Palm Sunday: Walking with Jesus through Holy Week

by Fr. Bill Garrison


Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.


When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

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“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

—Mark 11:1-11 (NRSV)


As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

—Mark 15:1-39 (NRSV)


Good morning. I normally start with a joke but Palm Sunday is a tough one for me to think with much humor. We start the service with the celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem and wind up in misery at the cross. So please forgive me today. There will be no joke.

Holy Week begins today. In many ways it feels almost silly to spend the time and energy we are called upon to spend this week. A huge percentage of our brothers and sisters won’t be doing so. They might pay some attention to Easter day, but not much if any attention to what happens during the week leading up to it. For many, I am sure, the energy and time of Holy Week during this era of pandemic makes even less sense to them that it usually does.

These are tough times. Suffering is everywhere you look. As human beings we come to the party armed with few answers for the hurting humanity suffers. Left to our own resources we have few if any answers. These are the times when religion becomes especially important. Religion provides lenses in which to view the world and to attempt to make some sense out of what goes on within it.

I have had the honor to teach about the world’s great religions. I have found that each provides a set of understandings about God, addressing the fact of suffering, and provides ways of contemplating this most basic of human issues. They each provide a lens to look through. For the Christian that lens is the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In Holy Week, which we begin today, we live through the last few days of the life of Jesus Christ. We begin in celebration, experience terrible suffering, and wind up with the greatest triumph of all time.

We cannot take this journey together this year in the confines of our church. But we can still travel down this holy road together online and with our families. We can once more stare suffering in the face and experience the triumph of the resurrection. And we can look forward to being together again next year as we tell the story once more.

So, when we head into Holy Week what may we expect to encounter?  Perhaps a quick primer and reminder is in order.

After compline on Monday evening, we find ourselves involved in the service of Tenebrae on Wednesday night. Now I am guessing that for most of you Tenebrae is your least familiar Holy Week service. So, let me explain it a bit.

The word Tenebrae comes from Latin and means darkness. It is a service of singing and prayer as numerous candles are extinguished as the service proceeds. At the end of the service a loud noise is heard. At St. Matthias we hold the service on Wednesday evening, also known as Spy Wednesday. That name derives from Judas Iscariot’s intention to betray Jesus. The service is centered in the Passion of Jesus Christ as we move forward with him towards the cross.

Next comes Maundy Thursday. It is the last Eucharist of the church year before Easter and everything is removed from the altar and the surrounding area after that last communion. In some churches there is foot washing. Here we normally have hand washing, but this year that will be a virtual event as we rest in sacred chanting. It is a beautiful and moving evening of worship.

At noon on Good Friday, we observe the Stations of the Cross. It is a relatively short and moving service as we travel with Jesus to the cross and experience his death. Frankly, this is the service I personally cannot get through without shedding a tear or two. I remind myself there can be no Easter without the pain of Good Friday.

Good Friday evening is a service of music, chanting and prayer. The emotions are much as they were for the Stations of the Cross earlier in the day. Again, there can be no Easter without Good Friday.

And finally, it’s Easter Sunday. Hallelujah, Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Pain and death no longer are foes to overly concern us. Jesus Christ has paved the way to eternal life. It’s the most important day of the Christian year, a day for celebration and thanksgiving.

And here are my final thoughts for for today. Many people will not be celebrating Easter and many more will not be walking the Holy Week road for whatever reason. We wish all those that do not accompany us well and they may rest assured that God’s love for them and for us will not waver.

Yet for us that choose to walk the road we simply do it because we can. We look to curry no special favor with God. Instead, we just want to be there with Christ. We want to feel the emotions once again. We want to feel the elation of his resurrection one more time.

You see whether a person chooses to walk the road or not does not change the facts, nor does it impact the incredible gift we have all been given. Jesus Christ traveled the Holy Week road, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ changed things forever.