Title: The First Palm Sunday
Scripture: Mark 11:1-11
4/9/06 Palm Sunday Yr. B
Rev. Joy R. Haertig
Today marks the beginning of the most important week in the Christian year, Holy Week. The week in which we begin with remembering Jesus' entry into the city of Jerusalem just before the Jewish celebration of the Passover. It is an intense week in his life and the Gospel of Mark is the best gospel to read if you want to get a sense of what happens each day as the reality of his pending crucifixion becomes more real.
Palm Sunday in the Christian tradition is not always given the attention it deserves in helping us understand what occurs in the rest of the week. Today, with the help of the written work of two wonderful scholars, Marcus Borg and John Crossan, I will try and set the scene and tell the familiar story in such a way that we might hear it anew.
First let me set the political and economic scene of Jesus' time and place because it aids us in understanding the symbolism of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
Those of you sitting on my right - you are the working class people. You are Jewish peasants; you live and work in the rural farming areas away from the cities. You are the makers of the wealth, but you yourselves have very little and are often in debt. At one time you did own the land and raised enough food to feed your own families and to make a living, but under the current system you are the tenant farmers.
And now the land is not used for general food production either, you are farming specialty items such as olives and figs. You have to go into town to buy food and often have to borrow money from the landlord to pay for it because you don't make enough as a tenant farmer to have to buy groceries as well.
Your relationship to Jerusalem, the home of the beloved temple is mixed at best. You are dedicated to your God and to your religious and cultural tradition but you know that the religious authorities are wealthy puppets of the Roman government that are too comfortable to care about your difficult life. There is no religious authority that will speak on behalf of you and your family. The religious leaders say that this is “God's way”, but you know that the scriptures say it isn't so.
You are the people that Jesus spent his time with. He did not go to the city, he traveled about in the rural areas speaking to the peasants about God's liberation, God's kingdom - a place where swords are turned into plowshares and food and land are equally distributed. He was very critical of the domination system that the religious authorities participated in. He was not fighting Judaism or his own people; he was fighting a political system that oppressed the poor.
Those of you on my left side, you are the wealthy city dwellers. You are the rural landowners and the landlords to the peasants. You are both Jewish and Gentile; you're not a bad people, just comfortable - that's all. Why change a system that seems to work for you?
The Roman and Jewish religious hierarchy came from this group, people who benefited from the way the political and economic system was set up.
The Romans were in charge of course, but the Jewish chief priests' job was to keep the peace between the Romans and the Jewish peasant class. The temple in Jerusalem had become the place where the religious leaders held their posts making it not only “God's house” but a political center as well.
So keep this image in mind as we consider the first Palm Sunday.
The first Palm Sunday took place at the Passover, the central religious festival of the Jews in celebration of Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt. It was a very big event; everyone came from miles around to the temple in Jerusalem.
Because there were so many people and it was a celebration of Jewish liberation, there was often trouble. Because there were political and religious arguments as people gathered from all around the countryside, the Roman leaders and their soldiers would come into Jerusalem too, to help keep the peace.
They came 60 miles from the west, from “Caesarea Maritima”, a beautiful coastal city that had been built for the Roman governors so they did not have to live in the dirty and often hostile city of Jerusalem.
The Roman Governor Pilate did not come into Jerusalem quietly; he paraded in with imperial grandeur and military power. He entered riding a grand and beautiful horse, as did his closest cohorts. Then there were foot soldiers in leather armor, helmets and weapons. They also carried banners and golden eagles mounted on poles. If you close your eyes you can hear the sounds, “the marching of feet, the creaking of leather and bridles and the beating of drums.”
Please remember that the Roman emperor was not simply the ruler of Rome, but was proclaimed to be THE SON OF GOD. Though Pilate was not the emperor himself, he symbolized him and the theology of Rome.
So Pilate's presence in Jerusalem was a symbol of a RIVAL SOCIAL ORDER and A RIVAL THEOLOGY to Judaism.
This imperial parade happened every Passover during the time of Jesus, there is no doubt that Jesus was well aware of it,
thus his entry into Jerusalem 100 miles from the east was a set-up.
This was no accident - it was a pre-arranged “counter-procession”.
Before arriving he sent two of his disciples into a small village to get him a young colt to ride on. He then rides the colt down the Mount of Olives to the city surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic followers and sympathizers (those of you on my right) who spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road, all of which they had brought with them from home. As he enters the city his followers shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
Why did Jesus enter Jerusalem on a colt (a young donkey)?
Jesus knew his Jewish scripture. He knew full well that the prophet Zechariah prophesized that a king would come to Jerusalem “humble and riding on a donkey.” He also knew that Zechariah said that this king would banish war from the land, no more chariots, war-horses or bows. He will be a king of peace.
This is what Jesus symbolized as he entered Jerusalem on a colt. This is the “counter-demonstration”; it is the embodiment of an alternative vision from the kingdom of Caesar. It is the embodiment of the kingdom of God.
It is the vision he wanted the Jewish peasants to see and be empowered by.
Jesus did not just happen to enter Jerusalem by the east gate, riding on a donkey. Jesus courageously planned a political demonstration knowing full well that it would likely lead to his execution by the powers who ruled his world.
So my friends, “Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30.” (The Last Week by Borg/Crosson, pg. 2) - with opposing purposes and visions: The Kingdom of Caesar and Rome or the Kingdom of God.
I hope that this helps you understand the power behind the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem as being much more than just a spontaneous parade.
Where do we go from here?
I encourage you to read the scriptures that are listed on your Holy Week insert.
Jesus will be anointed for death by an unnamed woman.
He will share Passover with his disciples in a secret place where they will not be found by the authorities.
At the table when he lifts the bread and the wine he will acknowledge that one of his disciples will betray him. The one most disappointed by his leadership - the one who believes that only a violent overthrow of the oppressive Roman government will liberate the people from poverty.
Here at church on Thursday night we will wrestle with the question of betrayal as twelve RBCC disciples gather to re-enact the story of that Passover meal. You must come - let the story come to life.
Then Jesus is arrested in the garden, denied by Peter, questioned by Pilate and condemned to die.
He is beaten and stripped, hung on the cross to die as the ridiculed “king of the Jews”.
Holy Week is the most sacred week of the Christian year. Its purpose is not to trigger guilt or shame but grief or anger at humanity's ability to be so ruthless.
Its purpose is not for us to turn away in fear, but to remember his courage - his vision of peace and justice and to trigger our own commitment to follow and act in his name today.