The Liturgy of the Palms: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

The Liturgy of the Word: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Pray for me, that the words I speak may be those God wants us to hear.

Today is Passion Sunday, the first day of what is known in by Christians as Holy Week. We also call it Palm Sunday, and we celebrate with palms…we all meet down at the rose garden, and remember our Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem by processing through the streets, waving our palms, and saying “Hosanna, Lord, hosanna! Lord send us now success!”

Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means “save”.

It was Christ’s passion, his great work of love, to save us. Today, and in the coming week, the church celebrates Christ’s great work of love by remembering the events of His passion.

In today’s new testament lesson Paul tells the Philippians:

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”

What was in the mind of Christ? What made him go to Jerusalem , even though he knew it meant betrayal, misery, and death? Couldn’t he have stayed out in the countryside, teaching and healing? There was certainly plenty of that to do…

But the mind of Christ was obedience to the will of the Father. That meant he was to stand firm in the face of threats and to go up to Jerusalem , to fulfill the words the prophets had spoken about him. So he entered Jerusalem publicly, seated on a donkey. Donkeys are humble animals, but they were also traditional transportation for Gods and Kings in antiquity.

Once in Jerusalem, it was the mind of Christ to teach in the temple every day. He taught the good news to the people, and they flocked to hear it, getting up early in the morning so they could go listen to him…but those in power saw his teaching and his popularity as a threat, so they challenged his authority, and tried to trick him into saying something they could condemn. It was his mind not to let the good news fall silent in the face of their resistance or their treachery.

It was the mind of Christ to share his last supper with his disciples. He tells them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Kindom of God .” It is the mind of Christ that we should share His kingdom and His table.

Jesus knew the ordeal to come would test his disciples, especially Simon, to the breaking point. But it was the mind of Christ that Simon not be lost in his trials… that even after Simon utterly failed, he was to repent, return to God, and then strengthen his brothers.

It was the mind of Christ not to run away, but to wait in the garden and pray, knowing that he was about to be betrayed into the hands of those driven by the powers of darkness. He prayed that if the Father were willing he might be spared this suffering and death…But it was the mind of Christ that the Father’s will be done.  So he gave himself up to those in the grasp of sin and evil, and let them do their worst. They thought they had complete power over him, that he was theirs to do whatever they wanted…but they only had that power because he allowed them to have it.

 It was the mind of Christ to pray even for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” It was the mind of Christ to comfort the prisoner suffering next to him, even while he suffered himself: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise

It was the mind of Christ to utterly trust in the will of God: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

So in His passion, His great work of love for us, we can get a good sense of the mind of Christ.

Ultimately, we are in God’s hands. Jesus wants us to trust those hands of God.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus

…who emptied himself…humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death…

Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lord Jesus, acclaimed as king, crucified as a criminal, teach us to accept our sufferings and triumphs for your glory alone. Amen.¹

 

1. From A New Zealand Prayer Book, HarperSan Francisco1989, p.580.