 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Monday, April 3, 2023 Palm Sunday that was   Palm/Passion Sunday Far from being just a “parade,” Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was a political and religious protest. While the widely hated Pilate entered Jerusalem through the west gate riding a Roman war horse, Jesus and the crowd entered through the east gate – and he deliberately rode a donkey – as King David had done before him. Remember Matthew: “This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey…’ Kingship is defined by Jesus. The coming Kingdom of God is not anything like any of the kingdoms of this world. Pilate had another sort of kingdom on his mind. Everybody knew what Jesus was doing, and he did, too. When they sang, “hosanna!” and threw down their cloaks and their palms, they were calling on God to deliver them again – not just as God had done in Egypt, but then – there – from the despised Romans. They were right to sing. But they didn’t understand. Not even his friends really understood yet what the freedom God was bringing would look like or that even the Romans would be included in it: the real enemy being the power of Sin and death that held even the emperor in its grip.   |
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