From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus on the Way

Palm Sunday: Sunday of the Passion
March 29, 2026
Matthew 27:11-54 

“From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus on the Way”

The sermon for Palm Sunday will be given in three parts and interspersed with stanzas from the hymn of the day, “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty” (Lutheran Service Book 441).

Part One

Today is a day of contrasts. It is both Palm Sunday and the Sunday of the Passion. It is a day that rejoices in Jesus’ humiliation as well as his exaltation. Recognizing this truth, we see this expressed in the hymn of the day. Each stanza of this hymn begins with the same cry as we and believers throughout the ages sing to the Lord Jesus Christ: “Ride on, ride on in majesty!” Stanzas one and two speak of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday amidst shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” and waving of palm branches. Hosanna, a word that means “Save us, Lord!”, continues to be part of worship today. We sing this in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, echoing that acclamation of Jesus on that first Palm Sunday: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” The opening words of each stanza of this hymn, “Ride on, ride on,” are sung in full awareness and knowledge of what this riding means: it will lead to “a dying that triumphs over death and sin (stanza 2)” (Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1. St. Louis: Concordia, 2019; p. 289). Jesus is on his way to the cross, and it begins now as he “in lowly pomp rides on to die.” “The stance throughout the hymn is one of faith… not inviting people to identify with the Palm Sunday crowds nor with the crowds that demanded, ‘Crucify him’ (Mark 15:13). Instead, [the hymn] is asking Christians to make a confession of faith as they celebrate Palm Sunday” (Ibid). We are with Jesus on his way to the cross.

We sing stanzas one and two of “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty” (LSB 441).

Part Two

Today is a day of contrasts, and this is reflected in the stanzas of the hymn of the day. What we just sang in stanzas one and two reflect Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. All of this is seen from an earthly perspective. The next two stanzas reflect Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem from a heavenly perspective, both from the “angel armies of the sky” in stanza three as well as “the Father on his sapphire throne” in stanza four. They, too are watching as the Son of God draws near to his appointed time to fulfill his mission from the Father as “the approaching sacrifice.” “By joining what is now about to happen in the Passion story with what will be in the grand narrative of Scripture, [the hymn] voices something similar to the paradoxical wonder of Paul in Philippians 2:5-12 [the Epistle lesson for Palm Sunday]: one sees the humiliation of Christ in His death on the cross, with a view to His subsequent exaltation” (Ibid). None of this is accidental. Jesus’ humiliation, his Passion – his innocent suffering and death upon the cross – is all according to the divine plan and purpose set forth by the Father in heaven to rescue and redeem his fallen creation and us, his fallen creatures. This is the great mystery of our salvation, that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). The heavenly messengers and the heavenly Father himself are watching as Jesus rides on in majesty. We are with Jesus on his way to the cross.

We sing stanzas three and four of “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty” (LSB 441).

Part Three

Today is a day of contrasts as we deal with the now, but not yet, moving from the Lenten season into this great and Holy Week. The now is Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem that will lead into the not yet of his betrayal, suffering, and death upon the cross by week’s end. The now of Jesus’ betrayal, suffering, and death will give way to the not yet of his resurrection victory and triumph over sin, death and hell that is Easter. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Word of God tells us, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). We are blessed beyond imagination to be called God’s children now through the cleansing blood of Jesus, but we wait for the not yet. We wait for the full and final revelation of Jesus when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). This is what the fifth and final stanza of our hymn speaks of. The crucified, risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ is called by the Church to come and take up his reign. “Ride on, ride on in majesty,” Lord Jesus, not only into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday to your death on Calvary, but ride on in majesty as we look ahead in faith to your great and final coming. We are with Jesus on his way to the cross, to resurrection, and to the eternal glory of his kingdom. Amen.

We sing stanza five of “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty” (LSB 441).