Palm Sunday Sermon

SERMON- Reverend David Paton Williams
29th March 2026
Palm Sunday

All over the world, millions of people will go to Church today to receive a Palm Cross - to remember Jesus' joyful entry into Jerusalem, and yet also how only five days later he was put to death on a cross. 
I want to think about another meaning of palm today - the palms of our hands. Because hands have a very important place in the last week of Jesus' life. 


1. The Hands of the Crowds 

On the Sunday the crowd were excitedly cutting down palm branches and waving to greet Jesus as he rode in. 

But on Good Friday the hands of another crowd 
were punching the air with clenched fists, 
angrily demanding that Jesus be killed. 


2. The Hands of Pontius Pilate 

The Roman governor knew that Jesus didn't deserve to die but he didn't want to make the crowd any angrier 
or upset the religious leaders who he wanted to keep on side, so he let Jesus be executed and washed his hands of responsibility. 


3. The Hands of the Soldiers 

Pilate handed Jesus over to his soldiers - who whipped and beat Jesus - using violence against a defenceless man. 
And they took a crown of thorns and pushed it down into his head.

And later on they used their hands to strike the hammer blows that drove the nails into his wrists and ankles. 


4. The Hands of Jesus 


On the night before he died - Maundy Thursday - he broke bread with his friends at the Last Supper, giving them a sign to remember him by. 


And he took a bowl and towel and gently washed their feet, helping them to understand that his death, just like his life,  was all about loving service. 


And then in the Garden of Gethsemane his hands were clasped  in the agony of prayer, before eventually resting openly  as he accepted his Father's will. 


Then the soldiers came and tied his hands with a rope and led him away. 


Once he had been condemned to death he had to carry the rough heavy cross beam through the streets. 
And because it was so heavy he needed Simon of Cyrene to help him bear its weight. 

Then at Calvary, his hands clenched up in pain as the nails were driven through his hands and as he hung from the cross. 

And then, in the moment of death, his hands will have hung slack. 


5. But that's not the end of the story and so we have the Hands of Jesus on Easter Day. 


When he broke bread at Emmaus - and in that action and that moment, being revealed to his followers. 

And later on, he invited Thomas to reach out and touch the imprint of the nails in Jesus' resurrection body. 

So hands play a central role in this story, and they remind us of the place they have in our lives as well. 

Hands can do very ordinary and amazing things: 

with them we wield tools, paint pictures, play instruments, dig gardens, cook meals... 

and we communicate with them - electronically, through pen and paper, or reaching out to express care and love. 

But hands do sad and terrible things as well: 

- pulling triggers of guns that can kill indiscriminately 
- beating or abusing family members 
- harming strangers 
or people can be forced - with their own hands - to carry their possessions as they flee as refugees, 
or root around in dustbins and rubbish dumps to survive.
Hands are important in prayer and worship: 
Whether held together in prayer, 
held open to receive God's grace, or raised in praise. 
Greeting each other in the peace. 
Taking bread and wine. 
Anointing with oil in prayer for healing. 
And raised in blessing at the end. 


In worship, our hands reach out to God and God's hands reach out to us - to welcome and forgive, to bless and to heal. 
I'm reminded of the old song: "He's got the whole world in his hands" 

The events of Holy Week are not just the story of how one very special human being died  rather they take us into the glorious mystery of God's own suffering, redeeming love. 

They show us that God holds each one of us in his hands, through the best of times and the worst of times. 


So as you journey through Holy Week - you may like to think about the hands of Christ - loving, serving, wounded, but ultimately glorified - which reach out to us in our need and will not let us go.