Facets of Faith

Join Pastor Katie, Keith, and David as they explore the gospel reading for the coming Sunday and how facets of our faith can be strengthened in the message of Scripture.

Pastor Katie, Keith, and David are all members of St. John Lutheran Church in Mars, a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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Facets of Faith

Palm Sunday in John

March 29, 2026 • Pastor Katie

0:00 | 7:06

Listen now for this special devotional-style episode! As we sing, pray and reflect on the readings of Holy Week in the gospel of John. After reading from the gospel of John for most of Lent, we return to the gospel of John for our Holy Week daily reflections. In this episode, we explore the distinct elements of John's narration of Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem and reflect on the ways that this invites us to consider how we will respond to the events of the coming week.

Music:
Jesus, Remember Me
Text: Luke 23:42 Taize Community
Music: Jacques Berthier (1923-1994)
Text and music copyright 1981 Les Presses de Taize. Admin GIA Publications, Inc (Used under One License # A-724822)

We Remember
Text and Music: Marty Haugen (b. 1950) copyright 1980 GIA Publications, Inc (Used under One License # A-724822)

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SPEAKER_02 0:07

Hello and welcome to Holy Week. This is a blessed week in the church, a holy week, if you will. When we remember what the whole story is about, when we follow Jesus from his celebrated entry into Jerusalem to his last moments with his friends and to the cross. So that when we get to Easter, we can truly celebrate and sing our praises, knowing everything that has brought us to this moment. Everything that has brought Jesus to this moment. Today we begin our journey through Holy Week with Palm Sunday. During Sunday's worship, we read from the Gospel of Matthew because we are officially in the year of Matthew. But today we read from the Gospel of John because we have been in the Gospel of John for the past several weeks of Lent. And so I find it fitting that we continue to follow John's story as John leads us to the cross and to the resurrection.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. Remember me when you come into your kingdom.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Our reading comes from John chapter twelve, verses twelve through nineteen. The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted, Hosanna, blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessings on the King of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. Look, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first. After he was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. The crowd, who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were testifying about him. That's why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard about this miraculous sign that he had done. Therefore, the Pharisees said to each other, See, you have accomplished nothing. Look, the whole world is following him. Here ends the reading. I encourage you to check out the podcast on the Palm Sunday readings to talk more about what Palm Sunday means. But there are a couple of unique aspects to John's approach to this entrance into Jerusalem. For one thing, in John, Jesus gets his own donkey. Jesus is entirely in charge of the situation that is happening. Jesus is the one who is driving all of these events as he goes towards the cross. And also we hold in close contact Lazarus. Lazarus makes another appearance. We just heard last Sunday about when Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead. And here we have people who are talking about it. It is still a thing. They are still excited that Jesus rose him from the dead, and they therefore think they know what is to come with Jesus. They think they know what they're getting into, and so they come out to meet him, they come to celebrate him, they come to see him as the king that will redeem them. I wonder if when they saw him riding on a donkey, though, if maybe they realized that this was not the king that they thought they were going to get, that there would be something surprising here, something different than what they might have expected. And so as we enter into Holy Week, as we reflect on the kind of savior that Jesus is, I wonder in what ways Jesus still surprises us, in what ways Jesus still acts outside of our expected norms and expected patterns. I wonder where we would be in this crowd. Would we be waving the palm branches when Jesus rides on a humble donkey? Would we be surprised? Would our shouting and celebrations stop in curiosity of what Jesus is going to do next? These are the questions that we carry through this holy week. You are invited to tune in throughout this holy week, this blessed week as we follow Jesus from the celebrated entry into Jerusalem, to his last moments with his friends, to the cross, and then to the resurrection, as we release a new reflection and reading each day of this week through facets of faith. Let us pray. Sovereign God, you have established your rule in the human heart through the servanthood of Jesus Christ. By your Spirit, keep us in the joyful procession of those who with their tongues confess Jesus as Lord, and with their lives praise Him as Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

unknown 5:38

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

We remember how you loved us to your day, and still we celebrate for you with us.