PALMS AND PASSION

March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday
Luke 29:28-40
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11

(prayer)
“Hosanna” is a cry of victory: an affirmation of safety. Literally, it means “save us”, but in the context of the Palm Sunday story, it makes more sense to think of it as “we’re saved!”
When Jesus and his followers arrived, Jerusalem was in a festival atmosphere. There were several people in town because of the Passover. There were pilgrims from all over the Hebrew lands. There was likely an increased military presence. If not simply because of the increased crowds, then because Governor Pilate was in the city to personally oversee the goings on. Passover is a celebration of national freedom. It commemorate the story of Moses and how the people gained their freedom from slavery in Egypt, some three thousand years earlier.
Although, the Hebrew people were not enslaved to the Roman Empire, they lived under its rule and were not truly independent. There was a history of revolt in the region of Judea. A couple hundred years before Jesus, there was a defiant family known as the Maccabees who had some measure of success rebelling against the roman occupiers, before things tightened up again.
One can imagine that each year the Passover festival in Jerusalem drew a bit more cautionary attention from Pilate and his soldiers. Caesar would not look favourably on Pilate if the valuable trade routes than ran through the region of Judea were disrupted.
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We can wonder how much attention Jesus’ entry into town on that first day of the week attracted among the Roman soldiers. Luke tells us that some fellow Jews (some Pharisees) wanted Jesus to tell his “disciples to be quiet, but was there a Roman reaction?
Were the palm-waving crowds noticed?
Did the shouts of hosanna raise any eyebrows and the potential start of a revolt?
Even more, did anyone take note of the style of Jesus’ entry? It may have had the look and feel of a regal, powerful parade, but Jesus was riding a donkey – hardly the image of the one who will force his way into the city with a plan of revolt. There are ancient accounts that it was an invitation to peace for someone to come on a donkey, as opposed to coming in full armour on a war horse. A few verses after the passage that was read today, Jesus’ wept a prayer for Jerusalem – how the city seemed to be ignoring opportunities that “make for peace” (cf. Luke 19:41). Did Jesus’ non-violent motivations get noticed?
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The biblical record certainly does note that there were increased concerns about Jesus by some of the religious elite in Judea. Jesus was treading on someone else’s turf! He was a northern peasant travelling preacher. He did not measure up to the Jerusalem temple leaders.
Jesus did get noticed when he challenged the market-type shops set up at the temple. Luke is quite general: saying that Jesus drove out those who were selling things there. Other gospels say that these were shops for pilgrims to exchange their foreign coins for temple currency and to buy lambs and birds for ritual offerings. Realistically, these shops make sense. Many of the pilgrims would have travelled long distances to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. These opportunities would have been helpful.
Often, we assume that Jesus saw these shops as an inappropriate activity within the temple. And maybe that was so. But the common psalm that is quote in the gospel accounts of this event, implies that there may have been more going on. The situation may have included the shopkeepers taking advantage (economically) of the pilgrims. My house should be a house of prayer – you have made it a den of robbers!
The so called “cleansing of the temple” may have been a statement about worship and it may have been a statement about economic justice. Either way, Jesus must have been noticed at that point.
Any kind of large public disturbance like this would have come to the attention of the roman authorities. If Passover tended to make them nervous – then a mini-riot at the temple would made them out-right concerned.
Not long after Jesus’ non-violent entrance, his reputation turns on a denari and he is labelled as a disturber of the peace.
There was already a religious dimension to the opposition to Jesus, now, there was a political one. Ad to that what seems to be a break in the unity of Jesus’ followers and shouts of hosanna quickly fade.
These new factors pretty much sealed Jesus fate as the story unfolds.
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I wonder, as Jesus became increasingly aware of the path he was on, if Psalm 31 came to mind. Be gracious to me, God, for I am in distress. I am the scorn of all my adversaries, an object of dread to my acquaintances.
Part of the Holy week story is Jesus praying for God’s help and support in the situation he was facing. Luke quotes Jesus praying, “Father, if you are willing remove this cup from me; yet not my will but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42). That sounds an awful lot like verse 15 of Psalm 31: “My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.”
From within Jesus own group of followers, the authorities are aided in arresting Jesus in the dark of night away from any large crowds.
From among Jesus’ own people, those whose views were threatened by Jesus view of God and the call to let the love of God reign, even at the expense of the structures of religion.
From the seat of power, Jesus was small potatoes. He had a following to be sure, but they weren’t any real threat. A quick show of power and authority and his movement would scatter and fade away. Chop off the head and the body would die. Even though, the case was flimsy, Jesus didn’t have the connections to save his life. He was included among others who had done wrong by the empire and Jesus was crucified – executed as an enemy of Rome.
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That was it. Adoring, palm waving crowds gave way to angry shouts for crucifixion.
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Today is Palm Sunday. In just seven days, it will be Easter. Because for many people, church is a Sunday activity, it is important for us to limit our focus today on the palm parade. So today is also called Passion Sunday.
There are opportunities to further experience the events of Jesus last week here at St. David’s: Thursday evening at 6:30pm, you can recall the night of Jesus’ last supper and arrest; Friday morning at 10:30pm, you can hear the heart of the passion narrative as we focus on Jesus trial and execution. And for those of you who are able, I encourage you to take part in those special services – to ad depth to this time of year.
But for those who will move directly from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, I hope that you are able to hear the contrasts and diverse twists and turns that were part of Jesus’ path during his final week.
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For me, when I reflect on the themes and messages of this coming week, I am struck by how difficult it is to stay steadfast when there appears to be no hope for success.
I think this is a common response. In a way it is a very healthy response. I am fond of saying things like:
Worry takes a lot of energy out of a person, so we do ourselves well to spend our worry-energy in areas where we can make a difference.
When we think that the chances of making any difference are slim or none, we might, quite logically, sort of give up!
That seems to be what happened to almost all, but the most loyal of Jesus’ followers. And even some of them gave up hope. Most famously, there was Simon Peter, who must have secretly hoped that somehow Jesus would walk out of Pilate’s courthouse with just a warning, but when the light of controversy shone on him, he could not bring himself to identify himself as a follower of Jesus.
It was easier for some of the women. It was quite acceptable for mourners to show anguish when a loved one was near death. There would have been no suspicion against the women among Jesus’ followers as they openly grieved for him as he was marched to the place of crucifixion.
Sadness and sorrow and hiding actually would be the desired response from the authority’s point of view. What they didn’t want to see was anger or protest. They didn’t see that among Jesus’ followers. That would have confirmed the speculation that the movement would die with Jesus.
And that was honestly the truth right up until Easter morning.
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Palm and Passion Sunday points to our human nature of being able to adjust to what is needed in hard situations. For most people they will discover that in the wake of grief. We might have wondered: Where would we find our strength? How might we go on?
It can be an agonizing process, but the vast majority of us – eventually, discover that we adjust to the new reality: maybe changed forever, but adjusted.
We see that in the stories of holy week. Peter can’t help Jesus. So he adjusts his demeanour to blend in. In John’s gospel, he’s prepared to go back to his old job of fishing.
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I think it is a bit of a mistake to lambaste Peter and the others for their lack of steadfast loyalty. We have something they did not. We know about Easter. In retrospect, biblical authors proof-texted a case of foreshadowing – implying that if the disciples had really paid attention, they would have seen Easter coming. The truth is they never saw Good Friday coming (Jesus’ death wasn’t even on the radar just a few days earlier); how could they have possibly seen Easter coming? // //
As hard as it is, each year I try to imagine experiencing Jesus’ palm and passion week without expecting Easter to follow. It is more hardship than hope; more fear than faith. And that’s okay. That’s real! It’s back to the original meaning of “Hosanna” – we are in trouble and we need help. That’s today. That’s Palm and Passion Sunday!
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Let us pray;
Hosanna, O God;
Being us safety and comfort. Hold us in your steadfast love, especially when we can’t find enough strength to hope. Amen.
#37MV “Each Blade of Grass”