May we hear God’s voice this Holy Week

April 13th is Palm Sunday. Christians worldwide will celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion.

Peace be with you. Be comforted. The Son of God came to earth 2,000 years ago, was made man, and was crucifi ed upon a cross as a satisfaction for our sins.

Though the gospel reading from Luke (Luke 22:14 – 23:56) leaves us with the idea that maybe Jesus’ life on earth was futile we who are members of his Kingdom know otherwise.

Peace be with you. Be comforted. Though Jesus died brutally and without honor, Sunday morning we join with 2.6 billion people around the world in the celebration of Palm Sunday.

It is said that Palm Sunday is the first day of the most important week in history. The Passion gospel will be read aloud by fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles, in approximately 37 million churches across the world. The gospel proclamation of Jesus’ victory over death and sin will never be forgotten, dismissed, or downplayed.

Peace be with you. Be comforted. Jesus is claiming in this gospel reading, in the boldest, clearest way that he is the King, the Messiah, the Son of God. No longer is his identity veiled. No longer do those who have been healed have to keep quiet about the power of Jesus’name.

Peace be with you. Be comforted. Though it may not seem so, Jesus is in control throughout Luke’s gospel reading. Many times before this the gospels speak of occasions when the people attempted to grab Jesus to kill him. But his time had not yet come. His hour had not yet come. The appointed hour, appointed before his birth. God remains sovereign. “When the hour came,” begins the reading from Luke. The divinely ordained timing of Jesus’ mission had now come, and Jesus remained in control throughout.

Peace be with you. Be comforted. We have a Savior. The people in Jerusalem had gathered for their annual celebration of Passover, when they looked back to their deliverance from the bondage that had been suffered by their forefathers in Egypt.

And, at the same time, they looked forward to a great and final liberation when the Messiah King would come, and they would all be restored to what had been foretold about them. So they cry, “Hosanna!” which is a Hebrew term that means, literally, “save, please!” The word hosanna is based on the root the underlies the name, Jesus, which we can hear better in Jesus’Aramaic name, Yeshua. Peace be with you. Be comforted. God still hears our cries for salvation. From what do we seek salvation? Sin, yes. But also from pain, from despair, from loneliness. People still cry out to be saved. Hosanna!

May we hear God’s voice this Holy Week. May we hear his love and bow before the majesty of his sacrifice.

The Rev. Karen J. Pettit is the Vicar of Christ Episcopal Church, 509 E. Commerce St. Mexia. She invites you to celebrate Palm Sunday with us at 10:30 a.m.