Soul Food Ministries | Palm/Passion Sunday

Please begin by reading Philippians 2:5-11 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.

For most of us, this Sunday is traditionally known as Palm Sunday. A day when with palms in our hands we joyously celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. However, in the past few years, this Sunday has been transformed to include the passion of Christ, with Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ passion. While it is easy to concentrate on either the palms or the Passion, it is the mind of Christ that Paul calls us to understand and, once we understand, to use it in framing our actions and thoughts.

Our text for today is thought to be based on an old hymn, perhaps used by the Gnostic followers as a redeemer myth describing the descent and exaltation of the savior. Paul has transformed this hymn from a redeemer myth to an affirmation of Jesus Christ crucified who reigns supreme and who is a model for the members of the church. A model of humility and obedience echoed in Matthew’s triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

The first point Paul makes, in one of the earliest preserved documents of Christianity, is the confession of Christ’s preexistence. He states that Jesus was preexistent – being in the form of God.

Second, we are told that while not using his preexistence to his own advantage, Jesus descends and in humility takes on human form, following freely of his own choosing the path that takes him through suffering and death, death on a cross. In demonstrating the humble actions of Christ, Paul utilizes the metaphor of slavery to declare Christ’s earthly existence and pointing to his humble obedience to the will of God and to his faithful service to his fellow human beings as he carried out God’s will.

The third point Paul makes surrounds the death of Christ. Our attention is drawn to the humility demonstrated by Jesus’ actions ultimately drawing his earthly life to a close. Jesus, the prayerful and obedient one, has come to the depths of human weakness to show us the meaning of God’s love in the midst of human misery. The death of Christ on the cross points to the degree of humiliation Christ suffered to be faithful to God and humankind. Paul is reminding all Christians that service, if faithfully performed, may require personal sacrifice, even to the point of humiliation and death.

Finally, Paul declares the exaltation and resurrection of Christ is a confession of God’s work which will ultimately lead to the whole world acknowledging Christ’s rule, which will then bring glory to God the parent.

While the reign of God is assured, that reign has yet to arrive in the hearts of many on this earth. As Christians, we know the way the world is; the way it is divided into haves and have-nots, power versus the powerless, oppressor versus oppressed, and the story of those whose very existence on a daily basis is one Good Friday after another. We know that for many, Easter has yet to happen. Anguish and crying have yet to be stilled. The sayings and parables and actions of Jesus are like giant waves beating on rocks of hardened hearts, complacent with closed ears unable to hear Jesus as he cries out in anguish and despair for those who are not heard.

We as Christians are required to put on the mind of Christ in our daily living and interactions with others, doing what we can to bring Easter to those still oppressed or lacking the basics in daily living.

Editor's Note: "Maw Barker," who chose that pen name because of her love for dogs, is the Rev. Gail S. Hicks, a Pastoral Assistant at MCC Washington. Thanks to Gail for sharing her thoughts with us during this holy season.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [NRSV]