Our many years of observing Palm Sunday with the waving of branches and shouts of hosanna have made us so familiar with the story that we have perhaps lost a sense of what is so odd about it. For the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a strange story. We also forget that though all four Gospels tell this story, they don’t each tell it in the same way—for example our reading from Luke for today had no palm branches or ‘hosannas’ most likely because both would have brought into the story nationalistic overtones that Luke was careful to avoid. Also, in Luke, the ’crowds,’ a bunch of previously unknown people, don’t cheer for Jesus, but instead it is his followers, his disciples who cry out in praise.
So, what is so strange about this story? Well, Jesus intentionally riding into Jerusalem on a young unbroken donkey is what is so strange. This was not the normal way to enter Jerusalem. The deliberateness with which Jesus goes about setting up his entry tells us very clearly that he was making a symbolic point. He was trying to communicate something very specific to his disciples, the religious and political leadership, and well, to the whole world. He was saying to his contemporaries and to us that he, Jesus, is the true king and that as king he will not behave as earthly kings behave. He holds true power, and that power is not based on strength, or might, or wealth, or status, or privilege, but instead is power through humility, solidarity with the poor and oppressed, service, and love. It is power that comes not from the center but instead from the margins. It is the power of God.
In Jesus’ world, it is only those with earthly power who process into the cities of the Roman Empire. Generals would process into Rome following successful and violent military campaigns. Pontius Pilate, who normally resided in the much newer city on the coast, Caesarea, would process with full military might into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week to make sure that nothing got out of hand while the city was full of pilgrims. Indeed, Pilate may have processed through another city gate on the very same day Jesus processed in on a humble donkey. It surely would have increased the symbolism of Jesus’ entry if he had synchronized his entrance with Pilate’s. What a contrast that would have made. Pilate on an enormous white stead surrounded by soldiers and Jesus on a small lowly donkey with only his followers to praise him. It would have called to mind for any Jewish person witnessing Jesus’ procession the passage from the prophet Zechariah:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, 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)
Exactly the association Jesus was hoping they would make. There is the false ruler, Pilate, the representative of the occupiers, the one who possesses great worldly power and with whom the rich and powerful align themselves. And here is Jesus, the one who embodies power as God would have power used. A true king in the eyes of God is not one who possesses great worldly wealth, commands great armies, or conquers other nations. A true king in the eyes of God is one who takes their place with those who are suffering, who sees the world from the bottom not the top, whose strength comes from service not military might.
This procession of Jesus would have been a dangerous one at any time of the year, but Jesus, never one to lack courage, times his procession in such a way as to make it as dangerous as possible. Think for a moment about what Passover is remembering. It is the feast in which the Jewish people celebrate a God who led them out of slavery and bondage. Jesus lives in a country occupied by another. The political and revolutionary runs through the entire feast. This is why Pilate would enter the city of Jerusalem with great pomp and circumstance at the beginning of Passover. He wanted to make it very clear to the pilgrims gathered for Passover that Rome was in charge, and they were not so they better not try anything that might cause any trouble. It was a tense and highly charged environment, and Jesus deliberately chooses that moment to stage his symbolic parade.
And of course it makes some Pharisees uncomfortable. As a whole, the Pharisees tried to walk a fine line between open rebellion and total capitulation before Roman authorities. They valued the measure of religious and political freedom Israel had and sought to distinguish themselves from the Romans through personal religious piety but not through political protest. They rightly understood that Jesus was shaking things up and they wanted him to stop. Are we really so different from them? Don’t we all, if we have found a way for things to be good enough for us and our families, want to stop anything that might make things worse, even if we know that things aren’t good enough for everyone? Sure, maybe things could be better, but you know, things could be worse too. And Jesus has a response. “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke 19:40). Some things simply must be said. Sometimes good enough for some is not good enough, especially in God’s kingdom. Some truths simply need shouting aloud.
So, Jesus enters Jerusalem, the city of prophets and martyrs, and the city of earthly power, on a humble donkey with his followers’ cloaks spread on the road in front of him. And he rides not to an earthly throne, but to his arrest, crucifixion and death. He gives us a God’s-eye view of the world from the bottom and not from the top. And Jesus challenges us to see the world from this same viewpoint that we might move from the center to the margins where the poor and the oppressed spend their lives.
And what might this look like for us? Well, first we need to listen to those who are crying out, those who spend their lives on the margins because of the color of their skin, their gender and/or sexual identity, their ethnicity, their immigration status, their educational level, their socio-economic level, their age, their physical or intellectual ableness and the like. What does the world look like for them as they look up from below? Is it good enough? If it isn’t, is that ok? We need to take seriously what they say life is like for them. If you can’t actually get out to meet someone who sees the world from the margins, read a book or watch a documentary. Lots of people are telling their stories if we only have ears to hear. Begin to see the world through God’s eyes in which good enough only for some is not good enough at all.
And then move beyond listening. Volunteer for an organization seeking to help those who are on the margins. Show up to a protest that is shouting out about policies that make it so that life is not good enough for everyone. Vote for politicians who are seeking to make life good enough for everyone, and not simply seeking to make life even better for those for whom life is already far too good.
And yes, when we see the world through God’s eyes and we respond we will move out of our comfort zones, we will decenter ourselves we will find ourselves pushed closer and closer to the margins and further and further from the center. But perhaps we will discover that the margins are exactly where God is, and we will find ourselves exactly where we always needed to be but just didn’t know it. Amen.
