Reflecting on Palm Sunday

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We tell the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, a mock parade, where, without anything else, onlookers lauded him with palm branches and threw their cloaks onto the road in a humorous rendition of a majestic entrance. 

Honestly, I found myself wondering this week, in a time of even more economic and political flipflops, a week where billionaires got even richer, if celebrating Palm Sunday in our little town at the tip of this rugged peninsula even mattered. And then I gave my head a shake. Yes, it matters. Probably more than ever. 

Y’see, it was a revelation to me a few years ago to realize, based on the historical work of the scholar John Dominic Crossan, that Jesus’ ‘triumphal’ entry into Jerusalem was likely a piece of street theatre held in mockery of the emperor’s ‘triumphal’ entry occurring at the same time in another part of the city. Can you imagine such a thing? Can you imagine the danger that Jesus was subjecting himself to? We are seeing now the kinds of lengths particular kinds of regimes can go to to silence those who speak up against them.   

It didn’t work out well for Jesus, either. Palm Sunday shows us many things: how a person’s life can change in an instant; how fickle the court of public opinion can be; how quickly celebration can turn into mourning.  Palm Sunday is the beginning of the end of the beginning, which happens to be the title of my sermon. 

To prepare, read Luke 19:28-40 and ponder the following: 

1. Does Palm Sunday make more sense to you in the light of the way John Dominic Crossan portrays it? 

2. How will you prepare to celebrate Holy Week?