Passion Sunday: Surrender Buries Seizure

Today, Christian churches around the world celebrate Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday begins the seven days known as Holy Week. On this day, Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. He had come to be the Savior of the world. However, that meant his journey to Jerusalem did not end at a king’s throne, but at a criminal’s cross. Today we cry out Hosanna with Christians of ages past. The word hosanna is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase that expresses the plea, “Lord, save us” (Psalm 118:25), a cry of joyous hope. The palm fronds you see adorning the chancel not only recall the palms dispersed before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, but are also, since the days of the early church, symbols of victory, life, and hope. During the Reformation, Palm Sunday developed another descriptive name: the Sunday of the Passion. Since the 16th century, many Lutheran congregations have used this Sunday as an opportunity to read and review the History of Our Lord’s Suffering and Death. Johannes Bugenhagen, Martin Luther’s pastor, compiled a harmony of the Passion Narrative from the four gospels to be read on this Sunday. The Sunday of the Passion often culminated in the dramatic musical arrangement of St. Matthew’s Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. This morning, we will ride into Jerusalem with Jesus and follow him to Calvary’s cross as we read anew the History of our Lord’s Suffering and Death. Blessed is our king who came to save us! Hosanna!