G’day, colleagues and friends. We are just about here and it will be time to enter Holy Week. My prayers for strength and clarity for you during this “heavy” time of the year.

Churches often choose either the Palm liturgy or the Passion liturgy on this Sunday, though many combine them. It’s a bit of a sticky wicket whichever way you attempt it. I have included fairly brief summaries of these familiar texts, very light pastoral cautions, and a potential outline for combining not only the Palm/Passion texts, but the Narrative lectionary text, as well. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t; that’s the tension we face every week, isn’t it?

RCL texts include:

Palms:

* Matthew 21:1–11

* Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29

Passion:

* Isaiah 50:4–9a

* Psalm 31:9–16

* Philippians 2:5–11

* Matthew 26:14–27:66

Big Idea

Jesus enters Jerusalem as the promised king, but the crowd’s expectations collide with God’s plan: the Messiah will not conquer through power but through suffering, humility, and the cross.

Text Summaries

Matthew 21:1–11 — The Triumphal Entry

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy of a humble king. Crowds spread cloaks and branches on the road, shouting “Hosanna” and welcoming him as the Son of David. The scene is filled with celebration, but the crowd does not yet understand the kind of king Jesus truly is.

Summary:Jesus publicly reveals himself as Israel’s king, but his kingdom will unfold very differently than people expect.

Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 — The King’s Procession

This psalm celebrates God’s steadfast love and the victory of the one whom God has chosen. The line “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” becomes the crowd’s cry during Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Summary:The psalm celebrates God’s deliverance and foreshadows the welcome given to the coming king.

Isaiah 50:4–9a — The Suffering Servant

This servant song portrays one who faithfully obeys God despite suffering humiliation and violence. The servant trusts that God will ultimately vindicate him.

Summary:God’s servant remains faithful through suffering, trusting God’s final justice.

Psalm 31:9–16 — A Cry of Trust

This psalm expresses deep distress and persecution while maintaining confidence in God’s protection. The words echo the emotional reality of the Passion story.

Summary:Even in suffering and rejection, the faithful place their lives in God’s hands.

Philippians 2:5–11 — The Humility of Christ

Paul describes Christ’s self-emptying: though equal with God, he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to death on a cross. Because of this humility, God exalted him above all.

Summary:The path to glory for Christ—and for his followers—is humility and sacrificial obedience.

Matthew 26–27 — The Passion Narrative

The Gospel recounts the betrayal of Jesus, his arrest, trial, suffering, crucifixion, and burial. What appears to be defeat becomes the unfolding of God’s plan for redemption.

Summary:The rejected king gives his life to redeem the world.

Preaching Cautions

1. Avoid romanticizing the Palm Sunday crowd.With all the exultation in the air, it would be easy to assume that this crowd was “all in” for Jesus. But the same voices shouting “Hosanna” can quickly turn toward rejection when expectations are not met — or fear and political persuasion take hold. (Not to mention a few shekels crossing palms, no pun intended.)

2. Do not separate Palm Sunday from the cross.The triumphal entry only makes sense when read in light of the coming crucifixion. Prettty much ‘nuff said about that, but it become especially important if your schedule is light on the other services of Holy Week (or most folks simply won’t be there for Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.)

3. Avoid portraying the Passion as merely tragic.The suffering of Jesus is part of God’s redemptive plan. Again, this is a basic and important theological stand. There were plenty of other individuals crucified this week and all of them were tragic. But none of them had the deep significance of THIS crucifixion.

Narrative Lectionary Text:

John 19:16b–22 — The Crucifixion Begins

Big Idea

The world believes it is executing a criminal, but in reality it is lifting up the true king whose cross becomes the throne of God’s redeeming love.

Summary

Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha where he is crucified between two others. Pilate orders an inscription to be placed above him: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Though meant as a charge against him, the title reveals the deeper truth of John’s Gospel: the crucified one is truly the king.

Summary:The cross exposes both human injustice and the paradoxical kingship of Christ.

Preaching Cautions

1. Avoid portraying the crucifixion as accidental.In John’s Gospel, the cross unfolds within God’s sovereign plan.

2. Do not focus solely on brutality.The Gospel emphasizes theological meaning rather than graphic detail.

3. Avoid antisemitic interpretations.The conflict reflects specific leadership decisions, not the guilt of an entire people.

4. Do not overlook John’s irony.The inscription meant to mock Jesus actually proclaims the truth.

5. Keep the resurrection horizon visible.John presents the cross as the beginning of Jesus’ glorification.

A Unified Sermon Outline

The King We Did Not Expect

One Line Summary

Jesus is the true king, but his kingdom is revealed not through power and conquest, but through humility, suffering, and sacrificial love.

Introduction

Palm Sunday begins with celebration.

Crowds line the road.Branches wave in the air.People shout:

“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

They believe the king has finally arrived.

And they are right.

But they misunderstand what kind of king he is.

The same paradox appears again in the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Above Jesus’ cross Pilate posts a sign:

“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Pilate means it as mockery.

But John wants us to see something deeper:

The cross itself becomes the throne of the king.

Movement 1

The King Who Comes in Humility

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey.

This fulfills Zechariah’s prophecy:

“See, your king comes to you, humble and riding on a donkey.”

In the ancient world, kings entered cities on war horses after military victory.

But Jesus comes differently.

Not on a war horse.Not surrounded by soldiers.

He arrives as a king of peace.

The crowd expects liberation from Rome.

Jesus comes to bring liberation from sin and death.

Movement 2

The King the World Rejects

The excitement of Palm Sunday quickly fades.

Within days:

* religious leaders oppose him

* the crowd turns

* Roman authorities condemn him

By the time we reach John 19, the king is hanging on a cross.

And yet John fills the scene with irony.

The soldiers dress him in royal clothing.A crown rests on his head.A sign announces his kingship.

Everything meant to mock Jesus actually reveals the truth.

The world thinks it is executing a criminal.

In reality, it is witnessing the enthronement of the king.

Movement 3

The King Who Reigns from the Cross

The cross completely redefines power.

In most kingdoms:

Power means taking control.Power means defeating enemies.Power means domination.

But in the kingdom of God:

Power looks like sacrifice.Power looks like forgiveness.Power looks like love.

The cross becomes the place where God defeats sin—not by destroying enemies, but by absorbing evil and overcoming it with grace.

Closing Illustration

On Palm Sunday the people waved palm branches.

In the ancient world, palm branches were symbols of victory and triumph. When a king returned from battle, people welcomed him by waving branches and celebrating his conquest.

So when the crowd waved palms for Jesus, they were declaring something important:

“The king has come to win the victory.”

But the victory they expected was not the victory Jesus came to bring.

They expected a king who would overthrow Rome.They expected a king who would take political power.

Instead, within days the story takes a shocking turn.

The palm branches disappear.

The cheering stops.

The crowd that welcomed him fades into silence.

And the king who entered Jerusalem in celebration is given a different crown.

Not a crown of gold.

A crown of thorns.

To the world, that crown looked like defeat.

But the Gospel tells us something extraordinary.

The crown of thorns was actually the beginning of the king’s victory.

Because the cross would not be the end of the story.

Three days later, the one who wore the crown of thorns would walk out of the tomb alive.

And the victory the crowd longed for on Palm Sunday would finally be revealed—not as a political triumph, but as the defeat of sin, death, and evil itself.

The palms were not wrong.

They were just too small.

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