Sixth Sunday In Lent: Palm Sunday.

As was mentioned last week, liturgical churches vary in their terminology around Palm Sunday. Some churches also refer to the sixth Sunday in Lent as Passion Sunday (or Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord), others refer to the fifth Sunday in Lent as Passion Sunday, and some do not use the term "Passion" at all. [For the purpose of this post, we will use the term "Palm Sunday" in reference to the sixth Sunday.]

Palm Sunday has been famed by the practice of distribution of palms, a rite that extends even to non-liturgical churches.

"The large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem, so they took palm tree branches and went out to meet Him." (John 12:12-13a).

Photo Source: gbod.org

Ah, yes. Perhaps it is appropriate that, in many churches, we experience this same thing: a large crowd shows up on Palm Sunday. But, as Pastor Sam has shared with us in years past, there is almost a "groupthink" mentality going on at the same time. So we have to ask ourselves: Why are we in this crowd? Is it tradition? Is it because our choir is on duty? Is it because we hold a superstition about palm branches? Is it because we "went out to meet Jesus"?


Oh God, You see us in this crowd and You know why we are here... give us the privilege of meeting Jesus today!