The lectionary text assigned for this week covers a lot of ground. The sixth Sunday of Lent has two monikers. It is “Palm Sunday” and thus we have a “Liturgy of the Palms” that focuses on Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16). But this Sunday is also “Passion Sunday,” the beginning of the “Liturgy of the Passion” (Mark 14:1-15, 47, or Mark 15:1-39 [40-47]), which encompasses Jesus’ arrest, trial, abandonment by all his supporters, the abuse and ridicule he suffered, and finally his terrible crucifixion and death. This is a Sunday of two processions: first the joyful parade of the Palms, where the crowds shout “Hosanna”; then the wretched trudge out to Golgotha after the crowds turned their cheers into “Crucify him!”

In chapter 14 Jesus is betrayed by Judas…