Sermon for Palm Sunday 29th March 2014
Readings:
Phillipians 2:5-11
Mark 11:1-11
May I speak in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Today is the sixth Sunday of Lent or Palm Sunday.
Today, we commemorate with our Palm Crosses the symbolism of these events. We also remember Jesus’ sacrificial death on the
cross. We praise him for the Gift of Salvation and look forward expectantly to his second coming.
I thought that I was familiar with the Palm Sunday story and with Holy week, but the research for this talk, quickly dispelled
that smugness. I give you just one example;
Palm Sunday was a Sunday of Two Triumphant processions into Jerusalem! While I had vague idea of these events, I was missing the detail.
The first procession from the West, was by the Roman Governor, Pontious Pilate; he was fresh from having quashed a rebellion; following which he killed 2000
rebels as an example and deterrent to the rest of the population of Judah. Pilate travelled from his preferred headquarters in Caesarea-by-the-Sea, with his Army, to the stuffy, crowded, provincial capital of Judah in Jerusalem.
It was the feast of the Passover!! Keeping an eye on a rebellious people from their centre of power, at a key feast might have seemed to have been a good idea on Pilate’s part, but subsequent events seem
to me to prove that he had ‘bitten’ of more than he could chew, as we will see in the next week’s liturgy.
For us the important procession was that of Jesus. We hear the story in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus’ procession from the east is often described or portrayed as “Entering in Triumph”, Nowadays, we tend towards a different
view. Jesus chose the path of humility! But was aware of the symbolism of his actions.
The people of Jerusalem expected to receive the Messiah, in triumph, and that he would bring about the victories of the prophesy
of Zechariah from centuries before. Zechariah’s was a prophetic call to repentance, and gave details of how the promised Messiah would come.
Today’s Gospel from Mark points us too why Jesus’ did things in this manner.
He came in humility not triumph (echoed in today’s collect). He came in order to fulfil the scripture and his Father’s will;
Jesus’ use of the Words of Zechariah’s prophecy and his actions would have resonated with the people of Jerusalem, who were well schooled in scripture and knew of Zechariah’s prophecy. The symbolism to them would
have been immediately evident:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Jesus demonstrated to the people that He was the one that Zechariah prophesied about; Jesus, by riding on a colt instead of walking,
is showing every pious Jew who knows the Scriptures that He is their King:
A young, unused animal held special significance in their culture; like the cattle used to pull the ‘Ark of the Covenant in 1 Samuel.
Spreading clothes on the ground was done for Kings, such as Jehu, Palm leaf’s symbolise triumph and victory.
The people understood that Jesus was claiming to be the coming King, the Messiah. By spreading their cloaks and Palm branches
on the road before Him, they were proclaiming His kingdom and submitting themselves to His rule.
When they shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David” the words drawn from Psalm 118 they were literally saying, “Save us please!”. Their blessing of Jesus was recognition of who He was and what He was doing.
But as we know, it all goes horribly wrong. The very people who laid their clothes over the Colt for Jesus to ride, those who
laid the leafy branches on the road before him, those who sung his praises, were a few days later, baying for his blood? Shouting “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”.
The two processions could not be more different in the messages they give us. Pilate, leading Roman soldiers, asserts the power and might of the empire of Rome which crushes all who oppose it.
Jesus, riding on a young donkey, embodies the peace and tranquility; promises that God makes to His people.
Jesus made a choice on that day. He knew that he was going to die!
He knew that he faced the Cross and Crucifixion!
Only he understood what was to come, although he had told the Apostles what was to happen despite this, they still
didn’t get it.
Jesus chose God’s will, over his own or that of the world. He submitted himself through love and obedience to his destiny.
On either side of a division between power and weakness,
you will always find Jesus on the side of weakness. Because a man nailed to a cross can't side with power. He knows it all too well for what it is. This is not to say that money is bad, or power can't be used well. But weakness
is the side that Jesus is on.
The people who cheered on Jesus that day, will also have made a choice, one that still faces us to today; will
we serve the God(s) of this world, might and power; or will we choose to serve the King of a very different Kingdom, the Kingdom of God? Jesus “The Servant King”.
I pray that we choose the latter.
Amen
