Reflections for Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016
Children’s Time:
Hymn # 276 Tabernacle Hymnary “When He Cometh”
Scripture Reading: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 & Luke 19:28-40
Reflection:
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, we enter Holy Week. This is the last act in a dramatic series of events that will change the world.
Jesus has been trying to prepare his followers for what is to come. They do not have the benefit of hindsight that we do – they cannot begin to imagine what lies just ahead – but he knows they will process all this later. He must plant seeds of illumination now if they are to understand it later at all.
We believe that he, Jesus, knows what will happen. He has made some preparations. The donkey colt is ready and the owner knows the code words. This happens in Bethphage or Bethany, a place where Jesus was well known, and where he would have had many contacts.
It’s the Passover, and millions of Jews (by some estimations) have poured into Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Jesus has timed this event for maximum impact.
He will enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey – the foal of a donkey which has never been ridden. Two things are significant about this. The triumphant entry of a king, a warrior king, would not happen on a donkey. A large, strong horse would be the steed of choice for such a display. A donkey would only be ridden by a king in a parade or procession if the intent was to demonstrate a time of peace – a king who is coming in peace.
The fact that a young donkey was chosen is also significant – for this animal would be pure and therefore suitable for a sacred occasion. It had never been ridden by another man, and had never been used for work. So Jesus, the Prince of Peace, rides triumphantly into Jerusalem on a High Holy Day, on the foal of a donkey.
This is a powerful symbolic message. But it is not the message that is expected of the Anointed One – their Messiah. Being an oppressed and actually warlike people, they expected a strong military leader to come and lead them out of the subjugation imposed on them by Rome.
And the symbolism used by Jesus is drawn powerfully from the Hebrew scriptures. He is bringing to them a whole new way of looking at things, but he is doing it by using the symbols and story of their race.
We remember that much earlier in their history (1 Samuel 8) the Israelites had asked to be ruled by a king like other nations. Though they had been warned about the abuses of power often associated with the reign of kings, they insisted, and Saul became their king. This people is not unfamiliar with the violence and injustice that often are the mark of dictatorships.
Still kings are the kind of leadership they know. Military might is what wins the war. But Jesus is an iconoclast. He has come to turn everyone’s expectations upside down.
And it’s as if suddenly time stands still. Every little detail, every nuance takes on great significance. Something different is going on here. The atmosphere is electric. People know about him – they have heard the stories about miraculous healings and people being raised from the dead. Many are probably aware that the religious authorities are unhappy with the attention he is getting. Certainly Jesus knows that his life is in danger, because he has become such a threat to the establishment. You don’t turn everything upside down without making enemies – those in power really want to stay there.
“Hosanna” the children and the disciples are singing. “Hosanna in the highest”. The Pharisees want it to stop. They tell Jesus to make his followers stop. Hosanna means “save now”. The Messiah has come to save them and somehow this is clear to them, and so they shout, “Hosanna”.
And Jesus replies to the Pharisees: “I tell you, if these were silent the very stones would cry out.”
And this, my friends, is the beginning of the end. Or maybe it’s really the beginning of a new beginning. As we follow Jesus thru the rest of Holy Week, we will remember how it was for him and for the people of Israel. And we will see how the Divine plan is manifested for the building of a new kingdom of God built on love and forgiveness and not on might and coercion.
Hymn # 313 VU “God whose Almighty Word”
Children’s Time:
Hymn # 276 Tabernacle Hymnary “When He Cometh”
Scripture Reading: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 & Luke 19:28-40
Reflection:
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, we enter Holy Week. This is the last act in a dramatic series of events that will change the world.
Jesus has been trying to prepare his followers for what is to come. They do not have the benefit of hindsight that we do – they cannot begin to imagine what lies just ahead – but he knows they will process all this later. He must plant seeds of illumination now if they are to understand it later at all.
We believe that he, Jesus, knows what will happen. He has made some preparations. The donkey colt is ready and the owner knows the code words. This happens in Bethphage or Bethany, a place where Jesus was well known, and where he would have had many contacts.
It’s the Passover, and millions of Jews (by some estimations) have poured into Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Jesus has timed this event for maximum impact.
He will enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey – the foal of a donkey which has never been ridden. Two things are significant about this. The triumphant entry of a king, a warrior king, would not happen on a donkey. A large, strong horse would be the steed of choice for such a display. A donkey would only be ridden by a king in a parade or procession if the intent was to demonstrate a time of peace – a king who is coming in peace.
The fact that a young donkey was chosen is also significant – for this animal would be pure and therefore suitable for a sacred occasion. It had never been ridden by another man, and had never been used for work. So Jesus, the Prince of Peace, rides triumphantly into Jerusalem on a High Holy Day, on the foal of a donkey.
This is a powerful symbolic message. But it is not the message that is expected of the Anointed One – their Messiah. Being an oppressed and actually warlike people, they expected a strong military leader to come and lead them out of the subjugation imposed on them by Rome.
And the symbolism used by Jesus is drawn powerfully from the Hebrew scriptures. He is bringing to them a whole new way of looking at things, but he is doing it by using the symbols and story of their race.
We remember that much earlier in their history (1 Samuel 8) the Israelites had asked to be ruled by a king like other nations. Though they had been warned about the abuses of power often associated with the reign of kings, they insisted, and Saul became their king. This people is not unfamiliar with the violence and injustice that often are the mark of dictatorships.
Still kings are the kind of leadership they know. Military might is what wins the war. But Jesus is an iconoclast. He has come to turn everyone’s expectations upside down.
And it’s as if suddenly time stands still. Every little detail, every nuance takes on great significance. Something different is going on here. The atmosphere is electric. People know about him – they have heard the stories about miraculous healings and people being raised from the dead. Many are probably aware that the religious authorities are unhappy with the attention he is getting. Certainly Jesus knows that his life is in danger, because he has become such a threat to the establishment. You don’t turn everything upside down without making enemies – those in power really want to stay there.
“Hosanna” the children and the disciples are singing. “Hosanna in the highest”. The Pharisees want it to stop. They tell Jesus to make his followers stop. Hosanna means “save now”. The Messiah has come to save them and somehow this is clear to them, and so they shout, “Hosanna”.
And Jesus replies to the Pharisees: “I tell you, if these were silent the very stones would cry out.”
And this, my friends, is the beginning of the end. Or maybe it’s really the beginning of a new beginning. As we follow Jesus thru the rest of Holy Week, we will remember how it was for him and for the people of Israel. And we will see how the Divine plan is manifested for the building of a new kingdom of God built on love and forgiveness and not on might and coercion.
Hymn # 313 VU “God whose Almighty Word”
