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Matthew 21: 1–11
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I heard the music – unmistakably, the music of steel drums –
and the shouts of the crowd before I could wrap my mind around the fact
that a parade, a joyful Caribbean parade, of all things, was passing
by my front door in North London. But when I flung open the front door
to look, there it was, clear as day – a parade of hundreds of
joyful Caribbean people, all dressed in bright tropical hues, all
singing and dancing to the rhythm of those steel drums as they made
their way down the center of Hemingford Road in Islington. It didn’t
make any sense, but there it was.
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That was the year when my husband and I were living in London while he
finished a book at the British Museum and I stayed at home with our
two young children. To say that parade was incongruous in that time
and place is to put it mildly. Hemingford Road was lined with staid
19th century Georgian townhouses, each with its own black wrought iron
fence, each with its own bit of well–kept garden. And the people
who lived in those houses were equally staid, equally proper and
dignified. You just didn’t get exuberant Caribbean parades coming down
the center of the road every day. To this day, I do not know what
those people were celebrating. But you couldn’t miss their joy and
excitement. You couldn’t miss their sense of camaraderie.
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So that’s the parade I think of when I think of the Triumphal
Entry Jesus made into Jerusalem on the day we have come to call
Palm Sunday. For it was no less joyful, and no less incongruous.
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Just like those Caribbean revelers, Jesus’ followers were
excited and joyful. And their joy was infectious – until nearly
the whole city had come running to see what all the commotion was
about. Matthew doesn’t actually mention the palms. He just
says the people cut branches from trees along the road and laid
them down in the road – along with their cloaks – for
Jesus’ donkey to walk on. And some in the crowd ran ahead,
proclaiming, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord!” So for those who
had eyes to see and ears to hear, the whole event became something
of a coronation procession for Messiah, the Son of David. Even the
donkey on which Jesus rode was a sign of coronation; for everyone
knew the prophet Zechariah had said, “Lo, your king comes
to you . . . humble and riding on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
(Zechariah 9: 9) Didn’t this scene match that
prophecy exactly?
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Well, some people saw it that way. But others in the crowd saw only an
ordinary man –– a humble one at that –– mounted
on the back of a beast of burden and followed by a rag–tag group
of women, children and notorious sinners. And they didn’t get it.
“Who is this?” they asked. For there was no show of
the kind of power and glory they had grown used to – no conquering
hero dressed in a splendid scarlet cloak and mounted on a mighty steed.
No well–armed Roman legion following in a powerful show of force.
There was only this odd collection of people the world had already
judged and discarded . . . for obvious
reasons, they thought.
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If this was the conquering hero’s army, the skeptics thought,
who would want to join it? What kind of power could this man
provide? So for heavens sake, what was there here to be joyful
about?
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These are the kinds of questions skeptics and doubters have been
asking the Church for the last two thousand years. Jesus keeps
offering answers . . . but they remain
skeptical.
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Jesus says, “Whoever among you wants to be great must set his
mind on becoming the servant of all.” And the worldly wise
ones reply, “No way! We are standing tall now and we will
be greater still.”
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Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.” And the doubters reply, “You’re delusional.
You will be sitting ducks for criminals!”
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Jesus says, “You are blessed when you are content with who you
are and what you have. In that moment you will find yourselves the
proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” And the skeptics
reply, “What planet are you living on?”
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And, finally, there were religious authorities in Jerusalem that day
whose skepticism about Jesus went far beyond simple doubt. For years
they had heard rumors of his miracle–working ways in
far–off Galilee. But now – just the week before – he
had raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany, right on their doorstep.
Now they were beyond threatened; they were determined to stop him.
Some, in fact, were already plotting to kill him.
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But, you know, Jesus wasn’t frightened that day by those who
wished him ill. Nor was he discouraged by the skeptics and doubters.
And he certainly didn’t mind the fact that some of the revelers
at that parade didn’t even know why they were cheering him.
Indeed, he had come for them all.
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Just as he comes for us, this year, riding into a situation that is
anything but simple, anything but joyful. This year, because of the
corona virus pandemic, we can’t even assemble for a Palm Sunday
procession into church. Some people are angry about that, defiant.
They believe they are invincible . . . and
they think others should be too. Others are fearful of losing their
jobs, of losing their lives. And still others don’t know what to think.
They just know their world has changed, all in the space of a couple of
weeks. And all they once depended on – the stock market, the
word of their leaders, medical science – all seem to be failing.
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Even so, this year, there will be a parade, a Palm Sunday procession
if you will, and it will be a joyful one, because Jesus is leading it.
Joy happens when God is present – and people know it. You and I,
beloved, are the people in the parade who have known Jesus for years,
and have learned to trust him in every situation. We are the ones
rejoicing because we remember that even before he was born, an angel
whispered in Joseph’s ear, “You shall call his name
Immanuel, which means God with us.” We trust him now because he
has been with us through every situation life has thrown our way.
He is with us now in our isolation. He is with us in our anxiety at
how quickly things have changed. He is with us in the disillusioned
places. He is with us as we mourn those who have died. He is with us
in the heart of suffering.
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Lead on, O King eternal. We follow, not with fears.
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Amen
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