Palm Sunday Reflection

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus is misunderstood? The religious leaders don’t understand him—they accuse him of false teachings and try to trap him into saying things he doesn’t mean so they can turn the people against him. The people don’t really understand him. Remember when Jesus asks his disciples: Who do people say…

The Palm Sunday Crowd and the Good Friday Crowd

As we move from Palm Sunday to Good Friday, a lot of people wonder how the “Hosanna” of Palm Sunday gave way to the “Crucify him!”of Good Friday. How did the crowd go from praising Jesus to condemning him, all in a matter of days? Well, it didn’t. Because we are talking about two different…

The Savior we Want

Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever. . . . Save us—Hosanna in Hebrew—Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. (Psalm 118) This is the hymn that…

A Prayer for Palm Sunday

God of the cross, tottering down the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey, You are not the savior we expect. Your power doesn’t look like the power we want our God to have. Your wisdom makes no sense to us. We are happy to join the crowd, waving branches, But not so sure we want…

Lenten Reflection for Palm Sunday

I think it is natural to imagine that our holy spaces will be quiet, private. Places where we can be still and alone.  Or maybe with a few intimate friends. Yet if we define a holy space as a space inhabited by God, then the Gospels affirm crowded places as distinctly holy.  Jesus was often…

The Palm Sunday Crowd

This reflection is excerpted from a sermon on Mark 11:1-11. As you prepare for Palm Sunday, you might also appreciate this prayer of confession and offertory prayer.  For more Lent and Easter worship material, check the “Lent/Easter” category on the right side bar or go to the Index and scroll down to “The Year” section.…

Palm Sunday Sermon

I’ve added my sermon from Palm  Sunday 2009 to my “Pages” (on the right hand side bar).  The main point is that we try to make Jesus into the savior we want, thus depriving ourselves of the fullness of Christ’s salvation.