In
many Christian churches, Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of palm
leaves (often tied into crosses) to the assembled worshippers the week before
his death and resurrection. The biblical account of Palm Sunday can be found in
Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19.
The
Bible reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him by
waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches. Immediately
following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins
his journey to the cross.
However, Jesus is described as riding on a donkey in apparent fulfillment
of a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just,
and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal
of an ass.” Here we note an important insight.
He came into the city humbly sitting on a donkey’s colt- with a
different but no less significant kind of power. As cloaks and palm branches
were offered as gifts upon the road Jesus walked, he was given power by those
with whom we walked. His was not a power-over but a power-with the people.
Of
course there are great experiences to be had in the traditional beauty,
solemnness and transcendent sacredness of the liturgies of Holy Week services:
the washing of the feet, the stripping of the altar, the eager vigils welcoming
Easter and finally, the trumpet blasts of Sunday’s resurrection celebration.
If
we want to follow our savior through holy week, if we want to experience Holy
Week in a way that reflects our savior’s own experiences during that first holy
week -
WE
MUST THINK OF JUSTICE FOR ALL….
Holy week, for Jesus, began with a subversive, defiant public protest to Roman
imperial power on Palm Sunday. During the Jewish celebration of Passover, there
would typically be Roman military parade to remind the sometimes rowdy and
rebellious peasants to know their place and the consequences of a zealous
revolt.
