Today, Palm Sunday, we proclaim Jesus as our king, but not a king as the world understands. The Kingdom of Jesus reframes and “redefines our understanding, transforming it into one of humbleness and hope, one of compassion and love, one of healing and wholeness”. By proclaiming Jesus as king, we are reminded that a new reality is being ushering into our midst, one that transcends our understanding of power, one that transcends our understanding of might, one that transcends the kingdoms of the world and ushers in the beloved community of God, one that invites us to fully embrace the peaceable Kingdom of God.
March 29, 2026
Palm Sunday
Rooted in the Good News
The Good News is … “the stone shouting out even if we were silent”
Luke 19:28-40
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Luke 19:28-40
After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
The Good News is … the stone shouting out even if we were silent Luke 19:28-40
Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
This past Thursday afternoon, when I sat down to write this sermon, I wondered why the Spirit of God was so quiet. Unlike my usual times of prayer and sermon writing, there was no connection. There was no urgency from the Spirit to bring forth the Word of God. There was only silence. There were only a lot of words crossed out on the pages set before me, but there was no sermon coming forward. So I decided to step away and try again later. I decided to wait upon the Lord to bring the message we needed to hear rather than rush through to complete a task.
I share this with everyone because sharing the Word is not something I take lightly. So, for me to be authentic to my calling, I need to share with everyone where I am on my faith journey. Over the last few days, more like over the last few weeks, I have been struggling. I have been struggling to find the Light of God in the midst of all the death and destruction, death and destruction which is closing in on us more and more every day, death and destruction which is threatening to overtake us. Like many of you, as I have watched, as I continue to watch the ever increasing images of brokenness and hurt becoming our present reality, I have wondered, I continue to wonder what Word I am supposed to bring this morning, especially in the midst of the death and destruction which goes against the very shouts of joy we raise in our Palm Sunday celebrations. How am I supposed to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God when in reality, I am wondering where God is in the midst of all this?
Because this year, to me, our shouts of joy are jarring. To me, they feel like just a cacophony of noise rather than reminding me that our God is still at work in our world, that our God is answering our pleas. They are not reminding me that our God is working to bring healing and wholeness to all of God’s children.
Instead, these shouts of joy are ringing falsely in my ears. They are too bright. They are too noisy. They seem to mask the shouts of lament my heart is making this morning for all of God’s people. And as a preacher, as a person of faith, I’m not sure how I, how we proclaim that the Kingdom of God is coming when I’m not, when we are not even sure where God is in the midst of all this brokenness and hurt which is filling our world right now.
I know I am not the only one asking these questions right now. On Friday, that seemed to be the running theme on all the preaching blogs I follow. All of us preacher types were hoping that people way smarter than us would give us the words to say this morning, words which would make everything better, words which would make everything not so real. Or if they couldn’t do that, then at least give us permission to pull out an old sermon and preach it instead, but nothing like that came forward.
Which brings us to now. All I can say is that as a minister charged to bring the Good News to the people of God, I cannot and I will stand before you with any easy answers. I will not stand before you with empty platitudes or quick fixes to any of this. Because that really doesn’t help anything. Pretending that bad stuff is not happening in our world right now only allows us to mask our pain, to mask our fear. It only allows uncertainty to continue to guide us in all that we say and do.
I thought about changing our text this morning to something more relevant to the situation happening in our world right now. Only to be reminded by the Spirit that in the time of King Herod, in a time of uncertainty and fear, a time in which the governing systems were ruled by power and might, Jesus was born. And the Spirit didn’t stop there. It also reminded me that in the time of Pontius Pilate, who was an agent of the Roman Empire, in the time of Pontius Pilate, the Prince of Peace came riding into Jerusalem on a colt as an agent of the Kingdom of God.
Because today, we proclaim Jesus as King. We proclaim him as our King. Not a king as the world understands it. The Kingdom of Jesus reframes and “redefines our understanding, transforming it into one of humbleness and hope, one of compassion and love, one of healing and wholeness. By proclaiming Jesus as king, we are reminded that a new reality is being ushering into our midst, one that transcends our understanding of power, one that transcends our understanding of might, one that transcends the kingdoms of the world and ushers in the Beloved Community of God, one that invites us to fully embrace the peaceable Kingdom of God.
You see, that’s the Good News of Palm Sunday. It reminds us that this world does not have the last world, that God is still at work in our world, that the Kingdom of God finds us in our uncertainty, finds us in our fear, finds us in need of hope, by riding in on a colt, ushering in the light and love of God for all of God’s people, inviting us to shout for joy once more. Just like it did all those years ago for the people of God.
If we take nothing else from today, know this: The whole purpose and point of Palm Sunday is to remember…to remind ourselves that God has worked in the past to save God’s people and God will do so again. God has never ever left God’s people in the darkness and God is not about to start now. God will always bring us back to life. And if we forget this good news, the very stones will cry out and remind us because the praise of God will never ever be silenced.
Today, in spite of the world trying to rob us of our joy, as people of faith we will celebrate. We will celebrate the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We will find strength, we will find courage, not because of who we are but because of whose we are. We are children of the most powerful and loving God who came down to earth, who became one of us, and who comes to us again today, riding into Jerusalem to save us from ourselves.
For times such as this, as people of faith, in spite of the death and destruction which fills our world, we will celebrate. Not because we are ignoring it, not because we are pretending the hurt and hate does not exist. We celebrate today because we know that now and forever more this world will not and does not have the last word. Only God does and right now, our God is riding into Jerusalem on a colt, saving us from the ugliness of this world, bringing healing and wholeness for all of God’s children. For just as before…in the time of King Herod, in the Pontius Pilate, in the time of missiles and fear, Jesus comes, ushering in a Kingdom where love is the way, peace is the answer, and community/relationships is the rule. Thanks be to God. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, March 29, 2026 – The Good News is … the stone shouting out even if we were silent Luke 19:28-40.
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