Listening closely to the hymns of Palm Sunday, there’s one theme – among many – that reappears. It can be found the 2nd Apolytikion: “We were buried with you through baptism…and thus by your resurrection, we have been granted immortal life.” The result of this mystical experience is that we, like the children, shout out: “Hosanna!” Many churchgoers understand baptism to simply be a “rite of passage.” Simply put: it’s what you do when you have a baby. But baptism is a life-long process. It’s a voluntary death, which can often be painful. In the end, though, it’s this voluntary death that leads to resurrection. (Reflections on Palm Sunday)
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St. John tells us that five days before Jesus entered into Jerusalem, he finds a young donkey, and, seated upon it, enters into Jerusalem, the Holy City. As he does this, a crowd gathers as if welcoming a king into his royal palace. As they congregate, they grab branches from palm trees and begin to shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
Gathered here today, as Christians 2,000 some years later, we relive this excitement. We become a part of the crowd. We, too, have grabbed our palm branches and we, too, will join in the procession, hoping to welcome Jesus as the king of Jerusalem.
We’ll get caught up in the excitement and forget that Holy Friday is just around the corner. We may struggle, like the disciples, with what this all means. But, that won’t deter us. We’ll rejoice in hearing Jesus say, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; see, your king comes seated on the foal of a donkey.” And we will shout even louder:
Hosanna – Save, now!
But, we can’t forget that Holy Friday is just around the corner. It’s only when we see Palm Sunday in the shadow of Christ’s betrayal, denial, trial, and death that the true meaning is revealed. It’s in this sense that we are reoriented and see what it means to be king, what it means to be “savior,” what it means to shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
Today’s passage starts with Jesus and the disciples in Bethany, the day before Palm Sunday. It starts in the wake of Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Already, we’re on a happy note. With such a beginning, what could go wrong?
In comes Mary with a jar of anointment. She approaches Christ and anoints his feet, and, with her hair, she wipes his feet. This is a sign – a sign that the Holy Spirit is with Jesus. In Christianity, oil and the Spirit are connected. When the chrism oil is used at our baptism, it’s a “seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So, with this anointing now, by Mary, we are reminded of Christ’s anointing at his baptism, and we are reminded that this is God’s “Son, the beloved, in whom he has delighted.”
This is a sign that something big is coming. This is the beginning of a journey. And, so, in our hearts we shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
Knowing that Christ is going to his death, we understand Mary’s anointing of Jesus. We understand the cross is coming. But, to the disciples, as well as to Martha and Mary, it all looks very strange. Jesus’s words make it all sound even stranger to them: “Leave [Mary], so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.”
The way Jesus becomes king is through the cross. Jesus knew this, and he’s gently urging to us remember how it must end: with Christ crucified. For this reason, today we are to shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
In every journey story, there’s an adversary. In the beginning of Jesus’s story, at the beginning of his ministry, his adversary was the satan who tested him in the desert after his baptism. It’s the same in almost every story, the “hero,” if you will, must be shown to be worthy through trials and tribulations. In the “Christ story,” we see the same. Jesus goes into the desert and is faced with three temptations – the same temptations that the Hebrews faced in the desert, the same temptations that we face in our lives now.
In the Palm Sunday story, it’s no different. Jesus is anointed and, immediately, he faces temptation. Judas, without missing a beat, challenges the entire journey. “Why isn’t this perfume oil sold and the money given to the poor?” It’s as if he asking whether this journey – a painful journey – is really necessary. If Jesus wants to help people, shouldn’t he simply sell this perfumed oil and give the money away?
But, Jesus again comes through the trial. Yes, this journey is necessary. And when it’s all said and done, we’ll shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
So, Jesus continues his way into Jerusalem. Every journey is into the unknown – into chaos. Here, in this story, Jerusalem is that very chaos. We often think of Jerusalem as the Holy City, but here it functions much differently.
Jerusalem was the city of the kings, the very people who turned away from God to worship foreign idols. The very people who didn’t care for the poor, the widowed, or the orphaned – the most vulnerable of society. Jerusalem had represented a leadership that ended in disaster: in exile.
Jerusalem, in Jesus’s time, continued to be a city that failed to demonstrate God’s love and mercy to the people. It failed to reach out to all the nations. It failed to be the light in the darkness. For this reason, Jesus had harsh things to say about Jerusalem and its temple.
So this journey, on Palm Sunday, isn’t into a Holy City, but into the belly of the whale. It’s into the chaos of destruction to go face-to-face with corrupt powers. It’s actually the story of Holy Friday. Jesus going down into the bowels of death. It’s about Jesus entering enemy territory to find victory.
It’s Jesus confronting the enemy so that we can shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
So, today’s scriptural story is much more than a parade of people with palm branches. It’s the story of how God confronts true evil in the world. And, as baptized Christians, we are called to join Christ on the same journey.
In baptism, we are united to Christ in his death, and, when we come up out of the waters, we are united to Christ in his resurrection. But this isn’t a simple rite of passage – what parents do when they have kids. Rather, it’s roadmap for our own spiritual journeys. We are called to be baptized, every day. We are called die with Christ, every day. We are called to confront our spiritual struggles and journey, with Christ, to Jerusalem. Having done so, we are united to Christ and rise with him. We reborn so that we can shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
Through our chrismation, we too are anointed and we know that we are “sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit lives in us, helping us on the way. But, each of us, are still called to journey to Jerusalem, into the belly of the whale.
For each of us, the enemy presents itself differently. The enemy may be alcoholism or drugs. It may be anger or pride. It may be control or envy. It may be depression or jealousy. Perhaps, it’s gluttony or gossip. All of our demons are different.
But we are called to confront that enemy. This is our spiritual journey, our path to Jerusalem. For each of us, it’s a lifelong journey. And, yes, in the end, we may be crucified before we can shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
Even if our enemy does its worst. Even if our struggle ends in death. It does not matter. This is the story of Lazarus and Palm Sunday. This is the story of Good Friday. This is the story of Resurrection Sunday. Only when we struggle and voluntarily journey to Jerusalem with Christ, confront our enemy, and let it do it’s worst to us, can we be transformed and reborn.
Journeying to Jerusalem and uniting ourselves to Christ, the tomb becomes a womb, and we can eternally shout:
Hosanna – Save, now!
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