Forming Faith Blog

The Palm, the Cross, and the Tomb (John 19b)

Posted on March 17 2026 by Gregory Rawn
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
  • Date: April 2, 2026
  • Bible Reading: John 19:23-30
  • The Point: By dying on the cross, Jesus, the Son of God, completes his mission.
  • Unit Theme (March 15—April 3): God’s Kingdom Revealed 
Good Friday
  • Date: April 3, 2026
  • Bible Reading: John 19:31-42
  • The Point: Scripture is fulfilled when Jesus is taken from the cross and buried.
  • Unit Theme (March 15—April 3): God’s Kingdom Revealed 

Jesus is the true king, but not the one anyone expects. His triumph comes through the cross, rejected and alone. How do we reject Jesus?

Note: For Lent, I’m trying something new with this blog. Let me know what you think!

About the Story

For the last few weeks, as I’ve been trying out a new blog post format, I’ve taken this first summary section from our Living the Word: Small Groups resource, since that is the most detailed background summary in our products. However, that and our other curricular products only have lessons for the Sunday readings, not the weekday readings like Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Therefore, I am adapting the summaries from our Living the Word: Cross+Gen Worship’s Background for Leaders section this week.

A statue of Jesus on the cross with a king's crown in the foreground.
Photo by Alem Sánchez
Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. The creators of the Narrative Lectionary decided to spend most of Lent on the events of the passion (Lent 2 jumps to the events of John’s version of the Last Supper). Therefore, this Sunday has two separate readings: the continuation of the story from last week John 19:16b-22) and the “optional” reading from the triumphal entry (John 12:12-27).

In John 12, Jesus is hailed as a king both with enthusiastic accolades as he enters Jerusalem and with a mocking inscription as he exits. Jesus is indeed the Lord and King, but not as the crowds or Pilate grasp; he is a different kind of king. The question is: what kind of king is he? The crowds seem to expect a political or military figure who will bring liberation through violence. This expectation is crushed and mocked when Jesus is led out of the city, carrying the very implement of his impending execution with a sign in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. In fact, the traditional inscription found on Christian cross designs (INRI) is an abbreviation of the Latin translation: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).

John consistently sees Jesus’ crucifixion as his glorification, mentioning it even in John 12:16. This lesson is a chance to play with the meaning of “glorification.” Usually, a term like this is applied to a situation like Jesus’ triumphal entry, not his execution by the Roman oppressors. This is a good opportunity to compare the two, showing that God’s ways are very different from the ways of the world.

Maundy Thursday

Again, there is a disconnect between the story of the liturgical observance (Jesus’ Last Supper covered on Lent 2) and the continued story as assigned (the Crucifixion). A possible point of connection is the theme of service. Jesus introduced the importance of serving others when he washed his disciples’ feet. On the cross, Jesus completes his ultimate act of service as he dies for the lives of all people in all times and places.

At the foot of the cross, soldiers divide Jesus’ clothes, a few of Jesus’ female disciples stand near, and Jesus’ mother and his beloved disciple become family. Hanging on the cross above them, Jesus completes his mission and fulfills Scripture with dignity and nobility by giving up his spirit. 

Of course, one of the traditional elements of a Maundy Thursday service is the sharing of the Lord’s Supper (which is not instituted in the Gospel of John). This makes three stories to cover today. In the other Gospels, the Lord’s Supper was the Passover meal, a meal commemorating the release of the Israelites from Egyptian enslavement. John clearly connects Jesus’ death with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, providing another connection to the assigned text. 

Good Friday

This Holy Week began with Palm Sunday, when Jesus was hailed as a king with enthusiastic praise as he entered the city of Jerusalem. Less than a week later, Jesus hangs on a cross under a mocking inscription. While the Good Friday services often center on Jesus’ suffering and death or his last words from the cross, John 19:31-42 centers on his burial.

Jesus’ body is pierced by a spear, and blood and water flow, which is attested by an eyewitness. Pilate has the bodies of the executed removed. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus care for Jesus’ body and secure it in a tomb. What kind of king is this Jesus, who now lies dead? Jesus is indeed the Messiah and King, but not as the crowds or Pilate grasp; he is a different kind of king. He is king over both life and death.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea take away the body to prepare it for burial according to the custom of the Jewish people. They use an overly generous amount of spices, showing Nicodemus’ devotion to Jesus, as well as the importance of Jesus’ kingship. The two men give Jesus the honor in death that he did not receive in life.

(Adapted from the Background for Leaders of Living the Word: Cross+Gen Worship)

Context Insights

The following are a few insights found in our background resource Living the Word: Contexts & Connections.

Palm Sunday 
  • History: (John 12:12-27) The great crowd that has come to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover treats Jesus as a triumphant monarch, and their actions have strong political, even nationalistic, overtones. Palm branches were a symbol of victory throughout the ancient world. In Jewish history, the use of palm branches hearkened back to the Maccabean Revolt, which took place almost two hundred years before today’s lesson. When Judah Maccabee and his followers celebrated the purification of the temple, they sang hymns and carried “fronds of palm” (2 Maccabees 10:7). On another occasion, when Simon Maccabee (Judah’s brother) finally recovered the citadel in Jerusalem, his followers entered it with “praise and palm branches” (1 Maccabees 13:51).  
  • History: (John 12:12-27) Jesus’ response to the crowds’ acclamations is to find a young donkey and sit on it. This is clearly a deeply symbolic act that makes reference to Zechariah 9:9, “your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Throughout the ancient world, kings rode donkeys and only mounted horses for battle. Even ancient deities were depicted as riding on donkeys. The royal imagery is extremely strong throughout this incident.
  • Authorial Intention/Occasion: (John 19:16b-22) John is the only Gospel that records that the inscription on Jesus’ cross was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. (see Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38). This emphasizes John’s belief in the universal meaning of Jesus’ death. Jesus did not only give his life for people of his own nation; he went to the cross for the entire world (See John 3:16-17). Jesus’s glorification and kingship are defined by the cross.
Maundy Thursday
  • Linguistics: The NRSV uses the same English word “fulfill” in both John 19:24 and John 19:28. The two words are, in fact, different in the original Greek. In John 19:24, it is plēroun (fulfill), whereas in John 19:28, it is teleioun (complete). Thus, a more precise translation of John 19:28 reads, “In order that the Scripture be completed.” This could very well be an intentional choice by John, who also uses this word to describe the completion of Jesus’ mission, given to him by God (John 4:34; 5:36; 17:4). Not only is Scripture fulfilled here on the cross, it is completed.
  • Authorial Intention/Occasion: In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ execution on the cross is understood as his hour of glorification and exaltation. Throughout the Gospel of John (see John 10:17-18; 12:20-27; 19:11), the author portrays Jesus not as an unwilling victim on the cross, but rather as a king who is fulfilling his mission. This mission is to glorify God (John 12:28), to draw all people to himself (John 12:32), and to atone for the sins of the world through his blood (John 1:29). 
  • Audience: The Gospel of John’s earliest audience also lived in the shadow of the cross in their own communities. Crucifixion and other horrific forms of execution were real possibilities as a consequence for their allegiance to Jesus. Jesus’ noble suffering served as an example to them. If they must choose between honoring God and honoring worldly powers, Jesus’ approach to his death served as a model for their own.
Good Friday
  • Culture/Religion: The Romans habitually refused burial to executed criminals, and those who had been crucified were often left on the cross to decompose over time. The Jewish philosopher Philo, however, reports that before festivals and other special occasions, the crucified were allowed to be buried. Unlike Roman practices, Jewish custom allowed for the burial of executed criminals. This might have derived from the command in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 that one who is executed by hanging on a tree should be buried on the same day.
  • Culture/Religion: The “mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a 100 pounds” (John 19:39) was an overgenerous amount of spices for burial, showing Nicodemus’ devotion to Jesus as well as Jesus’ kingly status. Jesus’ body receives much more honor after his death than it did while he was alive.
  • Culture/Religion: In the Gospel of John, Jesus was tried and executed on the Day of Preparation (John 19:14, 31, 42). This is the day before Passover, when the Passover lamb was slain. In the Jewish calendar, it is the 14th day of Nisan. This is a different chronology than the other three Gospels. That the day after the crucifixion was not only a Sabbath day but also Passover itself, possibly added special pressure to have Jesus’ body removed and buried quickly and nearby.
Connections and Suggestions

We have Narrative Lectionary curriculum resources for all age groups. Here are a few activity summaries you can use. The full activity descriptions and much more are available in the product noted.

  • Kids: Find images of an ornate crown and a crown of thorns. Ask students, given the crowd’s response to Jesus’ entry, which of the crowns the crowds expected Jesus to wear and why they think that. Then ask them which crown Jesus actually wore, connecting that to Jesus’ love for all people. (From Living the Word: Kids (3rd-6th))
  • Youth: Youth can sketch a cross shape on a piece of waxed paper and use permanent markers to fill the inside of the cross with reminders of the crucifixion. They can then cut out that same cross shape from black card stock to make a frame to which they can glue the waxed paper. This frame can be cut into a cross shape or kept as a rectangle. They can punch a hole in the top of the frame and loop a piece of ribbon or string. (From Living the Word: Youth)
  • Intergenerational worship: Set up a large, wooden cross or a piece of mural paper with a cross outline drawn on it in the front of your worship space. Prepare a sign large enough to cover the cross with the name JESUS on it (chart paper, mural paper, black cloth with white fabric marker, etc.) During the service, ask worshippers to write or draw on a sticky note a way that we reject Jesus in our lives. They can then come forward to place their sticky note on the cross. Proclaim words of forgiveness as you attach the JESUS sign to the cross, covering their sins. (From Living the Word: Cross+Gen Worship)

I hope you find this useful! If you have any questions or feedback on this blog post (or anything else), comment on this post below or on Facebook, or send me a message.

In Christ,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

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