Sermon Topic – Palm Sunday
Detail of a fresco by Hypolithe Flandrin (1809-1864) 19th century Church of Saint Germain des Pres, Paris) on https://www.meisterdrucke.at/kunstdrucke/Hippolyte-Flandrin/1065573/Der-Einzug-Christi-in-Jerusalem-am-Palmsonntag%3A-Die-Einwohner-begr%C3%BC%C3%9Fen-ihn-mit-Freude%2C-indem-sie-ihre-Kleider-auf-dem-Boden-ausbreiten-und-Olivenzweige-schwingen.-Detail-eines-Freskos-von-Hypolithe-Flandrin-(1809-1864)-19.-Jahrhundert-Kirche-Saint-Germain-.html
Just as it is today, the world that Jesus lived in was fraught with conflict, political tension and powerful empires. We easily miss that the crowds singing hosanna on Palm Sunday and declaring Jesus their king were stirring up a rebellion and rejecting Roman rule. And his choice to ride a humble donkey was a way of subverting both the threat of violent uprising and the danger of Roman retaliation. Jesus says I am the king of love, the king of peace, my kingdom is no less revolutionary because it seeks to put an end to conflict, to bring reconciliation. He says trust in me, and I will put an end to conflict and command peace to ends of the earth. And just as the way of humility, peace and service is the way of Christ, then it must be also for those who follow him. The church is at its most Christlike when it puts away pride and power and walks in humility and seeks to bring God’s reconciliation to the world.