Palm Sunday 2026: Year A - On the Edge of the Event - Matthew 21:1-11

(The following was first preached at the 8th Street Church, Oklahoma City, USA on the day before the national “No Kings” protest).

Matthew 21:1–11

Yesterday was “No Kings Day.” Across the country, thousands gathered to push back against power—against authority—against the very idea of kings.

And then today… Palm Sunday… we walk into church and proclaim: Here comes a king.

Human beings are complex, aren’t we?

Because Palm Sunday tells us something we don’t expect:

If you’re picturing power, dominance, control—you’re already imagining the wrong kind of king.

When They Had Come Near Jerusalem

Matthew tells the story the way we’ve always heard it.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.

The crowds gather.

Cloaks are spread on the road.

Branches are cut from the trees.

And the people shout:

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The whole city is stirred.

But before any of that happens—before the donkey, before the shouting, before the parade—Matthew gives us a single line:

“When they had come near Jerusalem…”

And it’s easy to skip past it.

But that’s the moment.

That’s the edge of the event.

The Edge of the Event

There are moments in life when you can feel it:

You are standing on the edge of something.

Nothing has changed yet.

But you know—once you step forward, everything will.

You’ve been there.

The moment before the race begins.

The moment before the doors open at a wedding.

The moment before you walk into the meeting.

The moment before you say the thing that needs to be said.

Sometimes those moments are thrilling.

Sometimes they’re terrifying.

The moment before a doctor walks into a room with life-altering news.

The moment before a difficult conversation you can’t avoid.

The moment before a decision that will cost you something.

Time slows down.

Your body feels it.

Your heart races.

You are nearing.

You are on the edge of the event.

God With a Nervous System

And Matthew tells us: Jesus knows that moment.

“When they had come near Jerusalem…”

Christians believe something astonishing:

That in Jesus, God has taken on flesh.

Not partially. Not temporarily. Not pretending.

Fully human.

Which means this moment—this edge of the event—is not just a detail in the story.

It is a revelation.

This is what it looks like when God has a nervous system.

This is what it looks like when God feels the weight of what is coming.

Jesus is not detached.

He is not aloof.

He is not calmly calculating his next move like a strategist.

He knows what lies ahead.

And he feels it.

The weight of it.

The cost of it.

The reality of it.

And then… he steps forward anyway.

Not the Story We Expect

We are used to a different kind of story.

A hero who outmaneuvers the enemy.

A protagonist who wins.

A leader who takes control and secures victory.

That’s the story we know.

But it’s not this story.

Jesus is not moving toward Jerusalem to defeat his enemies…

He is moving toward Jerusalem to love them.

All the way to the end.

And that changes everything.

A Different Kind of King

The crowds don’t see it.

They shout “Hosanna!”—“Save us!”

But what they mean is:

Overthrow Rome.

Restore power.

Fix things our way.

They want victory.

But Jesus means something else.

Surrender.

Suffering.

Sacrifice.

A different kind of kingship.

Same word—*king.*

Completely different expectation.

Your Jerusalem

And this is where it comes to us.

Because we all have Jerusalems.

Moments we are nearing.

A conversation.

A decision.

A loss.

A beginning.

A risk.

A step that will change everything.

A meeting you don’t want to walk into.

A diagnosis you don’t want to hear.

A truth you need to speak—but don’t want to say out loud.

You can feel it.

You are standing on the edge of the event.

And everything in you wants to pull back.

Delay it.

Avoid it.

Find another way.

But something in you knows:

You have to step forward.

The Question Palm Sunday Asks

Palm Sunday does not ask:

“How will you win?”

It asks something much harder:

What if the moment you are nearing… is not about victory, but about love?

What if it’s not about control?

Not about being right?

Not about securing the outcome?

What if the goal is love—

even when it costs you?

Because that’s the path Jesus chooses.

And that path leads to a hill called Golgotha.

You Are Not Alone

Palm Sunday doesn’t give you a way out.

It gives you a companion.

A God who knows what it feels like to stand in that moment.

A God who knows what it is to be human.

A God who knows what it feels like to be you.

The God who knows how to:

stand on the edge of the event,

feel everything that moment holds,

and step forward anyway.

Even Jesus had a Jerusalem.

Following Him Through Holy Week

And this week—Holy Week—we don’t rush past it.

We don’t skip to the ending.

We don’t resolve it too quickly.

We follow him.

From the edge of the event…

into the week where love goes all the way through

to a place called Golgotha.

A Different Posture

We know the posture of victory.

Arms raised.

Fists clenched.

Celebration.

But Palm Sunday points us to a different posture.

Not arms raised in triumph—

but arms stretched wide.

Not taking victory—

but giving himself away.

Loving Over Winning

Palm Sunday invites us to reconsider everything we think we know about power, about God, and about ourselves.

It reminds us that the way of Jesus is not the path of domination—but the path of love.

A love that does not turn away.

A love that does not avoid the moment.

A love that steps forward—fully aware of the cost.

And the invitation is simple, but not easy:

What if, in the moment you are nearing, you chose not to win… but to love?