 |
| from front page of Globe and Mail - Saturday September 28, 2019 |
‘Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples.
“Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said.
As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.
When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” Luke 19:28...40
Those of us who went to Sunday school likely remember this story, told on the Sunday before Easter, before things for Jesus dramatically took a turn for the worse. In this high moment of exaltation, Jesus is front and centre in a parade, with crowds waving palm branches and singing the praises of their long awaited King.
I remember the story for its palm leaves and branches. And I remember Jesus riding on a donkey worshiped like a rock star just days before the crowds turned on him.
The Sunday school teacher likely made reference to how fickle crowds can be, but definitely no mention was made of Palm Sunday's being a protest march. Like the Climate Strike March last Friday which was for the care of God's creation and against our abuse of it, Palm Sunday was for Jesus and his way of peace and against all forms of oppression.
Clearly Christ’s triumphal entry into the holy city was without official sanction. To openly praise someone other than Caesar as King defied the very empire under whose thumb the city of Jerusalem had been crushed, a message reinforced by the many wooden crosses on which other well intentioned liberators had been hung.
No wonder the religious authorities begged Jesus to silence his followers. He was jeopardizing what little they had. But Jesus would not, insisting that had he, the stones themselves would cry out in protest.
Truth has a way of making itself known even when we who know it remain silent.
No doubt this defiance on Jesus’ part hastened his demise. It forced on the holy city into a referendum as to who they would really like to be in charge.
By Thursday, the same crowds who had welcomed Jesus as King on Palm Sunday were, at the authorities bidding, openly declaring: ‘we have no king but Caesar!'
When the status quo is threatened and the people are forced to choose between those in power and Jesus, Jesus rarely wins. Not only then, but in jurisdictions since, even when the majority of the electorate are Christian.
That said, it doesn’t devalue the significance of a parade, whether the one on Palm Sunday or last Friday’s Climate Strike. It does matter when we go public for something better, even if our loyalty proves suspect at times.
Fortunately enough people stuck with Jesus to change things for the better then, and hopefully with God’s help, there will enough people to change things for the better now.
No comments:
Post a Comment