Palm Sunday– Year C
Sermon Notes from the Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People
Liturgy of the Palms – Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Luke 19:28-40
RCL Readings – Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56
ACNA Readings – Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22:1-21; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 23:1-49
Seasonal Introduction. Palm Sunday marks the first day in Holy Week and the last week in Lent, which will conclude at the Easter Vigil on Saturday. Holy Week is an eight-day festival (similar to the eight-day festivals of Passover, Sukkot, and Hanukkah) which commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem until the day of His resurrection.
Common Theme. This year, during Palm Sunday, the focus isn’t on the celebration of Jesus’ entrance into the city but on His betrayal, suffering, and death. And yet the passages also focus on Jesus’ (and all of God’s servants) dependence and trust in Him. It finishes with the example of Jesus choosing to humbly commit Himself to obedience to God. Amazingly, Jesus’ example is for those who betrayed Him but can now live with Him.
Hebraic Context. Traditions are not only the activities passed down through time but also the values and beliefs of those who participate in them. Tradition is neither good nor bad. It is simply something we all inherit based on our participation in the culture we come from. But tradition is a way to transmit and safekeep those things that we believe to be important (tradere in Latin).
Traditions usually change due to culture, value, or belief differences over time but, again,
sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. Many Christians view tradition with a fair amount of skepticism or suspicion. One objection against religious traditions comes from a fear that they can supersede or displace the written instructions of the Bible. Jesus scolded the Pharisees for doing this when He says, “You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down” Mark 7:13. This does not mean that all Jewish tradition is bad or has no value.
The New Testament records several Jewish traditions that entered the culture by the first
century that Jesus participated in quite happily. Traditions surrounding the Passover became quite prominent in Jesus’ life and teaching and Jesus gave no indication that the traditions had superseded or displaced the written instructions of the Bible. Hebraic tradition is not something that should be rejected outright. Rather, it should be studied and appreciated when it assists in our understanding of the context of the Scriptures.
In a similar way, our Christian traditions, starting with the celebration of Palm Sunday (which God does not command us to celebrate) can also assist us in remembrance and worship and should not be thrown away simply because it is a tradition. From the fourth century we have literary evidence from several pilgrims, St Cyril of Jerusalem and Itinerarium Egeriae (Travels of Egeria), that describe in detail the customs and celebrations of the Easter season in Jerusalem they witnessed during their visits to the Holy Land. They not only inform us about the early Christian customs, liturgies, and places of worship but also inform us how customs changed over the centuries as the eastern and western churches created or kept specific customs.
Unfortunately, there are some followers of Jesus that choose not to celebrate Easter from the misplaced idea that it has pagan roots or that Easter is ‘not found in the Bible’. In truth, it is during this eight-day period of Jesus’ life that many biblical prophecies, hopes, and dreams were fulfilled in the Messiah. John uses almost half of his Gospel to speak on the events of Easter and all four Gospels emphasize the week before Jesus’ death and the day of His resurrection (this is not Jesus’ “final week” as he was resurrected and walked the earth, meeting his disciples, family, and many others before His ascension). As God commands regarding all His great acts of redemption, this is surely worth remembering and celebrating in its season.