Which procession are we in?

Sunday 28^th March – Palm Sunday  

Isaiah 50: 4-9a. A reading that has always been applied to the sufferings of Christ as part of the “servant songs” in Isaiah. It is very human and speaks of his face, cheeks, beard and face being abused. But the servant is content to know that God is on his side and he bids us “Let us stand up together”. Does he mean himself with God or does that invite us to solidarity with Christ in his suffering? I prefer to think it is the latter.

Philippians 2: 5-11. It is thought that this piece of Paul’s letter may be a pre-existing early Christian Hymn. Whatever the truth of that, this is the basis of much theologising about the “self-emptying” of God called the apophatic tradition or the way of negation where God cannot be described positively but only by saying what God is not!

Mark 11: 1-11. According to the aforementioned Marcus Borg, what we have here is a carefully planned counter demonstration to the other procession of Pontius Pilate that would have entered from the other side of the city. That theme of careful planning is supported by the fact that he then went to the Temple and looked around but it was late and few people were around. The “cleansing of the Temple” could wait until a time when there would be more of an impact the next day. The tone of Jesus’ triumphal entry is one of a man of peace, who would save people (Hosanna means “save us”) not by violence but by peaceful sacrificial means.

 

 What we have today is the best documented counterdemonstration in history – a counter demonstration that was carefully planned to have a massive impact on the Jewish people.

Jesus had pre-arranged the use of a colt, with a coded form of words to use it, and supporters were primed with branches and cloaks to welcome this charismatic preacher and miracle worker into the city.

I say counterdemonstration because it was supposed to contrast directly with the spectacle of Pontius Pilate arriving in Jerusalem up from the coast, where he lived at Caesarea Maritime.

His procession would have been a magnificent spectacle of armed men on horseback, with gleaming armour and swords and spears, arriving with great pomp and a show of strength to impress the local population and instil enough fear to deter any anti-Roman trouble in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover.

By deliberate contrast Jesus rode on the back of a Colt to indicate that he came in peace, and rather than instil fear he evoked love and hope.

Hosannah means something like “Save us!” and they look forward to the coming Kingdom, being ruled by God rather than a collaboration between the Roman Empire and local Jewish collaborators.  

Jesus wanted to make a splash and having entered Jerusalem, note that he went into the Temple. He didn’t disturb the money changers then, he just looked around saw what the situation was and went home because it was late, there would have been hardly any people there and the impact wouldn’t have been so great had he made a fuss then.

Jesus decided to delay making a scene until the Temple was packed the next day and no-one could fail to notice so the turning over of the tables in the Temple could wait for a more opportune moment.

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and what impression he would leave on the pilgrims in Jerusalem. He wanted to leave nobody in any doubt as to his intentions and that he stood for peace, mutual love, freedom and respect, justice and mercy – in direct contrast to the Roman occupying force that ruled through force of arms.

The two processions into Jerusalem – Pilate’s and Jesus – revealed two different approaches to life – the way of love and the way of force, characterised in religious terms as the Kingdom of God versus the kingdoms of this world, represented in this instance by Rome.

Palm Sunday sets up the final week – which we now know as “Holy Week” when everything that Jesus stands for will be directly challenged by the Roman/Jewish authorities acting in tandem to preserve the status quo.

This final week will come to a head on Good Friday when finally the powers that be, will think they have got rid of Jesus for good and consigned him to the dustbin of history. Or that is what they thought.

The question for all of us is the same now as it was then. Which of the two processions are we in, Which one do we want to be in?

Amen