The Power Above All

Matthew 27

Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“The Power Above All”

The sequence of events we call the Passion begins today on Palm Sunday and extends through Christianity’s holiest week of the year.  We trace the story of Jesus from the triumph of his entry into Jerusalem to his death on the cross.  This is a powerful proclamation!  We encounter the powers of sin and death against the power of God’s love.  And we need to unmask and name the powers at work in our lives so we can turn instead to the power of love in the Easter resurrection.

Here we are with palm crosses in our hands.  We are pilgrims. And we are witnesses.  Not just of something that happened 2000 years ago, but the forces that are still at work in our world today.  The same pressures influence our own actions, for good or ill.  In the gospel narrative some of these come into play. There is the power of the crowd, the power of the institution, the power of the state, and the power of conviction.  Human constructs that we are complicit in perpetuating. Yet even when we are weakened and battered by them, it is good to hold onto something more.  We reach outside ourselves for the help of a higher Power, a Power above all.

When Jesus rides into the holy city before Passover on a donkey, the crowd acclaim him as their king.  The people line the streets in celebration.  For some, he represents the fulfillment of the prophecy of the restoration of the throne of David.  Others are caught up in the emotion of the moment.  This mob enthusiasm does not translate into actions of discipleship or resistance for most of those present.  As soon as they realize committing to Jesus means going against the human authorities of Temple and Empire, support diminishes.  The same folks who were attracted to the idea of a new ruler withdraw when he doesn’t fulfill their expectations. His disciple Judas betrays him and the crowds are convinced to ask for the release of a murderer , Barabbas, instead of “their” king.  We are no different.  Others may persuade us to support a cause or an individual, and initially we are happy to join with the flow.  Our voices are loud when others around are shouting too. But when more is asked of us, or the going gets difficult, it is easier to back away from commitment.  The power of the crowd can lead us to jump into something without understanding the consequences. And when something is no longer popular, gives us the excuse to skulk away.  Emotion, rather than values, drives action.

We are also susceptible to the power of an institution.  The structure of human authority is conveyed through offices that claim human or divine authority.  For the Jewish people of Jesus’ time, the institutions were the hereditary royalty, the Temple priests, and the ruling council of elders called the Sanhedrin.  Together, they upheld morality, law, and the hierarchy that protected their way of life as the tribes of Israel.  In judging the boundaries of what was acceptable behaviour, they struggled to maintain their control.  Anything that threatens an institution’s hold over the status quo is a threat.  Even when dissident voices are permitted, they cannot challenge too directly, or they jeopardize the power balance.  Jesus’ teaching and healing reaches beyond their authority and opens the institution to scrutiny.  In the face of opposition, he didn’t back down, but many of his supporters did.  They didn’t want to run afoul of the system.  Even those elders who secretly endorsed his proclamation were careful to not show their hand too openly or they too would be prosecuted.  Each of us has choices about how to work within an institution in order to effect changes, and when to speak up when the institution is deviating from the path of right. 

Closely allied with the power of the institution is the power of the state.  If institutions follow the authority of office, the state pursues its ends through political and military power.  The laws that are imposed are non-negotiable and sometimes coercive.  In the trial of Jesus, he is handed over to the Roman authorities in Jerusalem because the power of the Jewish institution is limited by the Empire.  Pilate, as the representative of the emperor’s power, follows local custom not because he has to, but because it suits the state’s purpose to keep the vassal Israel pacified.  Rome has power over life and death through capital punishment.  But Pilate bargains with Jesus’ life, offering either the Son of God or the one named Barabbas- the son of the father.  And here the power of the crowd and the power of the institution influence the outcome.  Then the power of the state imposes the sentence: crucifixion.  Political will is then carried out by military means: the Roman soldiers flog and nail Jesus to the cross.  The power of the state is not absolute- it relies on the compliance of those over which it has power.  For those of us who live in states that have some democratic elements, we too have choices about who makes decisions and carries them out. 

As much power as these large entities carry, there is also the power of conviction at the individual level.  We hear their stories in the passion narrative.  There is Pilate’s wife, who has a vision that leads her to plead with her husband not to get involved in the judgement against the rabbi Jesus.  There is Simon, who is compelled by the soldiers to help carry the cross but is remembered for easing the pain and burden of our Lord’s suffering.  There are the women followers of Jesus who bear witness from a distance while he is dying.  The soldier who declares that Jesus is truly the Son of God.  But then there are ones who fail in their convictions.  Judas, who betrays him.  Caiphas, who fails to recognize him as the anointed one. Peter, who denies him.  Those who believe but are more fearful for their own lives by association than willing to stand beside him.  Sometimes we are sustained by our conviction.  Often we fail.  Personal willpower only goes so far when we are scared, hurt, or feeling abandoned.  Even Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He knows what it is like to reach the end of our endurance.  When the worldly powers overwhelm us, when our own strength fails us and death is imminent, what is left?

There is one power above and beyond all of these.  The story of the passion is the story of love. God so loves the world.  God so loves us- that in Jesus the worldly powers that grip us tight are broken.  From Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane that God’s will be done to his dying breath on the cross, he embodies divine love.  Yes, there are real powers at work in our lives.  The good news is that the mind of the crowd doesn’t have to rule our lives.  Nor right, nor might, nor law. We don’t even have to rely on the strength of our own willpower!  The work of salvation comes from the heart of God through the person of Jesus, embracing you and me with a power we cannot even ask or imagine. Thanks be to God! Amen.