Palm Sunday Perspectives

To appreciate the significance of Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday it helps to read I Kings, chapter 1, which describes how the aged King David established his son Solomon as king when his older brother Adonijah had tried to usurp the throne. Note especially vss. 33, 38, and 44 which clearly show the importance of "riding on the king's mule" (in Greek, "hemi-onon", "half-ass")as a vital part of the coronation ceremony along with anointing by the priest (and prophet) and the acclaim of the crowd. The spring Gihon was the ritual site. All these elements are repeated each time the story is told, so each must be significant for the coronation ritual.

The other important Old Testament passage is, of course, Zechariah 9:9-10. This prophecy, spoken in the days after the return from exile in Babylon when the Jews were rebuilding the walls and the temple of Jerusalem, still under the political control of governors appointed by Darius, announces the coming of a future Messiah and describes the effect of his rule. Note the presence of the elements noted in I Kings: acclaim of the people, riding on the mule (here the technical term is not used, but the description "colt, the foal of an ass"is the equivalent). There is no reference to the spring Gihon, but the "setting free of the prisoners from the waterless pit" may be a veiled reference to the role of the living waters which sustained life in their "stronghold". The king is triumphant, but not in human strength, since he is "humble and riding on a donkey/mule, and cuts off the battle bow and war-horse, symbols of human military might, and commands "peace to the nations" in his world-wide dominion.

When we turn to the NT accounts, we see that Jesus has carefully arranged for the donkey/mule to be ready; a central element of his claim to be Messiah. Matthew cites Zech.9:9-10 and Psalm 118:25,26 "Hosanna! (Save us!) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!", Mark also cites Psalm 118:25-26 as the acclaim of the crowd. Luke cites it also, as does John, who also cites Zech. All underline the acclaim, all mention the riding on the donkey/mule, though none mention Gihon. Luke mentions the messianic peace they have forfeited (19:42) by failing to recognize God's visitation. John refers to the "worldwide dominion" of Zechariah's passage in 12:20 "Look, the world has gone after him!"

What does this tell us? (1) That Jesus was making a deliberate, planned appeal to be recognized as Messiah, "Son of David", and claiming the allegiance of God's people. And yet, it was not simply a claim to the political power then vested in another foreign-appointed governor, Pontius Pilate. John tells us (6:15) that Jesus deliberately avoided this when they wanted to make him king by force. He was willing for them to "render to Caesar what is Caesar's -- political tribute and authority -- but he was calling them -- us -- to render to God what is God's: the ultimate and intimate authority over our lives involved in living as he taught us to pray: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"; "Not my will, but thine be done" -- even if that means we die on a cross! (2) That his role in the kingdom is that of a humble servant who rejects all use of military power -- the legions of angels he could have called upon! -- and all its symbols such as war-horses and chariots (read tanks and humvees?); he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many! He calls all who would be "great" in his Way of life to be servants of all. He commands peace to the nations, and he brings great joy to those who dare to trust in Him. As one bumper-sticker puts it, "When Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, he probably meant don't kill them." (3) That in a time when Kings have ceased to exist, or become expensive ceremonial anachronisms having little or no real power or purpose, maybe we need to find other metaphors to describe our relationship to God in and through Jesus. Instead of the Kingdom of God, so central in our Biblical vocabulary, can we communicate with people today more effectively if we talk about "following the Way", as early Christians did, or about the "Society of Friends" as the Quakers do, picking up on the Johannine "You are my friends if you do what I command you... I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father... love one another!" or if we emphasize "thy will be done", which in the Lord's prayer is the equivalent of "thy kingdom come"? Can we explore Paul's "New Creation", or take another look at Jesus' "be born from above"? Dare we talk about the "Democracy of God", if we do so with an adequate understanding of the Holy Spirit as reigning in each of us and available to guide us through the written Word, and of ourselves as members of the risen body of Christ in whom Christ lives by his Spirit and through whom he wants his will to be done in the world? Could this fit with the question raised by Rev. Karen Haak this morning: Could our prayer be not asking God to do something about the world's problems, but a voicing of our concern, followed by a humble and obedient listening for what God may be telling us to do about the world's problems?