Rochester, MN UCC - "Hosanna in the Highest!" - Luke 19:28-40

This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday by reading the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus comes to town riding on a donkey in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy about the arrival of the Messiah. Crowds flock to the road, lay down their cloaks and wave palm branches as he passes, shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 

 Palm Sunday has the feel of a happy ending. It feels like the scene after the climactic battle has been one and the heroes return home to applause and celebration of the crowds. Yet Palm Sunday isn't the end of Holy Week, it's the beginning. The climactic battle in this story would be Good Friday, the triumph Easter Morning. So why this victory parade at the beginning? 

 Before going off to war, soldiers sometimes take little photos in lockets of their loved ones with them. They serve as reminders of what they are fighting for and of the joy that awaits them upon their victorious return. I think Palm Sunday is like that. It is a preview of the coming victory. It is a reminder of the joy, light, and love we experience in the presence of the Lord. The joy, light, and love that await us after Good Friday. Good Friday reminds us of the darkness and suffering in our world, of the costs of human sinfulness and the need to overcome it. Palm Sunday grants us a taste of victory to reassure our faith as we walk the difficult road to Easter Morning. Come this Sunday and celebrate the certainty of God’s coming victory, reassure your faith that though there are dark times ahead the victory of God’s love is inevitable and unstoppable.

 Rev. Andrew Greenhaw