We are rapidly bringing our Lenten Observations to a close this week. Over the past few Sunday’s Christ has drawn closer and closer to Jerusalem, and finally today he arrives. Over the course of this week we will trace his steps in Jerusalem from his Triumphant Entry, to the Last Supper he shared with his Disciples in the upper room, to his death on the cross, and resurrection from the tomb.
Today we will observe the tradition of Palm/Passion Sunday. It is a combination of the Palm Sunday celebrations and the Passion Sunday tradition of liturgically anticipating and remembering Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. The UCC Book of Worship helpfully defines it like this:
Palm/Passion Sunday is the gateway to Holy Week. It is appropriate that both Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the full account of Christ’s passion, death, and burial be commemorated in the principal worship of the congregation of this day. Where this is not done, Christians are deprived of adequate preparation for the events of Holy Week, and those who attend only Sunday worship will experience a distorted transition from the triumph of Palm Sunday to the victory of East devoid of the reality of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross.
So let us enter into this time of Holy Week, faithfully, prayerfully, and hopefully.
Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian
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