leaves are being mashed under many feet. Perhaps the varied smells of people, smoke from cooking fires, and wafting from the Temple, the scent of sacrifices being performed there.
What do you feel? Is there a breeze? Or is the air really still? Is the sun hot? Is there a pressing in of the crowd? The brush of other disciples? Someone stepping on your sandaled toes? Staring bystanders? Maybe a fluttering in your gut? An elevated heartbeat? A breathlessness?
Can you see the donkey Jesus is riding? Can you see him? Perhaps the top of his head, or the back of his shoulder? The flutter of his prayer shawl?
Now…..imagine with me a little more from where we are as Lenten travelers in 2026:
What if that crowd had recognized their common humanity? That they were all—including the soldiers and Pharisees—children of God? What if they had taken to heart & mind what Jesus had been inviting them to see: a kingdom utterly different from the Empire, a kingdom of abundance, mercy, grace and forgiveness? What if Jesus’ message that “you are loved, you are forgiven” and “we are one” had been heard and seen by everyone? Remembered and taken to heart by everyone?
Many individuals in that crowd will forget Jesus’ message, or will set it aside. Perhaps the threat of Roman violence scares them. Perhaps there’s a growing sense that Jesus can’t overcome the power of Rome.
Perhaps there is growing resignation to the ‘way things are’: that the first really are first and the last really are last……
That the lost stay lost……
That might makes right……
That the love that Jesus teaches about and shows forth is weak, that it gets trampled underfoot just like those leafy branches in the road….
The Lenten journey we’ve been on has brought us here, to Jerusalem.
Each year, we walk this pilgrimage to this crossroads. And each year, we face the same choice that ancient crowd did.
Where are we in the crowd?
What or whom do we choose?
May the Spirit of Christ dwell within each of as we walk these last few days of Lent with Jesus. May we be faithful. May we choose courage. May we choose love.
Closing prayer
