Passion/Palm Sunday
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
The 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!" ...
-- Matthew 21:9
The triumphal entry was a moment in time when some in the world recognized and proclaimed a greater truth than they fully understood. There are moments in time when only praise can speak to a truth that is greater than we fully understand. In entering Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives riding on a donkey, Jesus was fulfilling the words of Zechariah 9:9, "Lo our king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The fact that the journey began from the Mount of Olives also recalled the vision of God's judgment in Zechariah 14:4. Jesus' very entry was a challenge to the authority of Jerusalem under the reign of Rome. Palm Sunday is a political challenge, as well as a religious celebration. It recalls that it is finally God who reigns and that judgment belongs to God. While others may hold power temporarily, they are accountable to a higher power. The challenge for churches is how to proclaim the lordship of God in the form of the servanthood of Christ. Too often the church has pronounced the rule of God in a triumphalistic manner that suggests more arrogance than faithfulness. It is part of the mission of the church to lift up the accountability of the nations to the lordship of God. Our model for doing so, however, is made visible in the Christ who entered Jerusalem to challenge the powers of the world "humble and riding on a donkey...." The theology of the cross is a continuing challenge for the church.
-- Matthew 21:9
The triumphal entry was a moment in time when some in the world recognized and proclaimed a greater truth than they fully understood. There are moments in time when only praise can speak to a truth that is greater than we fully understand. In entering Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives riding on a donkey, Jesus was fulfilling the words of Zechariah 9:9, "Lo our king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The fact that the journey began from the Mount of Olives also recalled the vision of God's judgment in Zechariah 14:4. Jesus' very entry was a challenge to the authority of Jerusalem under the reign of Rome. Palm Sunday is a political challenge, as well as a religious celebration. It recalls that it is finally God who reigns and that judgment belongs to God. While others may hold power temporarily, they are accountable to a higher power. The challenge for churches is how to proclaim the lordship of God in the form of the servanthood of Christ. Too often the church has pronounced the rule of God in a triumphalistic manner that suggests more arrogance than faithfulness. It is part of the mission of the church to lift up the accountability of the nations to the lordship of God. Our model for doing so, however, is made visible in the Christ who entered Jerusalem to challenge the powers of the world "humble and riding on a donkey...." The theology of the cross is a continuing challenge for the church.
