Palm Sunday
Sermon
Wounded For Us
Scriptural Cures For Our Wounds: Lenten/Easter Resources
Several times in the book of Revelation there is a break in the action here on earth while we are transported to heaven. This is especially true when the action has gotten particularly intense and one feels in need of some relief and, more importantly, a word of assurance. For me, during the Lenten season, Palm Sunday has always provided a similar break in the action. It offers a much needed respite before the final push to Good Friday.
Recently there has been a trend to expand Palm Sunday to include the events of the passion. I suspect that one of the reasons for this change is the poor attendance at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. For the majority of a worshiping congregation, if they do not hear the story of passion on Palm Sunday they will not hear it all. Wounded For Us is designed to encourage people to attend the church's observances of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Thus, the services for the Sunday before Easter have as their primary focus just Palm Sunday. However, one of them does include the events of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week.
Service One was used in conjunction with the service for the first five Sundays in Lent. As a part of the service a sixth and final Lenten purple candle is extinguished. Churches will want to adapt the service to incorporate their normal Palm Sunday traditions. The Call To Worship is the same as the one used for the first five Sundays in Lent. The Prayer of Consecration following the offertory is taken from A Time For Worship by John Enochs (CSS Publishing Co., Lima, Ohio, 1991, p. 64). While it is not included in this suggested service, an adaptation of "Were You There?" such as "Were you there when he rode into Jerusalem?" might be used for the extinguishing of a sixth Lenten candle.
Service Two liturgically retells the story of Holy Week from Palm Sunday through Wednesday. The service follows the events of Jesus' last week using the Gospel of Matthew. The story could also be told using one of the other gospels or perhaps even a combination of them.
There are two options for the extinguishing of Lenten candles. Option 1 is similar to the first service in that just one candle is used. Option 2 involves the use of four candles, one each for Palm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Churches using Option 2 may also want to have an additional candle for Maundy Thursday.
The service ends with words: "To Be Continued." It is a way to remind the worshipers that the story of Holy Week will be continuing the following Thursday when the church will be fulfilling Jesus' command to remember the events of the Upper Room.
Following Service One is a sermon that identifies a sixth Lenten candle for the places where we are wounded as a society. More specifically, it centers on the places that Jerusalem was wounded when Jesus rode into the city on the first Palm Sunday. As with the sermons for the first five Sundays in Lent, it begins with "Sermon Notes."
After Service Two are two of the suggested scripture readings used in the service: Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected) and Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected). When the second service was used at Crescent Avenue United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the two parables were read from a translation by Clarence Jordan.
Service One
Worship Service
Palm Sunday
Prelude
Call To Worship
Hebrews 4:14-16
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hymn Of Gathering
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
Collect
Announcements
Morning Prayers
The Lord's Prayer
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
Offering Of Ourselves, Our Commitments, And Our Gifts
Offertory Sentence
Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21b, c).
Offertory
Prayer of Consecration
Lord of life, our world asks so much from us. In this moment of giving remind us that our offerings reach out to heal and make new the world beyond our doors. Amen.
Hymn Of Preparation
"O God Of Every Nation"
Sermon
"A City In Turmoil"
Extinguish Sixth Lenten Candle (Option 1)
Hymn Of Going
"Where Cross The Crowded Ways Of Life"
Sending Forth
Congregational Benediction
"Near The Cross" (vv. 1, 3)
Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain, free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me, help me walk from day to day with its shadows o'er me. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Postlude
To Be Continued ...
Bulletin Insert
Palm Sunday
A City In Turmoil
Matthew 21:1-11
Sermon Notes
Jesus' Lament Over Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."
-- Matthew 23:37-39
Jerusalem: A Wounded City
Politically
Religiously
Socially
Economically
Cure
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
-- Revelation 21:1, 2
Sermon
A City In Turmoil
Matthew 21:1-11
The Gospel of Matthew's rendering of Jesus' triumphant entry on Palm Sunday describes Jerusalem as being in turmoil. Everyone wanted to know, who was this person riding on a colt? Was Jesus the long-expected Messiah? Was he a revolutionary leader who might cause riots in the streets? Was he a threat to the power of Rome? Was he a religious leader who would challenge the religious establishment? No wonder Jerusalem found itself in turmoil.
The Jerusalem into which Jesus rode was also a wounded city. It was wounded politically, religiously, economically, and socially. (Note: the one giving this message may want to identify how Jerusalem was wounded, using additional or different categories.) The arrival of Jesus poured salt into the places where it was hurting and afflicted.
First, Jerusalem was wounded politically. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Like his father, he was a builder, founding the present-day city of Tiberias. Because John the Baptist had called into question the appropriateness of his marriage to Herodias, Herod had John the Baptist put to death. It was no accident that Herod was called by Jesus "that fox." Until he was deposed in 39/40 A.D., "that fox" ruled with craftiness and cunning.
On Palm Sunday, Herod Antipas was in town for the Passover. The people knew that he was well aware of Jesus and his ministry. Several times the tetrarch had indicated that he would like to talk with this worker of wonders and miracles. There was a general consensus that Herod found Jesus to be a threat to his power and position. And the people knew, from the beheading of John, what happens to those who threaten Herod.
Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea, was also in Jerusalem for the Passover. His normal residence was in Caesarea, but Jewish holidays found him in the Holy City because of the potential for riots. The turmoil caused by the entrance of Jesus on a colt on Palm Sunday gave him great cause for concern. This was not the first time that he was faced with potential problems on a Jewish religious holiday. Pilate's inability to deal with such incidents would eventually cause his removal.
When Pilate was in town, it would seem likely that he would set up shop at the Antonia Fortress. Its tower provided an excellent vantage point to monitor what was happening on the temple mount. As Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, the soldiers who were billeted at the fortress were able to observe the whole incident. One can only wonder what was going through their minds. Would they be called upon to put down another riot?
Second, Jerusalem was also wounded religiously. Jesus made it clear in his teaching that most of those in religious authority put heavy burdens on the people rather than giving them relief from their burdensome loads. He says to the teachers of the Jewish law, "Woe also to your lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them" (Luke 11:46). In their conduct of the temple, the priests took advantage of the people, finding all sorts of schemes to extract additional revenues from them.
While the different religious groups were unified in their burdening the people, they were far from united in their religious beliefs and practices. There were strong and at times violent differences between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests, the Es-senes, and the Zealots. Even within groups there were differences that tended to cause deep divisions. The Pharisees contained at least two groups: the more conservative followers of the House of Shammai and the more liberal adherents of the House of Hillel. There is some indication that Jesus may have belonged to this former group.
Third, Jerusalem was wounded economically. Jesus has been described as coming for the least, the last, and the lost. With some notable exception, those who were a part of the crowds that came to see and hear him, fit this description. Many of those who lined the way the first Palm Sunday who were his followers came from this segment of the population. On the other side of the temple mount lived the very rich. One of the sources for their wealth was to exploit the least, the last, and the lost. On Palm Sunday, with the arrival of Jesus, these two groups clash as they come into contact with each other.
Finally, Jerusalem was wounded socially. In many ways this is a consequence of being wounded politically, religiously, and economically. Jerusalem was divided into many competing social groups. On the one hand there were the righteous Pharisees and on the other the sinners and tax collectors. As we have seen there were the divisions due to the various religious parties. The influential, the important, and the powerful was contrasted with the least, the last, and the lost.
Today our newspapers, radios, and televisions remind us that Jerusalem remains a wounded city. The three religious groups for whom it is a holy city -- Christians, Jews, and Muslims -- seem to be in a perpetual state of conflict. Even Christian groups find it hard to coexist. On my first visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre just north of the traditional burial place of Jesus was a huge scaffolding that I learned had been there for some time. It would seem that the four groups in charge of the church -- Greek Orthodox, Romans Catholics, Armenians, and Copts -- had been unable to agree on what needed to be done, so nothing was done. On another visit our tour group had to leave the temple square because fundamental Orthodox Jews were congregating in preparation for their protesting at the Israeli Knesset.
(The purpose of the next section of this sermon is to articulate how a particular congregation is located in a wounded environment. Each pastor will want to tailor this segment to conform to the specific concerns facing the people.)
The book of Revelation tells us that Jerusalem will ultimately be healed with the coming of the new age. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1, 2). Until the return of Jesus we live in the in-between. Today we only catch glimpses of what it will be like when the new Jerusalem comes and all people live in peace and harmony together, when there is no more sickness or disease.
A common image of the coming kingdom of God is the great banquet. Today we have a foretaste of this feast when we gather to celebrate the Lord's Supper. When Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room, he told them that he would not eat with them again until that time that he would be with them at the heavenly banquet. The broken bread symbolizes the places in our lives where we are wounded. The wine represents the power of God to heal our wounds both in the here and now and ultimately by resurrection and the coming of the New Jerusalem.
In the Lord's Supper we receive a glimpse of the coming kingdom of God. This vision should encourage and empower us to engage our wounded world, but it should also help to sensitize us to look for those places in our normal everyday activities where this coming kingdom is also breaking in.
(At this point the pastor may want to also connect this glimpse of the coming kingdom of God with the places identified as to where the congregation finds themselves in a wounded world.)
Not only are we personally wounded, we also find ourselves living in a world that is wounded politically, religiously, socially, and economically. We wait in eager anticipation for the coming of the New Jerusalem. In the in-between let us look for signs of this in-breaking of the kingdom of God. As the places in our lives where we are wounded become healed, we have a taste of the true nature of what it means when the rule of God shall come; they are precursor of the arrival of the New Jerusalem.
Service Two
Worship Service
Palm/Passion Sunday
Prelude
The First Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:1-11
Triumphal Entry
Call To Worship
This is the day to let your heart take control of your lips.
We can't keep silent. Our hearts are bursting with praise for Jesus, king of our lives.
In spite of the shadow of the cross over the palm-strewn way, Jesus rules in the hearts of those who surrender to him.
We commit ourselves wholly to Jesus, and ask him to have his way with us.
Hymn
"All Glory, Laud, And Honor"
Collect
O Lord God, whose Son followed your will, both as a servant and as Savior, and now rules in the hearts of those who accept him as king; open our hearts to his rule; that we may rejoice in the blessings of his kingdom, and share with those who honor him with their lives. In his name we pray. Amen.
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:12-17
Jesus Goes To The Temple
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Monday Of Holy Week
Invitation To Dance
"Lord Of The Dance"
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected and paraphrased)
Rejection Of Jesus By Israel
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 22:15-22
Questions About Paying Taxes
Offering
Offertory
Offertory Sentence
Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy (1 Corinthians 4:1, 2).
Doxology
Prayer Of Consecration
Lord of life, our world asks so much from us. In this moment of giving remind us that our offerings reach out to heal and make new the world beyond our doors. Amen.
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Tuesday Of Holy Week
Scripture Reading
Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected and paraphrased)
The Coming Judgment
Hymn
"Soon And Very Soon"
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Wednesday Of Holy Week
Scripture Reading
Matthew 26:1-5
The Plot Against Jesus
Collect
O Lord, whose victory in Jerusalem culminated in agony on Golgotha, deliver us from the temptation to turn your real passion into a pious parade. Remind us that your destination on that first Palm Sunday was not a festive coronation in the holy city but a final confirmation from God, that you spurned the offer of a royal crown to shoulder the shame of a criminal's cross; that you were able to save others only because you did not seek to save yourself. For us as for you, the cost of divine approval demands the devotion of our will to God. Amen.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 26:6-16
Jesus Anointed At Bethany
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Options 1 and 2)
Hymn Of Assurance
"He Touched Me"
Postlude
To Be Continued ...
Service Two
Selected Scripture Readings
Palm/Passion Sunday
Rejection Of Christ By Israel
Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected and paraphrased)
Reader One: The first thing that Jesus did after entering Jerusalem was to go to the temple where he drove out the moneychangers. This act outraged the religious and Jewish authorities and the die was cast for the events that were to come.
When Jesus returned to Jerusalem after spending the night in the city of Bethany, the city was full of excitement about the events of the previous day. No sooner had Jesus returned to the temple than he was questioned about his authority.
Reader Two: The chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?" Jesus answered them, "I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. Where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from man?" His opponents started to argue among themselves, "What shall we say? If we answer, 'From God,' he will say to us, 'Why, then, did you not believe John?' But if we say, 'From man,' we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
Reader One: Then Jesus tells three parables: the parable of the two sons, the parable of the tenants in the vineyard, and the parable of the wedding feast. These three stories make the same essential point: the chosen people of Israel have rejected God's own. Jesus accuses them of making a pretense of faith. They talk a good game, but they never put their faith into action.
Reader Two: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come; let us kill him and get his inheritance." So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenant who will give him the produce at the harvest time."
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls" (Matthew 21:33-43).
The Coming Judgment
Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected and paraphrased)
Reader One: In Matthew, the focus of Jesus' last Tuesday was on the coming judgment. Here we find the fifth and final teaching discourse in Matthew. Most of the activities of Holy Week take place in or around the temple. The destruction of the temple is to be a sign of the coming judgment.
Reader Two: Jesus left the temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this; not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down."
Reader One: Then Jesus goes on to describe the coming troubles and persecutions and what this awful horror will be like.
Reader Two: "Soon after the trouble of those days," Jesus continues, "The sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of the earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other."
Reader One: Then Jesus tells a series of stories and parables. The first three are concerned with the need to be watchful, for no one knows the time or place when Christ shall return. Therefore, at every moment of our lives we need to be ready.
Reader Two: For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away (Matthew 25:14-15).
Reader One: The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money (Matthew 25:16-18).
Reader Two: After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents, came forward, bringing five more talents, saying "Master, you have handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:19-21).
Reader One: And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, "Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:22-23).
Reader Two: Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." But his master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents" (Matthew 25:24-28).
Reader One: For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away (Matthew 25:29).
Reader Two: As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).
Recently there has been a trend to expand Palm Sunday to include the events of the passion. I suspect that one of the reasons for this change is the poor attendance at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. For the majority of a worshiping congregation, if they do not hear the story of passion on Palm Sunday they will not hear it all. Wounded For Us is designed to encourage people to attend the church's observances of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Thus, the services for the Sunday before Easter have as their primary focus just Palm Sunday. However, one of them does include the events of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week.
Service One was used in conjunction with the service for the first five Sundays in Lent. As a part of the service a sixth and final Lenten purple candle is extinguished. Churches will want to adapt the service to incorporate their normal Palm Sunday traditions. The Call To Worship is the same as the one used for the first five Sundays in Lent. The Prayer of Consecration following the offertory is taken from A Time For Worship by John Enochs (CSS Publishing Co., Lima, Ohio, 1991, p. 64). While it is not included in this suggested service, an adaptation of "Were You There?" such as "Were you there when he rode into Jerusalem?" might be used for the extinguishing of a sixth Lenten candle.
Service Two liturgically retells the story of Holy Week from Palm Sunday through Wednesday. The service follows the events of Jesus' last week using the Gospel of Matthew. The story could also be told using one of the other gospels or perhaps even a combination of them.
There are two options for the extinguishing of Lenten candles. Option 1 is similar to the first service in that just one candle is used. Option 2 involves the use of four candles, one each for Palm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Churches using Option 2 may also want to have an additional candle for Maundy Thursday.
The service ends with words: "To Be Continued." It is a way to remind the worshipers that the story of Holy Week will be continuing the following Thursday when the church will be fulfilling Jesus' command to remember the events of the Upper Room.
Following Service One is a sermon that identifies a sixth Lenten candle for the places where we are wounded as a society. More specifically, it centers on the places that Jerusalem was wounded when Jesus rode into the city on the first Palm Sunday. As with the sermons for the first five Sundays in Lent, it begins with "Sermon Notes."
After Service Two are two of the suggested scripture readings used in the service: Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected) and Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected). When the second service was used at Crescent Avenue United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the two parables were read from a translation by Clarence Jordan.
Service One
Worship Service
Palm Sunday
Prelude
Call To Worship
Hebrews 4:14-16
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hymn Of Gathering
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
Collect
Announcements
Morning Prayers
The Lord's Prayer
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
Offering Of Ourselves, Our Commitments, And Our Gifts
Offertory Sentence
Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21b, c).
Offertory
Prayer of Consecration
Lord of life, our world asks so much from us. In this moment of giving remind us that our offerings reach out to heal and make new the world beyond our doors. Amen.
Hymn Of Preparation
"O God Of Every Nation"
Sermon
"A City In Turmoil"
Extinguish Sixth Lenten Candle (Option 1)
Hymn Of Going
"Where Cross The Crowded Ways Of Life"
Sending Forth
Congregational Benediction
"Near The Cross" (vv. 1, 3)
Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain, free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me, help me walk from day to day with its shadows o'er me. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Postlude
To Be Continued ...
Bulletin Insert
Palm Sunday
A City In Turmoil
Matthew 21:1-11
Sermon Notes
Jesus' Lament Over Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."
-- Matthew 23:37-39
Jerusalem: A Wounded City
Politically
Religiously
Socially
Economically
Cure
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
-- Revelation 21:1, 2
Sermon
A City In Turmoil
Matthew 21:1-11
The Gospel of Matthew's rendering of Jesus' triumphant entry on Palm Sunday describes Jerusalem as being in turmoil. Everyone wanted to know, who was this person riding on a colt? Was Jesus the long-expected Messiah? Was he a revolutionary leader who might cause riots in the streets? Was he a threat to the power of Rome? Was he a religious leader who would challenge the religious establishment? No wonder Jerusalem found itself in turmoil.
The Jerusalem into which Jesus rode was also a wounded city. It was wounded politically, religiously, economically, and socially. (Note: the one giving this message may want to identify how Jerusalem was wounded, using additional or different categories.) The arrival of Jesus poured salt into the places where it was hurting and afflicted.
First, Jerusalem was wounded politically. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Like his father, he was a builder, founding the present-day city of Tiberias. Because John the Baptist had called into question the appropriateness of his marriage to Herodias, Herod had John the Baptist put to death. It was no accident that Herod was called by Jesus "that fox." Until he was deposed in 39/40 A.D., "that fox" ruled with craftiness and cunning.
On Palm Sunday, Herod Antipas was in town for the Passover. The people knew that he was well aware of Jesus and his ministry. Several times the tetrarch had indicated that he would like to talk with this worker of wonders and miracles. There was a general consensus that Herod found Jesus to be a threat to his power and position. And the people knew, from the beheading of John, what happens to those who threaten Herod.
Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea, was also in Jerusalem for the Passover. His normal residence was in Caesarea, but Jewish holidays found him in the Holy City because of the potential for riots. The turmoil caused by the entrance of Jesus on a colt on Palm Sunday gave him great cause for concern. This was not the first time that he was faced with potential problems on a Jewish religious holiday. Pilate's inability to deal with such incidents would eventually cause his removal.
When Pilate was in town, it would seem likely that he would set up shop at the Antonia Fortress. Its tower provided an excellent vantage point to monitor what was happening on the temple mount. As Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, the soldiers who were billeted at the fortress were able to observe the whole incident. One can only wonder what was going through their minds. Would they be called upon to put down another riot?
Second, Jerusalem was also wounded religiously. Jesus made it clear in his teaching that most of those in religious authority put heavy burdens on the people rather than giving them relief from their burdensome loads. He says to the teachers of the Jewish law, "Woe also to your lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them" (Luke 11:46). In their conduct of the temple, the priests took advantage of the people, finding all sorts of schemes to extract additional revenues from them.
While the different religious groups were unified in their burdening the people, they were far from united in their religious beliefs and practices. There were strong and at times violent differences between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests, the Es-senes, and the Zealots. Even within groups there were differences that tended to cause deep divisions. The Pharisees contained at least two groups: the more conservative followers of the House of Shammai and the more liberal adherents of the House of Hillel. There is some indication that Jesus may have belonged to this former group.
Third, Jerusalem was wounded economically. Jesus has been described as coming for the least, the last, and the lost. With some notable exception, those who were a part of the crowds that came to see and hear him, fit this description. Many of those who lined the way the first Palm Sunday who were his followers came from this segment of the population. On the other side of the temple mount lived the very rich. One of the sources for their wealth was to exploit the least, the last, and the lost. On Palm Sunday, with the arrival of Jesus, these two groups clash as they come into contact with each other.
Finally, Jerusalem was wounded socially. In many ways this is a consequence of being wounded politically, religiously, and economically. Jerusalem was divided into many competing social groups. On the one hand there were the righteous Pharisees and on the other the sinners and tax collectors. As we have seen there were the divisions due to the various religious parties. The influential, the important, and the powerful was contrasted with the least, the last, and the lost.
Today our newspapers, radios, and televisions remind us that Jerusalem remains a wounded city. The three religious groups for whom it is a holy city -- Christians, Jews, and Muslims -- seem to be in a perpetual state of conflict. Even Christian groups find it hard to coexist. On my first visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre just north of the traditional burial place of Jesus was a huge scaffolding that I learned had been there for some time. It would seem that the four groups in charge of the church -- Greek Orthodox, Romans Catholics, Armenians, and Copts -- had been unable to agree on what needed to be done, so nothing was done. On another visit our tour group had to leave the temple square because fundamental Orthodox Jews were congregating in preparation for their protesting at the Israeli Knesset.
(The purpose of the next section of this sermon is to articulate how a particular congregation is located in a wounded environment. Each pastor will want to tailor this segment to conform to the specific concerns facing the people.)
The book of Revelation tells us that Jerusalem will ultimately be healed with the coming of the new age. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1, 2). Until the return of Jesus we live in the in-between. Today we only catch glimpses of what it will be like when the new Jerusalem comes and all people live in peace and harmony together, when there is no more sickness or disease.
A common image of the coming kingdom of God is the great banquet. Today we have a foretaste of this feast when we gather to celebrate the Lord's Supper. When Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room, he told them that he would not eat with them again until that time that he would be with them at the heavenly banquet. The broken bread symbolizes the places in our lives where we are wounded. The wine represents the power of God to heal our wounds both in the here and now and ultimately by resurrection and the coming of the New Jerusalem.
In the Lord's Supper we receive a glimpse of the coming kingdom of God. This vision should encourage and empower us to engage our wounded world, but it should also help to sensitize us to look for those places in our normal everyday activities where this coming kingdom is also breaking in.
(At this point the pastor may want to also connect this glimpse of the coming kingdom of God with the places identified as to where the congregation finds themselves in a wounded world.)
Not only are we personally wounded, we also find ourselves living in a world that is wounded politically, religiously, socially, and economically. We wait in eager anticipation for the coming of the New Jerusalem. In the in-between let us look for signs of this in-breaking of the kingdom of God. As the places in our lives where we are wounded become healed, we have a taste of the true nature of what it means when the rule of God shall come; they are precursor of the arrival of the New Jerusalem.
Service Two
Worship Service
Palm/Passion Sunday
Prelude
The First Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:1-11
Triumphal Entry
Call To Worship
This is the day to let your heart take control of your lips.
We can't keep silent. Our hearts are bursting with praise for Jesus, king of our lives.
In spite of the shadow of the cross over the palm-strewn way, Jesus rules in the hearts of those who surrender to him.
We commit ourselves wholly to Jesus, and ask him to have his way with us.
Hymn
"All Glory, Laud, And Honor"
Collect
O Lord God, whose Son followed your will, both as a servant and as Savior, and now rules in the hearts of those who accept him as king; open our hearts to his rule; that we may rejoice in the blessings of his kingdom, and share with those who honor him with their lives. In his name we pray. Amen.
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:12-17
Jesus Goes To The Temple
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Monday Of Holy Week
Invitation To Dance
"Lord Of The Dance"
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected and paraphrased)
Rejection Of Jesus By Israel
Anthem
Scripture Reading
Matthew 22:15-22
Questions About Paying Taxes
Offering
Offertory
Offertory Sentence
Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy (1 Corinthians 4:1, 2).
Doxology
Prayer Of Consecration
Lord of life, our world asks so much from us. In this moment of giving remind us that our offerings reach out to heal and make new the world beyond our doors. Amen.
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Tuesday Of Holy Week
Scripture Reading
Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected and paraphrased)
The Coming Judgment
Hymn
"Soon And Very Soon"
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Option 2)
Wednesday Of Holy Week
Scripture Reading
Matthew 26:1-5
The Plot Against Jesus
Collect
O Lord, whose victory in Jerusalem culminated in agony on Golgotha, deliver us from the temptation to turn your real passion into a pious parade. Remind us that your destination on that first Palm Sunday was not a festive coronation in the holy city but a final confirmation from God, that you spurned the offer of a royal crown to shoulder the shame of a criminal's cross; that you were able to save others only because you did not seek to save yourself. For us as for you, the cost of divine approval demands the devotion of our will to God. Amen.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 26:6-16
Jesus Anointed At Bethany
Extinguish A Lenten Candle (Options 1 and 2)
Hymn Of Assurance
"He Touched Me"
Postlude
To Be Continued ...
Service Two
Selected Scripture Readings
Palm/Passion Sunday
Rejection Of Christ By Israel
Matthew 21:18--22:14 (Selected and paraphrased)
Reader One: The first thing that Jesus did after entering Jerusalem was to go to the temple where he drove out the moneychangers. This act outraged the religious and Jewish authorities and the die was cast for the events that were to come.
When Jesus returned to Jerusalem after spending the night in the city of Bethany, the city was full of excitement about the events of the previous day. No sooner had Jesus returned to the temple than he was questioned about his authority.
Reader Two: The chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?" Jesus answered them, "I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. Where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from man?" His opponents started to argue among themselves, "What shall we say? If we answer, 'From God,' he will say to us, 'Why, then, did you not believe John?' But if we say, 'From man,' we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
Reader One: Then Jesus tells three parables: the parable of the two sons, the parable of the tenants in the vineyard, and the parable of the wedding feast. These three stories make the same essential point: the chosen people of Israel have rejected God's own. Jesus accuses them of making a pretense of faith. They talk a good game, but they never put their faith into action.
Reader Two: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come; let us kill him and get his inheritance." So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenant who will give him the produce at the harvest time."
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls" (Matthew 21:33-43).
The Coming Judgment
Matthew 24:1--25:46 (Selected and paraphrased)
Reader One: In Matthew, the focus of Jesus' last Tuesday was on the coming judgment. Here we find the fifth and final teaching discourse in Matthew. Most of the activities of Holy Week take place in or around the temple. The destruction of the temple is to be a sign of the coming judgment.
Reader Two: Jesus left the temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this; not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down."
Reader One: Then Jesus goes on to describe the coming troubles and persecutions and what this awful horror will be like.
Reader Two: "Soon after the trouble of those days," Jesus continues, "The sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of the earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other."
Reader One: Then Jesus tells a series of stories and parables. The first three are concerned with the need to be watchful, for no one knows the time or place when Christ shall return. Therefore, at every moment of our lives we need to be ready.
Reader Two: For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away (Matthew 25:14-15).
Reader One: The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money (Matthew 25:16-18).
Reader Two: After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents, came forward, bringing five more talents, saying "Master, you have handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:19-21).
Reader One: And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, "Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:22-23).
Reader Two: Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." But his master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents" (Matthew 25:24-28).
Reader One: For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away (Matthew 25:29).
Reader Two: As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).
