Palm Sunday 2025

It’s Palm Sunday! This day commemorates Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the beginning of Holy Week, and the countdown to Easter.  

We are nearing the end of Lent, a time when we hear the Palm Sunday story and have a chance to make a choice. 

Today, we will read the story of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry because we need to remember why we are commemorating with palms...  

But we’re going to read a little further in the story, and we're going to focus on a moment when Jesus weeps because he sees the end result of his people's stubbornness and pride: what will become of the holy city of Jerusalem. 

Before we get there, though, I want to explore an interesting question: 

Why Do We Cry?

The Science of Crying—a history filled with mystery. 

A few years ago, Time Magazine published a story focused on the science of tears, and a study by Dr. Michael Trimble that began with curiosity about people who never cry.  

Charles Darwin declared 150 years ago that emotional tears were "purposeless." The ancients believed that tears originated in the heart.  The Old Testament even describes it as weakening the heart that turns to water. In the 1600s, people believed that the heart's passions would heat it up, and the body produced water to cool it down, resulting in tears.  

Surprisingly, there has been little study on exactly why we cry, but the prevailing theories suggest it has to do with vulnerability and human bonding. 

Dr. Michael Trimble—a quote that gives us a clue 

 “There must have been some point in time, evolutionarily, when the tear became something that automatically set off empathy and compassion in another. Actually being able to cry emotionally, and being able to respond to that, is a very important part of being human.”

So what does it mean that Jesus pauses during Holy Week for a good cry?  What can we learn from this? It comes down to the Incarnation and compassion. 

Because God became one of us through Jesus, we can know that God intimately knows what it is like to be us and to feel compassion and sorrow when we make choices that lead to pain and suffering.  

NO MATTER OUR CHOICES, GOD’S COMPASSION NEVER WAVERS

Luke 19:28-40; 41-44

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry involved planning. He didn't do this on a whim; he wanted to make a point. 

It was done to proclaim the nature of God’s Kingdom. He recalled a prophecy about how a true king, a Messiah, would be revealed to God's people in humility and peace, not mighty and ready for war. 

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The shouts of “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he” were part of the traditional ascent songs sung when pilgrims approached the Temple.  

This was a coming-out celebration, but not the kind that everyone expected.

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Then Jesus stops and weeps for Jerusalem (a harbinger of things to come). 

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

What is the significance of this?  

The crowds cheering him on were on a path, and had made their choice—but God’s compassion was with them.  

Ultimately, they would choose violence and bloodshed stirred on by their corrupt religious leaders and sanctioned by the power of Rome.  They would become what they railed against because they didn't want the peaceful revolution that Jesus came to deliver.  

We are given a choice about who we want Jesus to be for us.  So often we turn away from the peaceful, vulnerable, and compassionate way God is revealed in Him.  We want Jesus on our own terms.  

Questions We Need to Ask Ourselves

1. What choices have we made that we have yet to own up to?
2. Why have we held all that regret inside for so long?
3. How do we discover God’s compassion again?

NO MATTER OUR CHOICES, GOD’S COMPASSION NEVER WAVERS