Preview

This is Palm Sunday, the day we preview what is to happen this week leading up to Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

After telling a parable to the crowd at Jericho, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord needs it." Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."- Luke 19:28-40

It has always bothered me that we don't read the above passage from Luke as the Gospel reading on Palm Sunday, but read it before the Gospel, which focuses on the Last Supper and what follows.

So, we start out in with the entry into Jerusalem with all the people assembled along the road to greet the one they hope will lead them out of persecution, and then quickly, the mood changes.

I think I know why we rush through Holy Week in one service, but I don't particularly like it.  I want to spend time thinking about all Jesus forewarned, that this will not end the way they think, that the kingdom he is heralding in is different than earthly kingdoms.

For those who will not attend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, the whole story is presented in today's Gospel, but for the rest of us, I feel we are missing something important.

Why not let the people who come today and then not again until next Sunday feel they have missed something important?

If we ended with the crowd shouting for joy and then suddenly Jesus is missing from the tomb, wouldn't that make us feel like we missed the whole story of his death and resurrection?  To get that, come on Thursday and Friday.

If all we focused on today was the arrival in Jerusalem, we could spend the next few days thinking about how the disciples felt.  They had chosen the right guy to follow, and they were probably wondering how this change of power was to take place. 

Would there be a fight?  Would they need an army?  Would everyone who cheered their arrival rise up?

But when they get to the Passover meal, the shock would set in quickly.  What is this talk about death?

Unfortunately, we know what is to happen, and so we rush to the end of the story, without letting the reality of each event sink in.

Is that what we spent 40 days of Lent preparing for?

When I leave today, I will try to think about those days of hope for a new kingdom, and I will try not to think about Thursday until I get there.  Then, I will let it wash over me with fear and disappointment, until in the garden, I start to understand.

More to come...