Palm Sunday 2025

Luke 19:28-40

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

The celebration of Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem accompanied by his disciples and a multitude of pilgrims—children, women, and men—who journeyed to the city to celebrate Passover. Passover was one of the three major pilgrimage festivals as well as Pentecost and Tabernacles when all the Israelites were called to travel to the temple in Jerusalem.  During Passover they celebrated the Exodus, when God delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. In Jerusalem they attended and participated in different festivities and rituals at the temple, including the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb and the offering of its blood to God by the priests.  Since his childhood, Jesus had often journeyed to Jerusalem as a pilgrim. However, on this occasion, he is more than a pilgrim. He is a herald of the Kingdom of God proclaiming a new Exodus. This time, he himself will become the Paschal Lamb.

Jesus’ movement has grown from Nazareth in Galilee to Jerusalem in Judea. He has been proclaiming a Kingdom of love, justice, and peace which contrast with the corrupt earthly kingdoms that have inflicted pain and suffering upon the people. His message has been accompanied by acts of power on behalf of the marginalized. His liberating message and powerful deeds have put him in the eye of the Jewish authorities, who are plotting to arrest and execute him.  They fear that Jesus’ growing movement might incite a revolt during Passover, provoking a brutal response from the Roman authorities.

Today, we encounter Jesus as he enters Jerusalem accompanied by a great multitude of pilgrims who are joyfully praising God in a loud voice for all the powerful deeds they have seen, exclaiming, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” (19,37-38). In Jesus’ time, due to the volatile political and religious climate, the title “king” was highly suspect. Thus, the multitude’s acclamation of Jesus as king represented an open act of defiance against the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem, immediately setting off all their alarms. The pilgrims are not acclaiming Caesar but rather they are hailing Jesus, the “…king who comes in the name of the Lord”, the one offering God’s peace instead of the Pax Romana.

As a sign of peace, Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a humble donkey not on an imperial stallion; there are no warriors or swords accompanying him but devout pilgrims – Galilean peasants – who have come to celebrate God’s great liberation in the Exodus, perhaps even yearning for a new one. No costly, red carpet is laid for this king; instead, his followers offer a humble tribute of cloaks. This act is both a religious and political statement, pledging allegiance to the One sent by God and not to Caesar or the temple authorities. It is no surprise, then, that some Pharisees in the crowd say to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop!” (19,39); but on this day, nobody could silence the joyous pilgrimages’ acclamation.

Dear sisters and brothers, this Palm Sunday we are called to join Jesus in his entry into Jerusalem. Like Jesus, we know what is coming in Jerusalem. He is not going to sit on a throne, but will be placed on a cross because of his message that, in God’s name, denounces the injustices of the system. Are we prepared to walk alongside Jesus and pledge our allegiance to him? Are we ready to offer our cloaks as an act of service and humility, spreading them in Jesus’ path? Can we raise and wave our palms today proclaiming peace?

As we enter Jerusalem with Jesus today, we become prophets, proclaiming a new Exodus, a new Passover, liberation in our communities. And so, today we join all the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem and together proclaim, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!”

Amen.