Lent 2010 Week 6

Lent week 6 year A

Palm Sunday Matthew 21:1-11

"When Jesus and his disciples had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, `The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
"Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Palm Sunday in the Catholic tradition has 2 Gospels, the first is the arrival into Jerusalem and is usually associated with a procession. The main Gospel will focus on the Passion story according to Matthew this year. Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday. For this reflection though, I'll talk a bit about Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem marks the real beginning of the way of the cross for Jesus. Although his life is always heading towards this end, think of the significance of the myrhh given by the wise men at his birth in Matthew's Gospel. Palm Sunday isthe beginning of the final count-down to the events of Easter. His manner of entry is carefully chosen. He could have simply walked into Jerusalem, in the usual way, with all the other travellers. He could have come in a back way and escaped all the fuss and attention and kept himself alive just a bit longer. This way chosen by Jesus perhaps is a foreshadowing of his act at the Last Supper in John's account of the washing of the disciples' feet. This marks him out as a servant King, the act which shows the servant nature of this particular leader.

He is one of the people, ordinary, yet very different. Different enough to make a calculated entry into the city, an entry designed to announce his arrival to the world. Why does He arrive on a donkey, a colt though? By entering Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy found in Old Testament Scripture, the prophecy of Zechariah:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
[Zec 9:9 ESV]

The fact that Jesus knew that this was the time to fulfill the prophecy, that he knew exactly where to find this colt, and what to tell its owners displays Jesus' true Kingly power. Not only does he fulfill the prophecy, but he demonstrates his power over his enemies. By this time, the Jewish leaders were seeking a way to kill Jesus, he knew this and yet he does not try to enter the city without being noticed. He knows this is his time, his time to die, to fulfill his mission and He is not powerless, or sucked into events out of his control. This is His destiny. Matthew is also showing Jesus as King, it was the right of the king in the ancient near east to commandeer any means of transport they needed for a journey.

Jesus rode on a donkey, even a young donkey, because donkeys are humble creatures. They are neither proud nor extravagant, but simply humble. Jesus, the King of Kings, chose to demonstrate His humility by riding on a humble beast, but just as He has a tremendous burden to bear, He selects a beast of burden as his way into the great Jerusalem. An animal that was looked down on by most people, just as Jesus was to be despised amongst a similar crowd just a few days later.

He arrived not with a mighty army to overthrow the Romans as many people wanted, as some of his disciples wanted. It demonstrated the great gospel paradox that strength is made perfect in weakness. His humility is seen and signifies his human nature. His power is also to be seen as the week progresses, but not power in the way we associate it. The people who lined the streets of Jerusalem to cheer for Jesus on Sunday, clamoured for his death and then fell silent by Friday. We are like that as well. We cheer when one government begins and then denounce it almost immediately when our expectations are not fulfilled. We raise up our sporting heroes and welcome them home in open buses and with loud cheers and welcome banners. Then we wait for them to fall, to be human and act like Wayne Rooney even. The people expected a triumphant king but found instead would see a powerless criminal.

The joy and celebration of the entry is followed by the pain of Jesus’ unjust trial and punishment, the cries for crucifixion and His death on the cross. The week starts so well but seems to end so badly. We understand, we all have hopes and expectations that seem to be about to be acheived. Then it all goes badly, like Rory McIlroy at the Masters this year. Dreams and hopes crash around us and turn into nightmares. We are left with failure and hope turns into despair. Jesus must have felt like that, the disciples must have felt like that, so do we. As we move forward into Holy Week, we can be confident that Jesus' sufferings and death were not simply a show to point us in the right direction, or a the death of a great prophet. They are a sign of the Servant King who shows us how to serve. That service is at once humble and glorious. The grave will not be the final story, the story is only really just beginning.

This is Holy Week...