29th March 2026

Palm Sunday

Readings: Psalm 118:1, 22-24, 26-27, 29 & Matthew 21:1-11

Some 500 years before the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that we’ve just heard about from Jess, at the time when the Israelite nation had just returned from their exile in Babylon, a prophet called Zechariah famously said “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Let’s pray …

For sure, Jesus knew all about Zechariah’s prophecy, but the words of it are just stunning.  A king, it talks about, a king who was righteous, victorious and lowly (a word we were discussing at our Bible study on Wednesday, so excellently led by Gid).  I would love just to dwell on those three words, “victorious” especially, his victory over sin, his victory over evil (then and today), his victory over death, the moment that changed history for all people (whether they want to admit it or not), and for all time.

But let’s enter into the scene, and put ourselves in the shoes of all those people that day, the people in the crowd, the disciples, the Pharisees, even Jesus himself.

Let’s think about the crowd first. They were shouting at the tops of their voices that messianic declaration "Hosanna to the Son of David", "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", "Hosanna in the highest heaven ", and covering the road in front of Jesus, as he rode his young donkey, with cloaks and palm branches. 

It was indeed a spectacle fit for a king, a victorious king - God's King! 

What a day it must have been, but little did they know that they were effectively lighting the fuse on the powder keg that is about to go off in the capital city. In less than a week, Jesus will have been arrested by the furious religious authorities, tried, sentenced, beaten, abused, and tortured to death in the most agonising way that they knew of at the time.

But they didn’t know that then. This, they thought, was what they had been waiting for for centuries, and they were going to be the lucky ones to see it become a reality. The occupying Romans would be ejected, God’s chosen people would be liberated once and for all, and allowed to live in peace and serenity under their own leadership. No wonder they were so excited.

This praise was spoken about in Psalm 118, read to us so nicely by Jill, prophesying the coming Christ. Their cloaks laid on the road was a specifically royal treatment, seen, for example, at the coronation of King Jehu in 2 Kings 9. The laying of palm branches was reserved for victorious kings returning from war.

It had all been forecast by Zechariah.

But that same crowd, so jubilant and excited today, would be equally vociferous in their calls for his execution. As soon as they realised that they’d got completely the wrong end of the stick, they were furious, feeling horribly deceived and let down. Only 5 days later their chant would change from “Hosanna, Hosannah”, to “Crucify him, crucify him”. How fickle could they get? 

Now put yourself in the shoes of the disciples.  Three years they had spent with this guy.  To begin with they might have been a bit sceptical.  Yes, he was something special, something different, super gifted, extremely plausible, but was he really the promised Christ? 

They’d become convinced that he was, or at least 11 of them had.  They had got it right, and this was the climax of it all.  Oh what a joyous day. 

As for Judas - was he convinced too? Did he think that he was doing Jesus a favour, helping the show along by giving him into the hands of the authorities? Or had he come to the same conclusion as the religious leaders?  We’ll never know.  

And so, what about those self-important Pharisees, the chief priests and the teachers of the law?   They didn’t think Jesus was the promised messiah, in fact they were certain he wasn’t.  As far as they we concerned he was a charlatan, a fake, a counterfeit, a hoax. 

Not only that, he was causing a massive disruption which put in peril their right to control and manipulate the people.  If things got out of hand the Romans would take control themselves, and they would lose that role.  

They were in a real conundrum.  They wanted to stop Jesus, but they didn’t know how to, without making the people even more excitable.  Whatever they would decide to do would be wrong.

And now this.  Jesus riding into town, behaving as if he was some conquering hero.  This took the biscuit. For them it was the final straw, more than they dared tolerate. You can almost feel sorry for them.

But what about Jesus himself?  Was he happy?  Was he pleased with what was happening both to the people in the crowds and to those Jewish leaders?  

Or was he anxious, knowing perfectly, as he did, everything that was going to happen to him physically and mentally, anticipating the pain, the anguish, the helplessness, the unavoidable nature of what had been planned for him.  It must have been like waiting to go to the dentist to have all your wisdom teeth taken out in one go, but a thousand times worse. 

We know about the cross, and all that, but there was so much more.  Maybe this week we could all read Matthew 26 & 27, or Mark 14 & 15, or Luke 22 & 23, or John 17, 18, 19 & 20.   Choose one and read it slowly and just think about all that was really going on.

On Friday afternoon, here at 3 o’clock, we’re going to meditate on the stations of the cross, on the agony of the garden of Gethsemani and the crucifiction, but there was soooo much more, and that’s what Palm Sunday is also about.

Yes, next Sunday, we’ll be focusing on the wonderful and profound implications of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But before we get there, and as Lent draws to a close, let’s not lose sight of the full cost that Jesus paid for each of us.  

Another 300 or so years later the Desert Fathers and Mothers, in their quest for spiritual maturity, voluntarily chose a life in the wilderness over the comfort of city life, in order to move away from the apostacy that they saw in the Church at large, to pursue single-hearted devotion to God.

They paid a huge price for faithfulness - willing, even welcoming, hardship, hunger, and loneliness, to help achieve singleness of heart. These extraordinary men and women abandoned city life, where they felt Christianity was becoming politicised and compromised, to pursue purity towards Jesus. 

They moved away from the fickle crowd to faithfully, single-mindedly seek the Lord.

We too want to move increasingly towards faithfulness and away from fickleness, to actively and intentionally live our lives focused on pursuing God's presence, at all times, and in all seasons.

So, as we come to the end of our Lenten journey with them, let’s not forget the lessons we’ve learnt, and let’s think about how we can carry them with us.

During the past six weeks we have talked about the desert as a place of 

     • of prayer

·      of testing

     • of silence and solitude

     • of self-denial

     • a place to find wisdom

     • and a place to grow in humility

Let’s not allow this to have been just another Lent course.

What did you find the most challenging? What did you find the most beneficial? What do you feel the Spirit of God has revealed or highlighted to you about the world, about yourself, and about God this Lent? 

Let’s close with a prayer attributed to St Augustine of Hippo

Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You, and desire nothing save only You.

Let me do everything for the sake of You.

Let me humble myself and exalt You.

Let me think of nothing except You.

Let me die to myself and live in You.

Let me accept whatever happens as from You.

Let me banish self and follow You, and ever desire to follow You.

Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,

Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.

Let me cling to nothing save only to You,

And let me be poor because of You.

Look upon me, that I may love You.

Call me that I may see You, and for ever enjoy You. Amen.