Palm / Passion Sunday is always a full day for us at Littlefield. We begin with the liturgy of the palms, including a procession in which we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The service moves toward the story of the crucifixion. It's a powerful service.
We have a brief introduction to put the Passion story into context, and then we hear the story. This year, we heard from Matthew's gospel.
INTRODUCTORY MEDITATION
In a few moments, we are going to hear the story of Christ’s
Passion, as told by Matthew.
The crowds greeted him as the Lord’s
Messiah, with loud hosannas. They were
hoping Jesus would overthrow the Roman oppressors, and the Romans took note.
On the
other side of the city there was another parade. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the
region, was entering the city with his cavalry and foot soldiers, as he did
every Passover. There was often trouble
in Jerusalem around the time of the Passover—a festival that celebrated the
Jewish people’s liberation from an earlier empire. So, the governor would bring in his troops
to reinforce the troops that were permanently stationed near the Temple, as a
show of power and force.
The
peasants in the crowd knew the symbolism from the prophet Zechariah: a new kind of king would be coming to
Jerusalem “humble, and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
In the
prophecy, this king would banish war from the land— no more chariots,
war-horses, or bows. Jesus’s procession was
a counter-demonstration, a contrast to what was happening on the other side
of the city.
Pilate’s
procession embodied the power, glory, and violence of the empire that ruled the
world. Jesus’ procession embodied an
alternative vision-- the kingdom of God.
This contrast— between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Caesar— is
central not only to the gospel story--
to the story of Jesus and the church.
The people
in the crowd who shouted “Hosanna” were half right. Jesus did come as God’s Messiah. But they
didn’t understand what that meant. This was not about “regime change” by
violence, but the love of God poured out upon the world in a way that breaks
down the things we use to separate “us” from “the” and brings us together to be
a community of God’s beloved people.[1]
The
religious and political authorities were also half right. Jesus was a threat. Jesus
is still a threat. He threatens our inclination to define ourselves and others
as “us” and “them.” He threatens our trust in securing our future by hoarding
wealth and power. He threatens our habit of drawing lines and making rules
about who is acceptable and who is not.[2] He
threatens our trust in trying to secure our safety and security by violence.
During Holy
Week, may we be startled and challenged into seeing God’s Reign afresh, as the
subversive, empire-challenging reality that it is.
Following this introduction, we heard
the story of Christ’s Passion, according to the Gospel of Matthew. You can follow this link to read it online:
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+26
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