Palm Sunday

The Blessing of the Palms

 

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1. The Triumphal Entry:  Setting the Scene
2. The Presidential Motorcade
3. Cognitive Dissonance
4. Cognitive:  learning or processing something mentally
5. Dissonance:  opposing ideas
6. Palm Sunday opens the story to moments of cognitive dissonance met with glimpses of the Kingdom of God
7. There is tension in the story
8. Peter denies Jesus three times
9. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, a sign of affection marked by betrayal
10. Jesus kneels in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lord, if it be your will, take this cup from me [Luke 22:42])
11. There are moments where we glimpse the Kingdom of God shining through the story in the midst of human struggle
12. “I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18)
13. Simon of Cyrene will help Jesus carry his cross, reminding us of how we carry our own cross in the journey (Lk 23:26)
14. Jesus is hung with two thieves: saying to one  “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 22:43)

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1. The Triumphal Entry:  Behind the Scenes
2. Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives on a donkey
3. Romans viewed the donkey as a pack animal, good only for carrying goods; Greeks saw palms as tokens of victory in the Olympics
4. Jesus did not own a donkey; he had to borrow one for the event
5. Jesus did not need to ride a donkey–the walk from Mt. Olives to Jerusalem was just over a mile
6. Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy (Zechariah 9:9)  — this is part of God’s plan written over 500 years prior to this moment
7. Imagine the moment
8. Jesus is met with a hero’s welcome  (“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! [Ps 118:26])
9. Pharisees tell Jesus to hush the people (they know the reference to Scripture as prophecy)
10. a mix of cognitive dissonance and glimpses of the Kingdom of God
11. “If they were silent, these rocks would cry out”  (Lk 19:40)  — all of creation participates in God’s plan; this is a hint of glory

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III.  Jesus emptied himself

1. Have you ever had a plan you couldn’t let go?
2. Try every angle, seek every opportunity
3. Pray for guidance but still try your best to make your plan work
4. Finally give up, only to find things fall into place
5. The meaning of Philippians 2:7 (“Jesus emptied himself”)
6. “Kenosis” :  Greek word for “to empty”
7. Church understanding of Kenosis
8. Jesus was fully human and fully divine (dictated in the Nicene Creed: God from God, made incarnate and become man)
9. This statement was determined at the Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.
10. If Jesus was fully God, did he really suffer?
11. “Kneeling in the Garden of Gethsemane”
12. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1)
13. Jesus took on humanity and lived out its full existence in order to redeem it fully
14. Jesus emptied himself
15. Scripture verse translations (Philippians 2:7)
16. KJV:  “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”
17. NLT:  “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being”
18. NCV: “But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing; He was born to be a man and became like a servant”
19. NIV:  “He made himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”
20. NEB:  “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men”
21. The words do matter here:  “Jesus emptied himself”

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1. Understanding why we raise the palm branches
2. It’s hard to understand how the same people who praised Jesus could turn so quickly
3. Jesus weeps for Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-44)
4. This is part of God’s plan for our salvation
5. There is a Balm in Gilead
6. “There is a Balm in Gilead,

To make the wounded whole.

There is a Balm in Gilead,

To heal the sin-sick whole.

 

Sometimes I feel discouraged

And deep I feel the pain

In prayers the Holy Spirit

Revives my soul again

 

If you can’t preach like Peter

And you can’t pray like Paul,

Go home and tell your neighbor

He died to save us all.

1. When we understand what Jesus has done, we will know the reason they first waved the palms

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Luke 19:29–40 (ESV)

29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

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Psalm 22:1-11 (BCP)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, *

and are so far from my cry, and from the words of my complaint?

2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear; *

in the night season also, but I find no rest.

3 But you remain holy, *

enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers hoped in you; *

they trusted in you, and you delivered them.

5 They called upon you, and were delivered; *

they put their trust in you, and were not confounded.

6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man, *

scorned by all, and the outcast of the people.

7 All those who see me laugh me to scorn; *

they curl their lips, and shake their heads, saying,

8 “He trusted in God, that he would deliver him; *

let him deliver him, if he will have him.”

9 But you are he that took me out of my mother’s womb; *

you were my hope, when I was yet upon my mother’s breasts.

10 I have been cast upon you ever since I was born; *

you are my God, even from my mother’s womb.

11 O go not far from me, for trouble is near at hand, *

and there is none to help me.

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Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist

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Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (ESV)

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13     Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14     As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

15     so shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2     For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3     He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4     Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5     But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6     All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7     He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8     By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9     And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10     Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11     Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12     Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

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Psalm 118:19-29 (BCP)

19 Open unto me the gates of righteousness, *

that I may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord; *

the righteous shall enter into it.

21 I will thank you, for you have heard me, *

and have become my salvation.

22 The same stone which the builders refused *

has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord’s doing, *

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day that the Lord has made; *

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Help me now, O Lord; *

O Lord, send us now prosperity.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord; *

we bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 God is the Lord, who has shown us light; *

bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will thank you; *

you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious; *

his mercy endures for ever.

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Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Luke 23:1–49 (ESV)

Jesus Before Pilate

23 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 I will therefore punish and release him.”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

18 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. 20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

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