Palm Sunday

 

21When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” ⁴This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ⁵“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” ¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

                        The Gospel of Matthew 21:1-11

 

I don’t know where the time goes.  I complained and complained that this winter would never end and suddenly it is Palm Sunday and my mind cries out, “Wait, I haven’t been present enough in Lent!  Do over!  I’m not ready for Holy Week!” But time waits for no one. 

And maybe that is the point.  We are never ready for Holy Week.  We are never ready for the mystery God is presenting to us.  We are never ready to receive grace.  Certainly, if people had had some more time to consider this Jesus fellow and the kinds of things he said, they wouldn’t have been lined up in Jerusalem, waiting to shout Hosanna and throw down their palm leaves.  They would have realized that this man could never be the conquering hero for whom they yearned and that the kingdom he was establishing had little to do with Geography.  But they had little time to think about things.  Suddenly there he was, this mad prophet who performed miracles and spoke as one with authority, on his donkey, riding into the city in humility.  He looked like the embodiment of some frickin Biblical prophecy and that got their blood pumping and their hopes elevated. The haste that brought the crowd that day also facilitated their anger on Thursday when this man they had cheered and for whom they had hoped was arrested and refused to resist.  In the space of a heartbeat, their new found hope was dashed and this filled those folks with anger and confusion.  Which, in true human form, led to their cries of “Crucify him!” on Friday.  If they had had time to think things over, they would have realized that he never gave them reason to think he was going to be a king.  Thus, they might not have been so disappointed on Thursday, which probably would have kept them from the crowd on Friday, screaming for his blood.  Cooler heads might have prevailed, if only there had been more time, had events not piled up so quickly, had the people not been so unprepared.  And the funny thing is, had cooler heads prevailed, Pilate might well have released Christ on Friday, which means no crucifixion, no resurrection, no salvation. 

Maybe the divine plan involves a certain amount of chaotic unbalance.  Maybe grace sneaks up on us.  Maybe we can never be ready for the mystery, prepared for the incarnation, waiting on the revelation of God.  Maybe the agitation that accompanies being surprised helps us to be open to suggestion, to formation, to transformation.  Maybe we are caught off guard every year at Holy Week because that is just as God intends.  Maybe.