The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
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Just shy of a month ago, cities around the world celebrated Ireland and the Irish with parades. It seems like we have parades whenever celebrations of something are in order. How many military parades do we see when a country wants to demonstrate its might, or celebrate winning a war; or on national days like Canada Day? We have Santa Claus parades, and Easter parades, and how often do we really think about what they are for, or even where they started?
In New York, in 1838 - a whole lot of small groups decided to have one big parade. The purposes, for aid to poor Irish. It wasn’t anything to do with Irish nationalism, like it’s become now - but was designed to be a support to Irish immigrants. It wasn’t even anything to do with St. Patrick, either....just that he happened to be the patron saint of Ireland, and it seemed like a good idea.
The movie “Kundun” is the story of the escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet into India. There is a scene where the Chinese troops come marching into Tibet waving flags and singing songs of how liberated and free the Tibetan people will be. It is a show of military might, under the leadership of Chairman Mao. Far from bringing freedom to the Tibetans, it brought oppression and repression. China annexed a country which had been independent, and killed thousands of its citizens. There is again an outbreak of violence to try to push the Chinese oppressors out. The world turned a blind eye as the Chinese brought in thousands of its own poor citizens and relocated them on Tibetan land to farm. Pretty much what the Romans did to the Jews, and of course, with a parade at the Passover, to reinforce their might and the fact that they were in control in the occupied land.
In Jerusalem, there would have been two parades - and you can bet the citizens of the city knew exactly what each one meant. Jerusalem was a huge city - and there were several entrance gates on all sides. Passover was coming, it was the highest of the high Holy Days, the streets were full of people who had come from all over the known world to Jerusalem. The Passover was the celebration of their liberation from slavery in Egypt, and the rebuilding of the temple. Yet they celebrate that liberation under the rule of the Roman occupation. Hardly freedom.
On the west side of the city, Pontius Pilate would be riding into Jerusalem with an entire Roman legion, blaring trumpets, powerful horses and armour. It would have been a massive display of Rome’s power, to intimidate any Jews who might think of trying to stir up rebellion. Jerusalem was under Roman authority, perhaps even with the collusion by the temple authorities; it would be a display intended to “keep the peace” in the Roman occupation, given that there would have been outbreaks of violence at Passover, trying to stir up nationalism and force the Romans out.
In through the east gate, up from the Jordan Valley, and following the route the ancient Hebrews had taken in their flight from Egypt to the promised land, comes Jesus, just a country rabbi riding a donkey, and accompanied by group of followers who wave branches and spread rough cloaks along the path.
What a contrast to the Roman display of authority! And yet, as the shouts of Hosanna grow, more and more people would come to see what was happening, and get caught up in the moment - perhaps a hope of freedom from the oppressive authorities - and with the crowds, the potential for violence. They cry out “Hosanna”, which in Hebrew means “Save us!!!” Our opening hymn this morning, “Hosanna, loud Hosanna the little children sang!” Even the little children were running along, waving palms and shouting “Save us!!!”. Think about it for a moment - if Jesus were able to overthrow the Romans, even the temple authorities would not have any power any longer, for he would be king, judge, ruler even over them....
As Jesus rode along, the whole city was in turmoil, with everyone asking the same question, whispering to each other, “Who is this? ...he rides a donkey”. So did Judah Maccabeus, the other martyr and king of the Jewish people. So they cut branches and spread them on the ground. Double confirmation of the identity of Jesus - a new king has arrived, the saviour who would lead an army to liberate the Jews from the Romans.
...each of the Gospels makes it appear as if all of Jerusalem is affected by the coming of Jesus, as if an earthquake has struck. It is a “seismic” event, the same kind of reaction Herod had 30 years earlier when some Zoroastrian astronomers ask about the new King of the Jews.
Even if everyone does not understand who Jesus is, they have very clear expectations of what the Messiah is going to do and how he will act, because they remember the stories of King David. But what they expect is not what they get.
Amidst all of the commotion and confusion, the waving and shouting of hosannas, we also hear a second theme - what we call in the church, the passion - anger and hatred coming to a sham trial and death. We can hardly hear it at first, but it doesn’t take long for it to crescendo into a deafening roar. We are shocked as the events unfold. A plot is hatched, a death-pact made. We get glimpses - a woman spills a bottle of perfume over Jesus’ feet; she is criticised by the others. Jesus praises her and calls it a burial anointing. A private prayer meeting is broken up by some zealous vigilantes. The disciples, in a moment of panic, scatter like tightly packed seeds that explode from a pod. A single disciple follows from a safe distance, but then denies three times that he’s never even met the man that the religious leaders have dragged in.
The country rabbi sparks such anger among the temple authorities, shaking their foundations of comfort and alliance, that they manipulate to ensure he is put to death instead. They are not allowed to kill - there is that commandment which is their law. So they can find a way to arrange for the Romans to do it instead, thinking that means their hands are clean . Triumphantly, the temple authorities think they have removed the threat to their power. Their people remain under their thumbs, and all remain under Roman rule.
You know, more people live on the dark side of Good Friday than on the sunny side of Easter. On this side of Easter, there is no resurrection sought or conceived of, only suffering. There is a parade of palms followed by a parade with a cross. Many people live on this side of Easter all the time.
Mary Cardell was an elderly woman who lived alone in an Atlanta welfare hotel, and her only two comforts in life were a bottle and a pen. When she was discovered, she had already been dead several days. With the bottle she eased her pain; with the pen she wrote about her thoughts and feelings. Eventually the bottle became more demanding than the rent, and one day she was evicted from her room. She tried to find a place to spend the night, but there was alcohol on her breath, and no one would take her in. When they found her, her body was in a litter-filled field of weeds, cold and blue, and there was a note beside her. Mary had written, "I have nowhere to go, and there is no one to understand. God is not dead. He is only sleeping, but sleeping very soundly." How many stories like this are there, buried under the noise and celebration of our parades? How many have died in so many places, as the parades of military might grind over them? How many are yet to die, for a misplaced notion of “our” freedom?
To the disciples, once the noise of the celebrations was gone and the week was over, God was indeed sleeping very soundly. The death of Jesus seemed to be so stupid and senseless. Did they, in the midst of that, remember even before the big parade - that Jesus had said about Lazarus “he is only asleep.”? Did they go back over the events in their minds, trying to figure out how the victory parade ended up where it did? Did they wonder how this could ever represent any kind of freedom for them?
They were confused by the events. "But I thought--we all thought--that he was going to bring in God’s Kingdom," Peter might have said. "I mean, I still remember his words, ‘The right time has come,’ he said, ‘and the Realm of God is near.’
Our faith tells us that more was tied up in the person of Jesus than another statistic of Roman crucifixion. Jesus rides through our Palm Sunday parade, but what word can we hear? Is the noise of the mighty machine so loud that he is drowned out? Can we hear him telling us he has not come as a mighty Messiah to meet us in strength, but that he has come as a person, to meet us in the very fragility of being human, he has come to meet us at the depth of our human suffering, and show us how to walk through that suffering to a place in which celebration does not end, and freedom is real, for everyone. Do we take that word of hope to those people who only know the dark side of the cross??? What do we do after the parades are over???
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