Didn’t we start this service proclaiming Jesus as the King of kings? Shouting ‘Hosanna!’ and making lots of noise as we processed with waving palm fronds?
How did we get from a triumphal entry into Jerusalem to Jesus tried and convicted, executed and entombed in one service?
Is anyone else feeling a bit of theological and emotional whiplash?
In the gospel we read outside, the people wave palm branches and throw down their cloaks while Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem. At the time, Israel was occupied by Roman forces, who demanded high taxes and ruled with fear of harsh punishments like flogging, breaking limbs, or death by crucifixion. Jesus’ compassionate teachings about God’s love and forgiveness for all people, no matter their station in life, resonated with the regular people. Exhausted and oppressed by a brutal and long Roman occupation, they are ready for the long-awaited new ruler of Israel. The One promised to restore the land of milk and honey to God’s people.
500 years earlier, Zechariah prophesied that the new king, a descendant of the ancient house of David the warrior, would be heralded by people waving palm branches and spreading their cloaks on the road before him. These were the same ways that military victors returning from battle were welcomed home.
In contrast to a great military leader wearing fine robes seated on a towering war horse, Jesus rides a borrowed donkey. The crowds exuberantly shout, ‘Hosanna’ - ‘Save us!’ - with hope and expectation.
Jesus, the Son of God, comes with humility. Throughout Mark’s gospel, Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God has come near. His teachings and actions prove that kingdom is one of equality, compassion, justice, and grace. All qualities that stand in stark contrast with the brutal tactics of the Romans and the rule-bound rigidity of the religious leaders.
Understandably, the Roman occupiers take umbrage with the proclamation of a new king who would challenge Caesar. And the religious leaders who want to maintain their own political power, see the growing excitement of the people about Jesus and his religious teachings as a threat to their authority.
At the same time, the Jewish feast of Passover is approaching, when the Jewish people commemorate and give thanks to God for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, for God’s unfailing presence with them in the wilderness, and for their arrival in the Promised Land. Observant Jews from all over the known world come to Jerusalem, the holiest city, to celebrate Passover. With Passover beginning in a few days, the city and surrounding area practically vibrate energy as everyone prepares for a big public festival.
This sets the stage for today’s mash-up of triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the Passion story of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, trial and execution.
The Passion story brings up many questions: Why doesn’t God respond when, in the Garden, Jesus pleads for release? Why doesn’t Jesus speak up for himself when Pilate questions him? What does it mean that Jesus, the Son God proclaims as beloved three separate times in Mark, dies on a cross like a criminal?
How we understand the meaning of these events is framed by the lens through which we read. What do we believe about God and God’s intentions for us and all humanity?
There are different theologies of salvation. Some focus upon guilt for our sinfulness and fear of eternal damnation. The lens I choose sees the strength of love to meet us in our brokenness, walk with us in compassion, and sacrifice itself as demonstration of God’s eternal and unbreakable love for us. The bottom line is that God loves us so much that Jesus comes to be human, to suffer and die. So that we may see and know God’s love for us.
Today, the good news ends there. While we know that Easter is next Sunday, today we pause with Jesus’ death and burial.
Today we hold the joy and triumph of Jesus' heralded entry into Jerusalem in tension with our knowledge of the betrayal and the grisly death we know await Jesus later this week. We cannot look away, even as we know the horrors that await.
William Sloane Coffin, Jr., a well-known 20th century preacher and social activist, said “The world is too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love.” [1]
The truth that we proclaim today, Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday is our hope, desire, and belief in a Love powerful enough to redeem us and our world.
Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna!
_____________________
[1] William Sloane Coffin, Jr, Quotes, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/226620.William_Sloane_Coffin_Jr_, accessed 25 March 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment