A Homily for the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
April 2, 2023
Text: Matthew 26:14-27:66
Loving God, as we begin our walk with Christ during this most sacred time of the year, we ask you to draw close to us and to help us know and feel your presence among us. Break open our hearts and lift us up as we make our journey with Christ to the cross of salvation. May this time be one of transformation and renewal, that we may recommit our lives to your service. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.”
If you’re familiar with the psalms, you might recognize these words as the opening to Psalm 22. During Holy Week, we normally hear these words recited on Good Friday.
And, we will again this year.
But, for now, on this Palm Sunday, the opening words to Psalm 22 cut especially deep. In Matthew’s version of the Passion Gospel—which we heard just a few moments ago—they’re the final words of Jesus before his death on the cross.
As Jesus is hanging there, he says, in Aramaic, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”
Some of the bystanders who are standing near Jesus mistake his words as a cry to Elijah, and they mock him, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
Then, Jesus, with a loud voice, cries out and gives up his spirit.
I can only imagine how Jesus must’ve felt in those last moments before he died.
The pain and humiliation of the cross. The feeling of betrayal and abandonment. The overwhelming sense of being completely alone and cut off from everyone—including his Father in heaven.
Not that I believe that God ever abandoned Jesus, but that’s a topic for another sermon.
The scene is almost too painful to even think about, isn’t it, when you consider the magnitude of Jesus’ suffering?
Only the women who had followed him from Galilee—people like Mary Magdalene—remained with Jesus until the end. They watched from a distance as he died on the cross.
The crowd in Jerusalem—those who had welcomed him into the city only a few days earlier and hailed him as their king—turned their backs on Jesus and called for his death.
Peter—his disciple and friend—denied ever knowing Jesus. He quickly fled after he was accused of being one of his disciples.
Judas betrayed Jesus and handed him over for thirty pieces of silver. Later, when he realized the mistake he had made, he tried to take it back, but it was too late. The decision to crucify Jesus had already been made. Unable to live with the thought of condemning an innocent man, Judas took his own life.
And the other disciples—those who had come to know and love Jesus, those who had followed him all the way to Jerusalem—fled out of fear after Jesus was arrested.
The way of the cross was too much for them to bear.
And in the end, Jesus was left alone to die. Almost everyone, including his most trusted disciples, abandoned him out of fear or grief. If it weren’t for the cross, Jesus might’ve died from a broken heart.
Palm Sunday—the Sunday of the Passion—invites us to pause and consider the shock and scandal of Jesus’ death—not only at the hands of his persecutors—but also at the hands of those who denied him and betrayed his trust.
Ordinary people—just like you and me—who decided that it was better to take care of themselves rather than stay with Jesus in his most desperate hour of need.
If that makes you a little uncomfortable, I think that’s exactly the point.
Because at any given moment, on any given day, each of us is given the choice of whether to follow Jesus and be faithful in our calling or to turn our backs and say that the way of the cross is too much to bear.
Each of us is given the choice of whether to say “yes” or “no” to Jesus.
It would be a grave mistake for us to think that the story of Jesus’ Passion and death is just about events that took place a long time ago in a land far away from here.
Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel—after Jesus tells his disciples that he must undergo great suffering and be killed and then raised up on the third day—he says to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Jesus continues to speak to us today. And his message is this: The way of love is the way of the cross, and it is the path to abundant life with God.
We are his disciples. We are his Church. And just like those disciples who lived long ago—we also have to decide whether or not to walk the way of the cross with Jesus.
It won’t always be easy. And, it’ll always require us to give of ourselves in some way. But, we can trust that God will always be with us when we do.
This day marks the beginning of Holy Week—the most sacred time of the year for Christians around the world. Over the course of the next several days, we have the opportunity to experience the story again with open minds and open hearts—to walk with Christ from the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday to the cross on Good Friday, and then to experience once again the joy of resurrection on Easter.
If we allow it, this week can be a time of transformation and renewal. But, in order to do so, we have to let go of the idea that we have nothing left to learn from the story.
So, I invite you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Open your minds, and open your hearts to where the Spirit is leading you this week, and may God be with us all. Amen.
The Rev. Eric Mancil 