Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is the day when Jesus came to Jerusalem so he
could die. The disciples thought he was
coming to set himself up on the throne of David as king. They imagined that the kingdom of God was like
an earthly kingdom, despite all the times that Jesus had patiently explained
that the kingdom of God was like yeast, like ten virgins, like anything but a
government. Despite the fact that he had washed their feet, despite the fact
that he had told them that the one who wanted to be great must be the servant
of all.
Later, Paul would write to the church in Philippi:
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united
with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by
being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value
others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to
the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same
mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be
used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:1-8)
On this Sunday we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus
into Jerusalem, when he arrived not on a prancing warhorse, but on a
donkey—that should also have been a clue:
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
As Jesus arrived on the donkey, the people threw palm
branches in front of them and proclaimed “hosanna”—a word that means
“Save!”—which is also a part of the meaning of Jesus’ name: “ he saves.” And that is precisely what Jesus came to
do.
Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was triumphal, but not in the
way that the people on that day, in that moment, imagined. He was triumphant, because he would triumph
over sin, triumph over Satan, and triumph over death. The kingdom of God was truly at hand. But the kingdom of God is not a kingdom like
the world knows and understands; it is not a kingdom people easily see.
What did Jesus say?
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of
God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not
something that can be observed,nor will people say, ‘Here it
is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke
17:20-21)
The kingdom of God is
inside of us, it is us collectively, it is us as God’s temple now, we who can
now worship God in spirit and in truth, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman,
because God now lives in each of us as individuals, and in all of us collectively.
As Jesus told his disciple in Matthew 18:20:
“For
where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
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