Loading...Jesus is comin’ to town!!
Of course, for us – 21st c. believers – that means something different for us than it would to folks living in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago.
We might imagine being part of a big rally:
cheering, clapping, singing;
waving palm branches like we did this morning already,
and throwing our coats on the ground.
Except – would we?
Would we even recognize Jesus in today’s environment?
After all, this was NOT a political rally like the presidential candidates have
or even a parade like we’re used to (think “Lilac Parade”, or some such).
As Luke describes this donkey colt ride,
it sounds like only the disciples notice and pay attention to Jesus’ entry.
For others around, it might have been a non-event,
or possibly, an interesting diversion over there on that part of the street.
If we think about it a little,
Jerusalem, the Big City,
would have been a mad house of
travellers, pilgrims,
squadrons of soldiers,
market stall owners selling their wares,
and street urchins weaving their way through the crowds!
This “parade” of Jesus’ took place as people were gathering for the Passover:
a great festival and significant pilgrimage event.
The parade happened in Jerusalem:
a Big, Important, Holy City. A bustling, cosmopolitan city.
And, of course, there were Romans, the ruling government, everywhere
wanting to keep order
and who were not afraid to use their brutish, powerful army of foot soldiers to keep that order.
Indeed, the governor of the whole area left his comfortable, cool palace by the sea in order to come to the crowded, hot, busy city of Jerusalem so that he could keep an eye on things. Pilate was concerned that riots and insurrections would break out. It had happened before.
So, Jesus comin’ to town
was just a tiny blip on the screen. If that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That begs the question,
the question that folks who don’t know this story inside-out might ask,
the question that listeners who hear all of the unusual and even strange details and are puzzled,
the question that curious people who maybe don’t know about Jesus might wonder about:
They, and we, might want to ask the question and consider the answer for this:
Why?
Why was it such a big deal for this guy Jesus to ride a colt of a donkey into town and this smallish group of people wave their palm branches and spread their coats?
Why do we make such a big deal out of this story?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are a number of great answers to that question.
Two come to mind for me:
1. This procession that’s told in the story is ODD. It is weird.
• Jesus is riding in on a donkey – the colt of a donkey, not on a horse. Even though some of his followers thought of him as the Messiah. Everyone knew that the Messiah was supposed to come with military might and power, things that a horse would signify. But, no. A colt of a donkey.
• During the parade, the disciples said, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” They’re echoing the song of the angels sung at Jesus’ birth and they are declaring something quite at odds with what was expected. When others tried to shush the disciples, Jesus announced that if they were silent then “even the very stones would cry out.” Even creation knows that Jesus is leading us in the way of radical and counter-cultural peace.
2. Related to the oddity of the story, St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians helps us to understand why we make such a big deal out of this story and why we make such a big deal out of Jesus:
• Jesus takes the form of a slave; he becomes human and a servant.
• Jesus serves. He humbles himself; he chooses humility, not grandeur. Jesus doesn’t act in ways that are expected of a rabbi, a leader, a teacher, a master; rather he does the life-giving, loving thing.
This, what Jesus chooses to do – the life-giving, loving thing – is
so unexpected,
so different,
so noticeable,
and we are asked to hear it and notice it, and shout hosanna, giving thanks!
This is the story we share. The story of love.
Amen
