The final Sunday of Lent is about endings (sort of). It is the end of the season (sort of). And the disciples seemed to think it was the end of the story. Then again, why wouldn't they? Jesus was arrested, tried, and nailed to a cross. Of course it was the end.
We might know the rest of the story. They didn't; not yet.
Our readings for the day cover a lot of ground - from the entry into Jerusalem in Mark 11 through the entire Passion narrative found in Mark 14 and 15.
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Today we celebrate Palm/Passion Sunday. In the liturgical calendar, this Sunday is a celebration with a bit of an identity crisis. We start with the celebratory entrance of Jesus entering Jerusalem. We end with his death on the cross. Where the crowds cried out “Hosanna!” -- “Save us, rescue us” -- as Jesus rode into town, the crowds are crying “crucify him!” within a matter of days, and then standing by to watch as the deed is done. On this Sunday, our readings cover it all.
It wasn’t always this way. Traditionally, this Sunday in the church calendar is simply Palm Sunday. It is our entree into Holy Week. Historically, the church has seen the events between Jesus entering Jerusalem that final time and everything that took place from then until the cross as taking place in a single week. So over the course of Holy Week, we Christians traditionally celebrate Jesus entering the Temple to overturn the tables, his predictions of his own impending death, Judas conspiring with the religious authorities, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trial, and the cross.
But honestly, relatively few people will get out and attend services during the week. People lead busy lives full of other activities. Many people have work schedules that don’t allow for attending church during the week. And, frankly, a lot of Protestants feel like all that church is just a little too “Catholic.”
However, this can also lead to a bit of a disconnect with the story. Assuming we are only able to show up on Sundays, regardless of the reason, if we celebrate Jesus riding into Jerusalem one Sunday, maybe imagining the disciples playing Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” and then the very next Sunday we read about Jesus popping out of a tomb, we might be left wondering what exactly is going on. One week we’re celebrating the return of the king and the next we’re talking about the Resurrection. When did Jesus die? How did that happen? When did I miss that?
To help us understand a little better, I must return to the very important Star Wars trilogy. You see, Holy Week is basically The Empire Strikes Back of the gospel story. Literally. We end the first movie with a celebration, and then the next thing we know our heroes are on the run, much like the fearful disciples as they watch Jesus making whips, turning over tables, and predicting his own death. We have someone that we thought was a friend that leads to betrayal. We see Han Solo tortured by the agents of the Empire. And then Han is encased in carbonite where he will remain hanging until he rises again. At the start of the third movie in the original trilogy, we see the daring rescue of Han Solo.
Now, imagine for a moment that you watched the original Star Wars and then jumped straight to Return of the Jedi. You end in celebration and then you jump to Han frozen in carbonite while Leia and the others try to save him. When did Han get captured? How did Luke learn to use a lightsaber? What in the world is going on?
That’s kind of what happens when people can only come to church on Sundays and you miss all the stuff that happens during Holy Week. And so, this final Sunday of Lent morphed. Many churches now celebrate this Sunday as Palm/Passion Sunday. Much as we are doing today, they start with the entry into Jerusalem, cover the events of Holy Week, and end with the cross. In truth, the gospel readings this year cover the part of Mark 11 that we read at the beginning of our service and then the entirety of chapters 14 and 15.
Obviously, this means there is a lot packed in here today, more than I could possibly do justice to in a single message. Do we focus on the palms, on the note of triumph that the disciples feel coming into Jerusalem alongside Jesus. The way that entry happens is a call back to the kings of old being welcomed into the city.
We could focus on the story of the woman who pours perfume over the head of Jesus, an act that Jesus describes as an anointing. This continues the theme of Jesus’ royalty while also representing the preparation of the body for burial.
The last time I preached on Palm/Passion Sunday, my primary focus was on the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples. This is a part of the story that we are familiar with from our regular celebrations at our table here. It is also an important reminder of Jesus’ humanity, the reality of his human body, and his call for us to remember him everytime we gather for a meal, whether it is at this table or not.
Or maybe we could focus on the events of the garden. Jesus goes to pray, and we are again reminded of Jesus’ humanity, of the very human part of himself, as he prays in the garden to be freed from the suffering that he knows is to come. How many of us have ever faced a situation that we knew would lead to pain and suffering and wished the same?
Then there is the matter of the betrayal and arrest. The sign of mutual affection and respect turned into an act of violence -- “one man betrayed with a kiss.” Jesus’ mocking of the crowd that has come to arrest him, knowing they were sent by the chief priests. And all of the questions that arise around the fact that Mark includes the story of an unnamed disciple who runs off naked when the authorities try to grab him, too.
I could choose to focus on any one of these pieces that we have read so far this morning and have more than enough material for a good sermon. Or I could choose to focus on the parts of the story still to come, the parts that come at the end of my message today. But to focus on only one would be to miss part of the story.
The truth is all of this is an important part in understanding what comes next. While some of the details change from one writer to the next, they all agree that Jesus was crucified. Reading these stories, we are reminded that even though Jesus had told them over and over, both in metaphor and in plain speech what was to come, his disciples and closest friends still did not understand. All they knew was what they had experienced -- the joy of entering Jerusalem, their confusion in the Temple, their arguments at the meals, the arrest in the garden, the sham of a trial, the gruesome death of a criminal. As best they could tell, it was all over. They started with Hosannas and wound up at a literal dead end.
What we need to remember now is that the disciples didn’t understand, and therefore they didn’t know how the story would end. After all they had experienced following Jesus around the countryside, learning from him and coming to believe in him, the events in Jerusalem would have left them confused, shocked, frightened, and grieving. They didn’t know the rest of the story.
To help us consider how the disciples felt that week, I encourage you to listen to the song, "We Sang Our Glad Hosannas." Written from the point of view of the women who followed Jesus, it talks about what the disciples experienced that last week in Jerusalem leading up to the cross.
Most of us know where the story goes after the arrest in the Garden. After the crowd that is led by Judas, one of the twelve, shows up, they apprehend Jesus and lead him away. Peter follows for a time, but, when he is confronted, he denies knowing Jesus. Three times he denies Jesus, and then realizing what he has done, he leaves to cry alone.
Jesus is mocked, taunted, beaten, and put on trial. Hated by the religious leaders because he challenged their assumptions and taught a different way of loving God, Jesus was executed by the state for disrupting the status quo and leading the city to potential violence, even though it was the potential of violence among those that opposed Jesus that was the problem. It was an execution of expedience, as most state violence is.
And while Pilate may have washed his hands, it was still his soldiers that beat Jesus, that lead him away, that put him on the cross while many of the same people that had praised Jesus when he entered Jerusalem now cried out for his death. They hung him there with two other criminals who were to be executed as well. And then the crowds and the soldiers continued to mock Jesus on the cross.
And yet, there were believers present.
We may know that Easter is on the other end of death. But the disciples didn't know that as they walked into town. They didn't know that as they shared a meal. They didn't know that as armed men took Jesus away. They didn't know that as Jesus was questioned by the authorities. They didn't know that as their Messiah/teacher/friend suffered on the cross. They didn't know.
As we continue through this week, I invite you to try to imagine what that was like for them. If the cross was the end of the story, how is God’s love proved? If Jesus simply dies on the cross and lies in the tomb, where is the promised joy?
We may know how the story ends, but they did not have that knowledge. The cross for them is death and pain and the end of everything that they had hoped for. The joy for them was not in the cross. Their joy is yet to come. The cross may have its place in the story, but the story of salvation is not complete on Friday.
Like the Centurion, we recognize the righteousness of Jesus.
Like the crowds, we recognize the role we play in condemning the innocent.
Like the women, the only members of Jesus’ inner circle to remain that day, we watch and wait for God to do a new thing.
With the knowledge they didn’t have, we wait with hope in the midst of sorrow for the promise of God’s love that is, was, and shall be fulfilled on Easter morning.
As darkness descends,
may we ever look for the light.
As Holy Week begins,
may we ever look for the resurrection.