"Help Us!" A Palm Sunday Sermon

Palm Sunday is a strange day.  We’ve been journeying through Lent, thinking about wandering in the wilderness, deepening our spirituality, rededicating ourselves to God, and all with the knowledge of the inevitable Holy Week—the passion of Christ.  But the beginning of Holy week is today, Palm Sunday…a day of contradictions.  We started our service commemorating Jesus’ triumphal arrival in Jerusalem—he rides in on a donkey, surrounded by people waving branches in tribute and yelling, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  It’s a celebration, a one-man parade, if you will, and we act it out every year, much like a Christmas pageant.

But what is really happening in this story?  Who is this guy, who rides into town on a donkey?  Why are there so many people there to welcome and celebrate him, and what happens during the next week that turns them against him?

Well this is Jesus; a Jewish mystic, a prophet, a teacher, a community organizer and a movement instigator, among other things.   Many people have come to believe that he is the Messiah, the savior they have been waiting for, and they are excited that he has finally come back to Jerusalem to save them.  The problem is, of course, that they don’t understand the way Jesus means to save them.  The Jewish people have been waiting for generations for a Messiah.  They have been oppressed by Egyptians and Romans, and they see no way out of their oppression except a conquering king who will come and save them by being stronger and fiercer than their overlords. 

So, here comes Jesus.   In the three years he spent in active ministry, he certainly convinced many people that he was the Messiah, through healing, teaching, even working miracles.  Perhaps most importantly, he proved he could stand up to people in power.  The problem of course, was that Jesus also kept doing things that were totally unexpected.  Why would the Jewish Messiah spend time teaching Samaritans?  Eating with tax collectors?  And why, now, would the one who is supposed to be the King of the Jews arrive on the back of a donkey?

Let’s start with why he was there.  Jesus was arriving in Jerusalem along with Jews from all over, because it was just before Passover.  People would travel to the temple to make sacrifices of money and animals in preparation for the holiday.  So many people would come to Jerusalem that the Romans would step up their military presence during that week, in order to ensure that things didn’t get out of hand, and also, no doubt, to remind the Jewish people that the Romans were in charge. 

The soldiers would have marched into Jerusalem on big strong horses, wearing shining armor, carrying weapons and shields.  There likely would have been a crowd to watch them arrive—to witness their display of strength and intimidation.  Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Jesus is riding in on a lowly donkey, and he also has a crowd.  His crown is waving branches around, yelling out to him, and celebrating his arrival in hopes of what he might do for them.  One city, two parades.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how I understood Palm Sunday when I was a child.  As you may know, I grew up in Minnesota, so there was no big procession outside…we simply meekly waved our palm leaves in the air during the first hymn and then our children’s choir always sang a song called “Little Gray Donkey Ho,” which, incidentally, has been in my head all week! 

I know, as a child, that I didn’t understand why Jesus was going into Jerusalem, nor did I understand what the crowds were doing or saying in response.  I assumed that Hosanna was a word of praise, especially since we were supposed to say it with gusto: “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  And it was all the more confusing when, just a few days later at the Maundy Thursday service, we learned that Jesus was betrayed both by his friends and the mass of people that Pilate consulted about his fate.

It still doesn’t really make sense, but it helps if we understand what the crowds were really shouting to Jesus as he rode by.  Hosanna does not mean, we love you, or you are amazing…Hosanna means, Help Us!  Save us!  They were begging Jesus as he rode by to help them, to save them from oppression, to be the conquering king of the Jews.

Now, maybe they should have realized when he came in on a donkey that he was not exactly what they had expected.  Jesus was rarely what people expected.  He spoke in metaphors; he turned convention in its head and did things he wasn’t supposed to.  His teachings were often confusing, shaking up what people thought they knew about God and worship and even social norms.  So, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day, he was not just being humble by riding a donkey, he was also saying, “I’m not the king you think I am…” and by extension, “I won’t save you in the way you expect.”

Even going into Jerusalem was a bit unexpected.  Jesus knew that people there were plotting to kill him.  His subversive message was a threat to Roman rule, as well as to the authority of the religious leaders in his own tradition.  He taught people that God could be worshipped anywhere, that they didn’t need to go to the Temple to sacrifice and worship.  He taught people that the only law that really mattered was love.  He taught people that holding on tight to their money, their authority, or their social status would only distract them from true worship and a full life. 

So there he was, riding right into the center of the storm, the city where his enemies were—and not just any old day, but the day that everyone was arriving, including a whole mess of Roman soldiers!  It must have been frightening, but one thing we know about Jesus is that he never shied away from conflict.  He went head first into the fray, standing up to those in power, even when it meant risking his life. 

Now most of us try to avoid conflict, whether in social situations, at work, or with strangers.  Conflict isn’t comfortable, it can be downright scary, and it makes perfect sense that we want to avoid it if at all possible.  But the thing about conflict is that it can also be transformative.  Conflict can lead to better understanding and communication.  Hard conversations can lead to more honest relationships, but it all depends on how you approach it.

In the story of Palm Sunday, Jesus used his arrival into Jerusalem as a teaching moment.  He rode in on a donkey as a sign of humility.  The people wanted him to come as a strong political leader who could free them from oppression.  But that wasn’t who Jesus was.  Instead, he came humbly—not meekly or weakly—but humbly.  He rode straight into the biggest conflict of his life without bravado, without boasting.  Jesus was teaching us that conflict can be transformative when we approach it with humility.

Jesus was not a peacekeeper—someone who strove to make sure everyone around him was comfortable and calm and free of conflict.  He was a peacemaker.  Peacemaking involves hard work.  It’s not always comfortable, in fact, it’s usually the opposite.  Peacemakers seek the truth, even when it’s not pretty, and they enter into situations of conflict with humility and a willingness to struggle.  Peacemaking is a lot harder than peacekeeping, and perhaps that is why it’s so rare.

So Jesus was not the kind of savior the people wanted him to be.  When they cried, “Help us, save us!” They wanted a specific kind of help that he was not there to give, and they were ultimately disappointed.  But Jesus was a savior.  Jesus is a savior.  Jesus saves us by teaching us that we are loved, that we are precious to God, no matter the conflicts in our lives.  Jesus helps us to understand that God is accessible to us no matter where we are, no matter who we are.  Jesus saves us by coming into our lives and hearts when we are most conflicted, riding in with humility and love, and always challenging us to change for the better.

Comments

[MOHINI]

thanks !