LENT 2020: Palm Sunday

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• Sunday, April 5, 2020: Liturgy of the Palms
  Psalm 118.1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21.1-11

     A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
          and others cut branches from the trees
              and spread them on the road.
    The crowds that went ahead of them
          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!”

“Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem is an unmistakable political act,” writes Stanley Hauerwas. “He comes to be acknowledged as king.”

And this is a scene anyone in the first century ancient Near East would recognize — it’s straight out of the Maccabean Revolt. Literally.

Rome would have understood.

The scene is somewhat humorous, though: “Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on asses, but rather they ride on fearsome horses.”

Imagine the scene!

But Hauerwas adds: “This king does not and will not triumph through the force of arms.”

It’s a good story, but it’s important to recognize that Jesus’s triumphal entry does not end well.

For Hauerwas tells us “Those in power know what they must do to protect themselves from one like Jesus. They will not be challenged without a fight.”

And we know what happens just a few days later: Jesus is arrested and executed by the state.