March 29, 2026 | Palm Sunday @ Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
Scripture Reference
Palm Sunday (Triumphal Entry): Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19
When the World Feels Out of Control
Do you ever find yourself thinking that the world has gone absolutely nuts?
Maybe every generation has these thoughts.
People are feeling—for a host of reasons—that their country has changed so much that they are shocked at what it does and wonder how we could have gotten here.
There were about 3,300 “No Kings” rallies in the United States yesterday, and an estimated 9 million people protesting worldwide. There have been counterprotests as well.
People living in the Middle East, Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, and many other places around the world are facing loss of life and property.
Savannah Guthrie, a co-anchor of NBC’s Today show, and her family have been searching for nearly two months for her mother who was abducted from her home.
One thing is for sure:
life is unpredictable.
Life Is Unpredictable
And, though we try, we can’t predict when life will be unpredictable.
We plan and prepare.
We purchase insurance.
We try to map out our future and direction.
But then life shifts unexpectedly.
Life comes at you fast.
And we must adjust to life not as we wish it was … as we hope it was … planned it to be. We adjust to life as it actually is.
We may feel this more intensely in our own lives because we’re living it day by day—but the truth is, unpredictability has always been part of the human story. Just consider all of the unpredictability in the Creation story and the Garden of Eden.
Jesus Steps into the Unpredictability
For the Roman government and the religious leaders, Jesus was part of the unpredictability they experienced.
Jesus was a problem for them.
He stirred people up.
He made life uncomfortable for these leaders.
On Palm Sunday, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, people laid their cloaks on the ground before him. They shouted, “Hosanna!”—“Save, we pray!”
They didn’t have social media or news agencies to help them spread the word and organize.
They didn’t plan for this exact moment.
They didn’t bring signs or an extra cloak … a cloak that could be walked on by people and a donkey while the cloak they were wearing remained clean.
They responded spontaneously to the unpredictability of life as Jesus entered in.
Even as the disciples were preparing for the annual commemoration of the Passover—with the predictability of its familiar rhythm and cadence—they were swept into the unpredictability where God does a new thing (Isaiah 43:19).
The original Passover is a story of unpredictability as God was at work through Moses to bring to an end the 400-year enslavement of God’s people under Pharaoh.
Jesus continually disrupted expectations as he:
healed the sick,
challenged religious and political leaders,
raised the dead,
turned water into wine,
overturned tables in the temple,
and rode into Jerusalem not on a war horse as a conquering king—but on a donkey.
Holding Predictability and Mystery Together
We know what this week holds.
Palm Sunday.
Maundy Thursday.
Good Friday.
Easter.
There is rhythm.
There is tradition.
There is predictability.
And yet—there is so much we cannot predict.
The challenge—and the opportunity—is not to reduce or eliminate unpredictability or try to control it.
Instead, the invitation is to embrace unpredictability. To know who we are and remember who God is in the midst of the unpredictability .
God is present and active—
in the predictable
and in the unpredictable.
Turning Toward Life with Trust
And so, we turn toward life.
We face it with peace, humility, and trust.
We step forward, even when we cannot see the full path ahead.
We trust that God is already there.
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.
Give us faith to go out with good courage,
not knowing where we go,
but only that your hand is leading us
and your love supporting us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Reflection Questions
- Where in your life are you feeling the weight of unpredictability right now?
- What would it look like to respond—like the crowd on Palm Sunday—with trust instead of control?
- How might God be present and active in a situation that feels uncertain or unsettled?
Epicurious Lutheran 
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