Palm Sunday Reflection April 13, 2014
Episcopal Church of the Ascension The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess
The Crowd. And so the Passion of Jesus, the Christ, begins. And we have front row seats as the drama unfolds. Actually, I am mistaken ~ we are not in the audience this morning ~ we have a leading role in how the drama plays out. We are the crowd. Initially, we are part of the cheering throngs that welcome Jesus, joyfully shouting “Hosanna, Hosanna” and waving our palms in the air. Some of us have seen Jesus heal others, even bring Lazarus back from the dead. Some of us, or members of our own family, may have experienced Jesus’ healing touch. And if we have not seen or experienced the miracles ourselves, we have heard eyewitnesses describe them. We welcome Jesus like a king, because we know that he is a king. After all, hasn’t he descended from the line of King David?
But the plot of this Palm Sunday drama twists and turns. Jesus has missed a moment when he might have seized control of the capital from the Romans. He does not “seize the day,” but instead goes silently, and in the days that follow he provides precious time to his adversaries to plan his demise. We are still part of the crowd, and we are waiting for something to happen. But our attention span is short. The next thing we hear is that Jesus is arrested late Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could have fled into the wild hills beyond Jerusalem, but he stayed in the garden. We learn that Jesus’ disciples have deserted him and that the High Priests and the Sanhedrin have accused him of blasphemy.
News spread like wildfire in the incredibly packed city of Jerusalem. When the crowd learns that Pilate has examined Jesus and is about to make a public pronouncement of his judgment against Jesus, we, the crowd, rush to see what will happen. Except now we, the welcoming crowd of Palm Sunday has metamorphosed into a lynch mob. When Pilate offers to release Jesus, we shout, we shout angrily, “Let him be crucified! Let him be crucified!” What has he done, this gentle Jesus? Now the Passion drama will play out – although with a surprise ending. But we get ahead of ourselves.
We ~ you and I ~ we are the Crowd! Why are our loyalties so shallow? Why is our memory so short? Why do we defer so readily to those in power, rather than have the courage to stand up for what is true? We are so fickle, this crowd of ours. And yet in spite of all that, Jesus dies for us. Ponder anew the power of this story.