Two
Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday March 29, 2026 – Palm Sunday
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
When I think of Palm Sunday – and I suspect that the same might be true for
many of you – I think of waving branches, of parades up and down the aisle of
the church, of pageantry, of “All glory, laud, and honour / to you, Redeemer,
King; / to whom the lips of children / made sweet hosannas ring.” I think of the event that is usually titled
“Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem” – Jesus riding on a donkey, cushioned
by crowds of people shouting and singing their songs of praise. I think of this event as a celebration, of a
spiritual high to kick off Holy Week.
But if you look closely at what is happening, you might notice that something
more is going on just below the surface.
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
When you look at that verse, the word “turmoil” is translated differently in
different bible translations. The whole
city was in turmoil. The whole city was
stirred up. The whole city was
shaken. The whole city was thrown into
an uproar. All the city was moved. All the city was trembling with excitement.
But if you were to look back to the original Greek, the word used here means
literally shaken. The Greek word here is
the origin to our word seismic. There is
a metaphorical earthquake going on in Jerusalem. The city has been shaken to the very core of
it’s being. The city was shook.
Our bible study peeps know that I don’t usually consider The Message to the
most accurate translation of the original, but in this case, I think that maybe
The Message is the most literally accurate:
“As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, What’s going on
here? Who is this?’”
So maybe, instead of imagining cute children waving their branches and singing
songs of praise while Jesus rides in to the city as the triumphant king, we
might do better to imagine something a little more ominous, a little more
foreboding, a little more fearful.
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
Remember that Jerusalem, and all of the land of Judea, was a country under
occupation. The Emperor off in Rome was
calling the shots, and his army was enforcing the sometimes-arbitrary rules. It was a superficial peace enforced by the
threat of violence – pay your taxes, and don’t put a toe out of line or you’ll
end up on the cross like all those other rabble-rousers and insurrectionists.
We’re also at the time of the Passover – a time when faithful Jewish people
from all around the known world would have journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate
their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and worship at the temple. The population of the city has swollen to two
or three times the usual number of people.
It’s crowded. It’s noisy.
And don’t forget that the festival of Passover celebrates their deliverance
from slavery. Their deliverance from a
cruel empire that had treated them as less than human, and who had governed
through violence. What better time and
place to plot deliverance from the current system of oppression?
The messiah, the saviour that people longed for was one who could deliver them
from Rome and from the oppression of Empire.
Was this the year that their deliverer would arrive?
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
At the time of the Passover, Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, would usually
ride a war horse into Jerusalem in a show of military might and power,
surrounded by legions of soldiers all armed with the most modern weapons, ready
to keep the peace by violence if necessary.
Some people have speculated, have wondered if it is possible that Jesus was
riding his donkey into Jerusalem at the same time as Pilate. What a piece of theatre that would have
been! Here on one side of the city, the
pomp and power of the Empire. And here
on the other side of the city, a lowly donkey, a rag-tag group of followers
from the backwater of Galilee, and people waving branches cut from the nearby
fields. And the people shout out to
Jesus, “Hosanna!” “Save us, Son of
David!”
The Power of Empire, or the Prince of Peace.
Where do you want to put your trust?
Which parade do you want to be in today?
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
I don’t know if you have been following the news this weekend, but yesterday,
millions upon millions of people across the US, across Canada, and around the
world to protest against the power of empire.
And as I watched the news unfold this week, I thought that the timing of
these marches was particularly striking, falling on Palm Sunday Weekend.
On one side, you have the power of Empire – the power to fire missiles and drop
bombs; the power to block the movement of food and fuel; the power to
arbitrarily detain people who are simply trying to live; the power to choose
who lives and who dies.
And on the other side, we have throngs of people gathering together, choosing
the power of non-violent protest. People
carrying signs that read: “Support
Biblical Values: welcome migrants,
believe women, and feed the poor.”
People carrying signs that read:
“Unity in our Community.” People
carrying signs that read: “No kings. No
ice. No war.” People carrying signs that
read: “Democracy is worth protecting.”
The Power of Empire or the Prince of Peace.
Which parade do you want to be in today?
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”
It is fun to wave our branches and sing our favourite Palm Sunday hymns – my
personal favourite is coming up momentarily.
It is fun to kick off Holy Week with a parade. But if we scratch even just a little bit
below the surface, there is a lot more going on than it may seem. There are forces at work in the story that
want to silence Jesus and his message of peace.
There are forces at work in the world today that want to silence Jesus
and his message of peace.
Between now and next Sunday, Jesus is going to go through a lot; and we, as the
church, have a choice. Our mission,
should we choose to accept, is to accompany Jesus to the end of his story, and
then beyond the end of his story to what will come next. We could jump over the messy middle
bits. We could jump straight from
today’s parade to next Sunday’s empty tomb.
Or we can stay with him. We can
stay with him through the tenderness of Thursday’s meal. We can stay with him through the pain and
grief of Friday. We can wait outside the
tomb through the stillness of Saturday.
And then we can be there next Sunday when the stone is rolled away and
resurrection joy replaces the pain.
By choosing to wave our branches and march in the Jesus parade today, choosing
the Prince of Peace over the Power of Empire, can we commit to seeing this
journey through? Can we commit to
keeping our faith strong, even when things seem hopeless, trusting that peace
will eventually overturn empires, and love will defeat death?
Which parade are you marching in today?
“Palm
Sunday”
by Brandon Barr on flickr
Used with Permission
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