This one doesn't require an introduction. But I bid your prayers for me and all clergy and lay leaders during this week, which is a liturgical marathon.
Text: Mark 11: 1-11
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Palm Sunday is always a little strange for me.
We start outside with the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
And then…almost 15 minutes later…we’re killing him and laying him
in a tomb.
I know that this is the Year of Mark’s Gospel….and I know that Mark
is all about Jesus being on the go. Mark wants the story to keep moving…
But this is a little extreme!
And it’s born…in part…out of a concern that we experience the
entirety of Holy Week…because the church fears that people simply won’t come back for
the other services that take place during this week.
It’s not an unfounded fear.
But I think it comes at a cost to what we gain from experiencing
Holy Week if we take the time to breathe in…and breathe out…and make a
conscious commitment to take this journey with Jesus.
So let me just say a few brief words about what I’ll call “Today
with Jesus.”
As we heard in the Gospel we read outside…Jesus sends a couple of
his disciples on a mission to find this colt that has never been ridden.
They go and—voila—they find one!
They untie it…assure everyone that the Lord needs to borrow this
one... but he will bring it back.
This is one of those details that can be easily forgotten as we
barrel along toward a circus-like trial…and public execution of Jesus on Palm
Sunday.
But this detail is not frivolous.
Because what Jesus has planned…and it’s very intentional… is a
figurative poke in the eye of the pomp and circumstance of the very proud
Pontius Pilate and the army of the Roman Empire.
Pontius and the Roman Army will be arriving in Jerusalem at the
same time as Jesus.
Their reason for being in town during the time of the Passover is
not to honor the holiday.
They don’t care about Jewish customs.
Their sole reason for showing up is to be intimidators.
There was a lot of unrest among the Jews of Jerusalem.
They didn’t like being occupied.
And since the Passover celebrates Jewish liberation from their
oppression under Pharoah in Egypt….Rome didn’t want any of the Jews to get some
wild idea about rebelling against the Empire.
And so the Roman Empire would use the holiday as a time to parade
into Jerusalem…showing off their might and the war horses…and getting the
fawning admiration…or at least passive complacent presence…of the people.
An enthusiastic “Hail Caesar!” from those who were benefitting from
this unjust system.
Maybe some required applause from those wishing to just get by.
Meanwhile…to mock this demonstration of temporal power…Jesus enters
Jerusalem on the same day… through an opposite gate...at about the same time…on a donkey.
The Jews understood this.
The oppressed population recognized this as harkening back to the
words of the prophecy from Zechariah:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter
Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9)
They knew what Jesus’ demonstration meant…and responded by treating
him like their king…throwing their cloaks on the road.
They saw this counterprotest to Rome… and responded with shouts of
“Hosanna!” which means “Save us, we pray!”
Save us, God. Please: save us!
It’s a cry that I imagine all of us have uttered at one time or
another.
Jesus knew what he was doing.
The people were thrilled by his actions.
And we can bet that Rome…and their collaborators noticed…and were
not amused.
This is how Holy Week begins.
The people who have felt themselves with their backs against the
wall are cheering for the one they believe has come to their rescue.
Not with a violent demonstration.
But with Jesus comes with a conviction and confidence of the
rightness of Love.
Because drawing on that source…that power…is the only way to stand
up to those who want to intimidate and bully the people into silence and
submission.
This is the beginning of a long week and walk with Jesus.
This is our time to remember that God has seen the worst of
humanity…and still loves us beyond measure.
That God has felt both convicted and confident…alone and
betrayed…afraid and troubled…and yet remained grounded in love. And God wins!
May this week be a time for contemplation and recommitment to the
basic tenets of Jesus’ teachings.
Not for our sake’s only. But for the sake of the world.
In the name of God…F/S/HS.
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