Palm Sunday

Sunday

I grew up attending a small Baptist church. Some of my fondest memories of those years are associated with Palm Sunday. We children were given palm branches and then we paraded into the sanctuary waving them declaring loudly, “Hosannah!”. Of course, it didn’t hurt the festivities since Palm Sunday marked the beginning of the Easter Week break from school!

Our basis for this celebration is found in all four gospels: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44 and John 12:12-19. After reading these passages again, I am reminded of the rich symbolism that each element carried that day. All these elements point to Jesus, Lord and King.

The colt of a donkey fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 and also reminded many that day of Jehu coming into Jerusalem riding on a colt of a donkey. I found an interesting bit of information, riding in on a donkey signified peace whereas riding in on a horse signified war. In any event, all who gathered along that road “got it”. They knew and were excited to think that this was the day, Jesus would be declared the King of the Jews. “Could the overthrow of Rome be not far behind?”, had to be the thought of most that day.

They celebrated with the one symbol we still use today, palm branches on the road and lifted high, waving to declare Jesus’ sovereignty. If I stop and let my imagination wander to that day, I can hear the rustle of the palms and the triumphal voices of expectation.

Palm fronds were the symbol of victory, triumph and peace, even to the Romans. I wonder if those Roman overlords, upon hearing of this entrance, braced themselves for trouble during these days of Passover when the population of Jerusalem swelled to perhaps three times its usual number.

This entrance was not lost on anyone, especially the Pharisees. They demanded that Jesus do something about the ruckus being stirred up. I love his response, recorded in Luke. “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out”, Jesus told them. A part of me wishes he’d ordered silence from the crowd so that stone voices could have been heard. Remember, all of creation waits for final redemption and rule by Jesus.

It is good to let these accounts of that day sink in today and remind us of the start of a very public week for Jesus and his disciples.

As a child I often wondered how things went so quickly downhill in terms of the population, so swept up in adulation and so quickly crying for Jesus’ death in a few short days. Since then, I’ve come to know, they did not really understand Jesus’ coming as a suffering Messiah. They only were thinking politically, hoping this was the end of Rome’s rule.

With the passage of time, we who follow Jesus understand better his mission as incarnate God was coming to the end, his death was to pay our price of sin. His resurrection was to show his power over death, giving us tangible proof of the eternal life, he spoke of so often, a life we have entered into.

I do wonder though, have we missed some of the depth of meaning to those days that are beginning to unfold on this day we call Palm Sunday?

We rightly understand the crucifixion finally deals with our sin. We’ve codified entrance into this new life with what we often call, “the believer’s prayer”. It is a bit like getting our ticket to heaven punched. But do we then put that punched ticket into our pockets and forget the deeper truth Jesus desires us to know, to live out?

Much of what he said during those years of ministry was about the Kingdom of God. If you go back and look, you will find many, many references and stories designed to teach us the Kingdom is for now, not just after our eventual death. It never was just about having a punched ticket. It is about living in Kingdom rule, letting the Spirit lead us into all truth, and then living, abiding with Jesus so that his fruit would grow, now, not later.

Paul reminds us of the fruit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is the fruit we can expect to see grow in our lives as we lean into what Jesus did for us during this week, we can celebrate together, while sheltered at home. It is a hope for now, especially in these difficult days.