Palm Sunday, 2024 - What You Don't See

What you don’t see is the key to understanding the story.

Palm Sunday—the last Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week—recounts the familiar story of how Jesus entered Jerusalem that particular Sunday.

The Passover was possibly the most holy—certainly the most popular—of all the Jewish festivals. Jewish pilgrims from all over flocked into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The celebration was built around the Passover meal. The celebration called for the sacrifice of a lamb that would be roasted and eaten during the meal. It followed a carefully crafted liturgy that recounted how the LORD had delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. Each dish used in the meal was a reminder of something from that experience. As that particular dish was eaten, that part of the story was told. The liturgy was recited in the first person in an effort to make it feel as though they themselves had been there during that first Passover meal.

Emotions ran high during the Passover festival. As the festival celebrated the birth of their nation, it stirred the people’s resentment toward Rome and her domination of their nation. It stirred their desire to throw off the yoke of Rome. This resentment, fueling their desire to escape the boot of Rome on their necks, often spilled over into violent protests and rebellion. In order to deal with this repeated scenario, Rome had built a military garrison—Fortress Antonio—within the city, adjacent to the temple itself. This location allowed a swift response by the Roman soldiers to any protest that got out of hand.

Pilgrims from Galilee were among the crowds flooding into Jerusalem for that particular Passover festival. These pilgrims knew Jesus. They had witnessed his healing miracles. Some would have been among the crowd of 5,000 whom he had fed with five loaves and two fish. They came to the festival, believing Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. That belief carried with it the hope that Jesus would use his power to break Rome’s stranglehold on their nation.

Jesus understood all of these dynamics—the nation’s religious history, the political nature of this religious festival, the resentment toward Rome, the nation’s desire for a military king like David—the Son of David, the Messiah—who would deliver them from their enemies, the beliefs and expectations of the Galilean pilgrims. He used these dynamics to make a statement about himself. That statement was made in the form of a parade.

Jesus designed and orchestrated the parade. He arranged for the donkey on which to ride, including a password that would gain the owner’s release of the donkey. He chose the time—the first day of the week of Passover. He chose the location—the eastern approach to and the Eastern gate into Jerusalem, the primary entrance used by the pilgrims from Galilee. Each of these aspects of his plan was designed to contribute to the statement he was attempting to make.

In choosing to ride a donkey, Jesus drew on the words of the prophet Zechariah.

            Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

            Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

            Lo, your king comes to you;

            triumphant and victorious is he,

            humble and riding on a donkey,

            on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9).

Alluding to this prophetic text, Jesus proclaimed himself to be the Messiah.

The pilgrims from Galilee contributed to his proclamation. Singing the messianic psalm, Psalm 118, they proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah. Using the psalm, they prayed from deliverance—Hosanna!, which means, “save us!” Using their cloaks and palm branches from the trees, they created a “red carpet” for him as Israel had done when Jehu was proclaimed king (2 Kings 9:13). Palm branches were a national symbol, similar to our US flag.

The meaning behind Jesus’s choice of the day, the time of day, and the Eastern gate is found in what you do not see.

Roman history from that period and that region tells us that each year, on the first day of the week of Passover, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate made his way from his residence on the Mediterranean coast to Jerusalem in order to be in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. He would enter Jerusalem through the Western gate of the city, riding a warhorse and leading a military parade. He led a legion of Roman soldiers, reinforcements for the Fortress Antonio in anticipation of political trouble during the festival. The soldiers were dressed in full battle attire—shields, helmets, breastplates, swords, spears. The message of the parade was clear: Roman soldiers would deal swiftly and ruthlessly with any who dared to defy the authority of Rome.

Jesus, too, chose a parade to make a statement. He chose the Eastern gate in contrast to Pilate’s entrance through the Western gate. He chose a donkey in contrast to Pilate’s warhorse. He chose religious pilgrims in contrast to professional soldiers dressed in battle attire.

The heart of Jesus’s message was in the contrast. He did not come as a warrior-king like David who used power to dominate, control, or destroy. He would not use his position or power for his own benefit. Rather, he would use his power on behalf of others. He came to serve. He was a servant king.

The Zechariah text adds clarity to what Jesus said about how he would use power.

            He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

            and the war horse from Jerusalem,

            and the battle bow shall be cut off,

            and he shall command peace to the nations (Zechariah 9:10).

Jesus rejected the way empire uses power—the way of war; the use of power to dominate, control, and destroy.

Because of what we do not see—the military parade entering Jerusalem at the same time, on the same day, on the other side of the city—we often miss what Jesus was saying that day with his parade. Jesus—the long-awaited Messiah—came as a servant. He came to serve, using his power on behalf of others, to address the needs of others. He rejected the way the world uses power—over, down against others, for personal benefit, at the other’s expense—and thus the ways of war.

To be the followers of Jesus is to embrace the way Jesus used power—to serve. It is also to reject—as Jesus did—the way the world uses power. It is to reject the ways of war. As the followers of Jesus we are to be a servant people following a servant king.