Palm Sunday
This morning’s Gospel reading relates the beginning of one of the most momentous weeks in Antiquity – usually accepted to have been in AD 29. Indeed in my opinion it is the most important week in history.
We know the story of Palm Sunday so well that it is hard to find something new to say. I would like to suggest to you that Holy Week in AD 29 was the most unusual week that has ever been recorded. It was a strange week because everything that happened was not what one would have expected to happen. Even the start of the week – Jesus’ triumphal procession into Jerusalem was unconventional. We know the story so well that we overlook how strange it must have appeared to those first century Jews and Romans who witnessed it.
Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem. They would have no problem with that as many were expecting him to rise up and throw the Romans out of Israel. What was entirely UNEXPECTED was that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. That was not the conventional way for a king to ride in his capital city. People - in Jesus day - would have expected a king who would lead an uprising to ride in - in a triumphal procession - on a powerful war chariot pulled by four stallions (as happened in a Roman triumph). He would not be expected to ride in on a donkey that symbolised humility. So why did Jesus enter Jerusalem triumphantly – on a donkey. Seems a bit of a paradox doesn't it? So what is God trying to tell us?
I think that we can find an answer to this conundrum by considering the tensions in Jerusalem at that time. Passover was a very sensitive time and the Romans would be on red alert. It was the significance of Passover that many Jewish nationalists, especially the Zealots would have wanted to exploit. For the Passover reminded them of Moses being a Messiah sent by God to lead them from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. The people were ready to rise up at Jesus’ command. The great hope that day was that Jesus the Messiah would lead a mighty uprising against the Romans.
But let me step back a bit and ask the question. What would it have felt like to be a Jew in first Century Palestine? Perhaps very much like being French in occupied France during the Second World War – where the Germans were the hated masters of the country. The Jews hated the Romans and were expecting an ALL CONQUERING Messiah/ King to free them, much as Judas Macabees had in 167 BC. Judas Macabeus – the hammerer had risen up against Antiochus IV when Antiochus had had the affrontary to sacrifice a pig on the Altar in the Temple. This wasn’t a wise move by Antiochus, but he had wanted to wipe out the Jewish religion and have everyone in his empire the same religion. His idea was to foster greater unity by having everyone of the same religion. But it backfired and Antiochus was driven out of Israel
And for about 100 years Israel had been free - living under the rule of the Hasmonean Kings – descendants of Judas Maccabeus. But in 67 BC when Pompey the Roman general was asked to mediate between two rival claimants to the Hasmoneum throne. That wasn’t a wise move because instead Pompey decided to conquer Israel and incorporate it into the Roman Empire. And that remained the case during Jesus life time and for many centuries after. The Jewish populace thus resented the Romans and were looking for a Messiah who would boot the hated Romans out. And during the life of Christ many Messiahs arose but all were ruthlessly put down by the power of the Roman Army. The Jews were pinning their nationalistic hopes on a Messiah/King - someone who would free them from the oppression of a foreign ruler. Much in the style of Judas Maccabeus.
For the Jews THAT was the only type of Messiah they could understand and were expecting at the beginning of Holy Week. However in Holy Week Jesus dispels their illusions. Why did the crowd change in one short week from worshipping Jesus to baying for his blood on Good Friday and crying Crucify him? In part I think it was to do with the fact that Jesus did NOT fulfil their expectations of Messiahship. In fact if the crowds had been watching carefully they would have realised that - even on Palm Sunday itself - something wasn’t quite right. Why? Because if Jesus was coming as an all conquering King, he would not have ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey. Instead had he come as a political Messiah, he would have ridden into Jerusalem on a white stallion – the symbol of power.
But he came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey – the symbol of servanthood. But this is the very point that Jesus is making - when he enters Jerusalem –” as the hymn writer put it. “in lowly pomp. Jesus’ solution was different. He was a king all right, but his kingly mission was to give his life for his followers. He was truly the Servant King. As an aside, it is interesting to note that in the Old Testament, donkeys were used by judges and kings to get around on - for errands of peace. But not to show their power or initiate war or an uprising. In contrast, a stallion or charger was primarily used in battle and signified power and might. Again by using a donkey, Jesus is making a statement. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. His kingdom is a kingdom of peace not a kingdom of war and domination.
So what is God trying to tell us? I think the key can be found towards the end of the Gospel reading where Jesus says: "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me." (Jn 12:24-25) We read something similar in Matthew’s Gospel " whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Mt. 20:27). And indeed Jesus modelled that himself.
We see him doing this at the Last Supper when he washed the disciples feet – a job for the servant and not the master of the house. (Jn. 13; 4). But we need also to remember that the Triumphal Entry as we call it was the fulfilment of an Old Testament Prophecy from the Book of Zechariah. Zechariah 900 years earlier had written this Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech 9:9)
To fully understand what was going on - on Palm Sunday it is important to look at the other Gospels that report the Triumphal Entry. The Synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke show an other dimension to the story. We read in Mark 11:1-9 the unusual way that Jesus instructs his disciples to procure the donkey. Let us look at this passage: 11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' 4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Why the cloak and dagger approach?
I think it was that Jesus was keen not to let his opponents among the Pharisees know what he intended to do. They would have been well versed in Scripture and once they had realised that Jesus had ordered a donkey they certainly would have tried to stop him fulfilling of the well known Messianic prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9 that talks of the Messiah coming into Jerusalem on a donkey. But once the Pharisees do actually realise what Jesus was doing - it is too late as the crowds supporting Jesus were out on the streets and it would have caused a riot had they tried to intervene.
To conclude: So what can we take home from the triumphal entry in Jerusalem for ourselves today? We are called as Christians to love God and our fellow man – and with that must a willingness to die to our selfish desires. Jesus put it well when he said: Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
There is a quote from Jim Eliot who gave his life taking the Gospel to the Andean Indians in South America in the late 1950's. He wrote this: He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose”
The last General to conquer Jerusalem was General Sir Edmund Allenby at the end of the First World War. It was early in December 1917 that the Turks surrendered the city to Allenby and his British Expeditionary Force. And on 11th December 1917 General Allenby entered the city - the last foreign conqueror of the city. Allenby was a Christian and when he came to the Jaffa Gate to enter Jerusalem he got off his charger and walked into the city. He reasoned that if his Lord and Master rode in on a donkey in to Jerusalem, he could not ride in on a more powerful symbol of power – the charger. So out of respect for Jesus he walked into the city. Perhaps as we remember Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, let us remember that the kingdom he ushered in was also a countercultural kingdom. A kingdom in which "whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Mt 27:7).
Let us pray:
Father, during this time of Lent and Passiontide, may you give us ears that are willing to listen to what you want to say to us. May we keep the Cross of Christ before us – realising that we need to crucify our own selfish nature and take on the nature of Christ. May we be willing to embrace the changes you wish to bring to our lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.