Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 118: 19-29
Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
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Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:1-17
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“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.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
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Palm Sunday is sort of a strange holiday even during normal years. During normal years, at many churches, children would lead in a procession of palms, and most churches would celebrate Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem; but the service would end in the shadow of the cross. What began in joy would end in gathering gloom.
And that’s in a normal year.
This year it feels like the gloom has already gathered. The powers of pain and sickness and death have already been turned loose on the earth. As one Facebook meme says: “This is the Lentiest Lent I’ve ever Lented.” And it’s only Palm Sunday – things get darker from here!
I have a feeling Holy Week this year is going to feel very dark.
I also believe and hope and pray this Easter will be exceptionally joyful, in unexpected ways.
But we’re not there yet.
Today is Palm Sunday, we find ourselves in the crowd – waving the palm branches, singing “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”
And isn’t it wonderful to hear the words of Psalm 118? “Open the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them…” “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone…” “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord…” “the festal procession with branches…” – all these words written hundreds of years before Jesus was born – looking forward to Palm Sunday and the day Messiah would come.
That’s what the people are saying in Matthew’s gospel. “Hosanna! (which means “save us now”). “Behold your king comes to you, humble and riding on a donkey…” was what the prophet Zechariah had predicted. This is God’s anointed! This is the King! That’s what the crowd is shouting, and that’s why the priests are telling them to shut up: they don’t want the people going around saying Jesus is the Messiah, even though they know it’s true.
So Jesus arrives in the temple – and instead of leading a coup (as the people expected) he goes to the temple and turns over the tables of the money-changers who have been cheating the people as they try to worship God. Jesus says to them: “it is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer – but you’ve made it a den of thieves.’” Jesus is far more interested in confronting oppression and injustice, and in bringing people close to God, than he is in claiming earthly power – because Jesus knows all power is his: it’s been his in the past, and it will be his again in the future.
Jesus has only temporarily set aside his royal power to become one of us. And it will only be a few more days before that power is his again.
And so we head into Holy Week: rejoicing that the King is here, just as the disciples did back then. And like them, we have no idea what lies ahead; but we know who holds the future.
Hosanna to the King of Kings! AMEN.
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