Sermons

Palm Sunday
Sunday 28 March 2010

Diane Flynn

Readings: Luke 19 v28-40

Palms are an intrinsic symbol of Lent. They start off our Lent on Ash Wednesday and appear again near the end of Lent on today, Palm Sunday.

The ash marked on our foreheads on ash wed traditionally comes from burning the palms from the previous year.

Now, as we start Holy week with Palm Sunday today, the palms appear again - this time made in the shape of crosses

The symbolism is clear - the palm represents the branches and palms used by the crowd and the disciples when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey in the days prior to his death.

Our palms are crosses, reminding us that he was entering not only Jerusalem but also entering the final part of his journey towards the cross.

Our 4 Gospels mention slightly different things, in relation to the palms and branches:

Matthew and Marks Gospel mention branches cut from trees and from fields, used to put on the ground, in front of Jesus as he came through

All of them except John (Luke Matthew Mark) mention garments/cloaks put on the floor as well.

Only John mentions actual palms being held by the crowd, whilst they sang and rejoiced.

This throwing down of garments and branches on to the floor in front of Jesus, harks back to the OT book of 2 Kings, when people did the same for the Kings (. 2 Kings 9:12) and therefore it was the crowds and the disciples way of recognising Jesus' Kingship

The riding of certain animals had different meanings. Normally, the riding of horses would have denoted riding into war, but Jesus rode on a donkey-, which actually denoted peace - he came in peace.

And this whole picture of Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem is foretold in the OT book of Zechariah, the prophet - (Zech 9.9). He prophesied that a future king of Israel would come to Jer in humility, riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey
- It was the prophecy of the Messiah -
- And here we have Jesus fulfilling that.

So we see the link here between the OT and the NT

The entry into Jerusalem is a journey
All of Lent has been about a journey - the story of Jesus' journey but it's also about our own journey
- Our Lent journey

What has our Lent journey being like so far?
Have we managed to spend time journeying with Jesus at all?

Well, however our lent journey has gone, now, at the start of Holy week, is the time to decide, if we will carry on journeying with Jesus into the coming week and its events

Into what will happen to him,
(- We have heard the story about what will happen -)
Do we want to decide to journey on with him into that final part of his journey towards death?

Maybe we could journey like the crowd - joining in as he came near to Jerusalem, trying to catch a glimpse of Him, trying to understand a little more of who He really is, recognising his Kingship

Or maybe we could journey like the disciples - they were singing from one of the psalms: Psalm 118: 26 and 148; 1, also acknowledging that he was a king. They tried to stay with Him on his journey for as long as they could, until Gethsemane - but they tried their best!

Or, maybe we could journey like the Gospel writers, like Luke, by telling the story of Holy week!

The story is so important - journeying with Jesus this week means sharing in the story, hearing the story and then telling the story
We can do that by maybe trying to spend some time at some of the services that happen this week, hopefully sharing in this last part of Jesus journey and hearing the story again

maybe sharing some time with Jesus in this week
maybe on Maundy Thursday when we could share in his last supper, or we could wait in the side chapel, like they all waited in the Garden of Gethsemane
maybe on Good Friday, when we could journey to Roundhay Park with the cross, remembering his trek to Golgotha,
then later we could ponder on his dying moments and later on his actual death and the Cross and it's full meaning for us.

There are lots of opportunities this week to hear the story again, to share in the story and then maybe we could be encouraged to tell the story ourselves - because the telling of the story is so important as Christians -

and that's where our palms come back in to the picture again-

What part is our palm going to have in helping us to tell the story this week?

Hopefully after taking it home, we can put it somewhere prominent, so it stands out and reminds us, so we can look at it and ponder, or pray with it and try to put our self into his shoes and follow him.

And hopefully we can be encouraged to give a palm to someone else
Because there are a lot of people who don't come to church
but when presented with a palm cross, instantly hark back to something in their memory from their childhood /long ago
- the palm cross can sometimes be a trigger for people who haven't connected with God for a while, to start talking to Him again, maybe through us.

So, why don't we try giving someone a palm - lets maybe take an extra palm, or two or three and give them /send them to people we know.
It may start a conversation, to enable us to start telling the story!
it may start their conversation with God again, enabling them to start a journey of their own

So let's Journey on with Jesus this week,
Lets hear his story, share in his story
then let us tell the story

Because, as Christians, We need to keep His story alive!

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay