Matthew 21:1-11
Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14-27:66
You can get whiplash on this Sunday. We go from palms to passion, from glory to grief, from cheers to jeers, from triumph to tragedy, from joy to despair, from “hosanna” to “crucify him,” from praise to crucifixion in the seeming blink of an eye. What is going on here? Why can’t we just stay in the “Palm Sunday” moment? It must have been great for Jesus to feel for at least a little while some of the good vibrations, some of the positive strokes, some of the high fives that had been absent in his life. It would be easy to stay in the happy times. But the liturgy doesn’t let us. We almost can’t catch our breath to celebrate Palm Sunday before we are plunged into the passion, into the suffering, into the harsh reality that confronted Jesus too soon after the triumphal entry.
The official name for this Sunday is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. The Church wants us to see ecstasy and agony in a single frame. We are tempted to trust in the God of the good times. This Sunday dares us to love God at all times – good and bad. We are invited to walk with Jesus not only down the palm strewn road of adoration but also down the rock filled streets of antagonism. This Sunday plunges us into the stark reality of the mixed bag which is human existence.
This whirlwind of a day is the occasion to find God no matter is going on. How tempting it is to imagine that God is with me in my Palm Sunday moments. When things are going well, when the Doctor says I’m cured, when there is still some money in the account after paying the bills, when people act normal when the family gets together – at times like that we easily recognize the blessing of God’s presence. But what about those other moments, those Gethsemane moments when you beg God to change what you are going through, those Sanhedrin moments when you feel judged and disrespected, those Golgotha moments when you feel abandoned, deserted, betrayed, those Calvary moments of ultimate loss – where is God then?
Palm Sunday invites us to find God in all things. Jesus was just as much the Son of God when he was being honored and praised by the crowd as he was when he was mocked and jeered. God was just as much with him in the “Hosanna to the Son of David” as he was crying out “My God, why have you abandoned me?” And our story is similar. God abides with us no matter how things seem to be going. We can relish God’s bounty in the good times and we can rely on God’s mercy in the bad times. But at all times we can trust in God’s love. Palm Sunday exhibits a kaleidoscope of emotions because such in the reality of life. It was not, as the gospel relates, the miracles and power that proved Jesus’ identity. Rather, at the seeming moment of defeat the centurion finally could confess, “Truly this was the Son of God.” No matter what, in the end, God.
