Reflection by Kit Allgood-Mellema, Worship Leader
Scriptures: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11: Matthew 26:14-27:66
29 March 2026, Palm Sunday, Yr A
Finally, we are here. Palm Sunday. It’s been a busy week!
Last Sunday we heard the story of Lazarus, who died and was raised to life when Jesus called him out of the tomb. When Jesus beckoned, Lazarus said, Yes! At the end of her reflection on letting light shine through the cracks of brokenness and realizing that God is always with us, Nancy Jo shared a quote from Westina Matthews in Living Well Through Lent: “Let us hold our broken world— and our own brokenness—in compassion, light, and love. For God’s love reigns forever, forgiveness is the key, reconciliation is the goal, and love is always, always, the answer.”
It is only by the chance of moon cycles and calendar dates that we celebrated the Annunciation this last Wednesday, when the angel known as Gabriel visited Mary, a teenager of Nazareth, to let her know she would be pregnant with a child who would be called the Son of the Most High. After questioning the angel, Mary said, Yes!
In Friday’s daily office gospel reading, after Jesus told the twelve gathered disciples what would soon happen to him – his arrest and death - James and John, sons of Zebedee, asked Jesus to grant them honored status beside him in his glory. They didn’t know what they were asking. When Jesus asked if they could do what he was about to do, they immediately said Yes!, still not knowing.
Yesterday, in one of my favorite gospel readings, a blind man named Bar Timaeus cried out to Jesus to restore his sight. As his sight returned, Bar Timaeus said, Yes!, and began to follow Jesus.
This week, in this very special season, we are asked to say yes to following Jesus through his journey into Jerusalem, to the upper room, the garden, the courts of the religious and secular leaders, and along the streets of the city to the place of his death.
In so many ways, on so many levels, this is a difficult, challenging time. I encourage you, as we move through this holiest of times individually and as a community, to give yourself and each other what I like to call ‘Space and Grace.’ Take care of yourselves. Take care of one another. Do what you can, when you can.
As we say yes and work to follow Jesus on this demanding path, the Rev. Suzanne Guthrie writes: ‘In this season, the church encourages her people to grieve and grieve deeply. . . . . In Holy Week the church provides the time to grieve, to break open our hearts of stone, to allow shattering and crumbling and the necessary softening to receive the sacred gifts only grieving confers. Hearts of flesh, perhaps. A new life, represented by deep and universal compassion.’
And so we say yes and we begin. Amen