Scripture: John
12:12-19 & Matthew
26:1-27:66
There are a couple varying traditions regarding the sixth
Sunday in Lent.
Many of us remember it as Palm Sunday, a day of celebration
before entering into Holy Week which commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. In this tradition the Gospel lesson is John 12:12-19. Sometimes
congregations choose to read the Palm Sunday account that matched with the
Gospel for the year, as Matthew, Mark, and Luke also record this event. In any
case, the appointed reading was/is from John 12. Congregations hand out palm
fronds, and some people used these fronds to make a cross which they would keep
until the next year’s Palm Sunday. There is often a procession into the
services in which the palms are waved to observe Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.
The other name given to this Sunday is the Sunday of the
Passion, or Passion Sunday. Before Vatican II, the fifth and sixth Sundays of
Lent formed a mini-season called Passiontide. There was an extended the Gospel lessons
to read the whole Passion narrative, remembering Jesus’ suffering and death across the two weeks. In
the most recent lectionary, the tradition of reading the whole of the account
of Jesus’ trials, beatings, and crucifixion has been restored, but kept on the
sixth Sunday in Lent. Some claim that this decision was made because of low
attendance at Holy Week services, necessitating a reading of the crucifixion on
a Sunday. This, however, is not true.
In any case, to prepare for the remembrance of Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his innocent suffering and death both
readings are given for today and Friday with no comment. Simply read them and
pray for the Spirit to help you understand and believe God's Word. Afterward, pray as the Spirit leads you, following the themes of the readings.
God bless your meditation on Jesus’ death which paid for our
sins and which reconciles us to God.
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