Palm Sunday centers around two portions of the gospel. Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11) and Jesus crucifixion (Matthew 27:11-54).

When we teach Confirmation at Bethlehem, we devote an entire class to the Biblical stories that shape Holy Week because they tell the story of Christ’s self-empyting love. While the scenes of betrayal, denial, imprisonment, trial, and wrongful conviction that shape this week may or may not be part of your life experiences, they are human experiences that Jesus lived. And they are the experiences of many in our world today.

Katie Murchison Ross says, “Jesus greatest sermon and greatest gift was his own bleeding. On the cross, God become more vulnerable than we thought it possible (or appropriate) for God to be. Willing to weep and suffer in solidarity with humanity, Jesus showed the world how deeply loved we are” (Christian Century 2022).

Holy Week is the most important week in the life of the church because it is Jesus’ sermon for the world, showing us that suffering, pain, loss, and even death, are not signs that God has abandoned the world, but a reminder that these are the places where God is most fully present bringing life, and hope, and healing to this world God so loves. In the midst of all that we experience in our daily lives, that is a promise we cling to.

This week all around the world, people who follow the way of Jesus, seek to walk with him again through this story, and through the lives of those who experience the depth of human suffering. May the story of the One who bleeds, show us the fullness of the God who loves.