St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
April 10, 2022
Year C: The Sunday of the Passion – Palm Sunday
Luke 19:28-40
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Luke 23:1-49
In a Time of Turmoil, the Faithfulness of Jesus
Today is the most disorienting day of the Christian year.
In fact, today is such a disorienting day that we can’t even settle on just one name.
Instead, we call today “The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.”
Even our worship on this day – usually so orderly and dignified – is kind of disorienting.
Some of us began this day outside, where we heard about the first palm parade in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and then our palms were blessed and distributed.
There was a sense of excitement as we started our parade, singing our songs, waving our palms, shouting “Hosanna!” as we slowly made our way to the church.
There was even a donkey, just like at the first palm parade in Jerusalem long ago.
But then we arrived here in this holy place and the mood quickly changed.
And, maybe before we realized what was happening, a day that started with an almost festive atmosphere ends with death - an unspeakable, and seemingly quite final, loss.
Two thousand years ago, Jerusalem was an occupied city, ruled by the brutal Romans and their various local collaborators, including religious leaders who desperately wanted to keep the peace, or what passed for peace, anyway.
Two thousand years ago, in Jerusalem, it was nearly the Passover, that great Jewish feast recalling God leading God’s people from slavery to freedom, the start of a journey from oppression to the promised land.
Of course, the Romans and their local collaborators were well aware of the festival and its meaning, and were always on high alert during these holy days, ready to crush any uprising, determined to snuff out any would-be kings – or any potential messiahs.
By the time Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, his fellow Jews were so eager for God to act once again – ready for the start of another journey to freedom.
Word had surely gotten around about Jesus of Nazareth – true, he was not quite the messiah that anyone expected – not very much like Moses or King David – but there was no denying the power of his healings and the wisdom of his teaching.
So some thought – hoped – expected - that this Jesus of Nazareth was about to start an uprising that would restore Israel’s independence and greatness.
So, not unlike our little palm parade this morning, there was excitement in the air in Jerusalem that day two thousand years ago.
In a time of turmoil, the people were eager to welcome their king into his capital city.
But then everything seemed to go so terribly wrong.
It’s usually assumed that some of the same people who had welcomed Jesus with waving palms and by placing their cloaks in the road later turned against him and called for his death.
Maybe they were disappointed that Jesus turned out to not be the kind of messiah they thought they wanted or needed, or maybe they were just swept up in the frenzy of the crowd.
We know how that can happen.
Today, in a time of rising anti-Semitism here in our own country and around the world, it’s especially important to make clear that this is not a story of Jews versus Christians.
It’s important to make absolutely clear that “the Jews” of two thousand years ago were not responsible for the death of Jesus and the Jews of today certainly carry no guilt.
The Romans killed Jesus.
Just like so many people in his own time and so many people today, Jesus was a victim of state-sponsored violence.
Besides, looking to cast blame on long-ago people, or their modern day descendants, conveniently lets us off the hook.
On this most disorienting day we draw near to the mysterious heart of our faith: God enters the world in and through Jesus, inviting us to walk in love, and we reject him – over and over we reject him, choosing instead hatred and violence.
And yet, God does not give up on us.
Reflecting on the story of Jesus in Jerusalem in a time of turmoil two thousand years ago, I’m struck by his faithfulness.
We often talk about our faith in Jesus but we should probably talk more about the faith of Jesus.
When the crowds hailed him as he entered his capital city, desperately hoping that he was the king to oust the Romans and their collaborators, Jesus resisted the temptation to give the people what they wanted.
In a time of turmoil, Jesus remained faithful to God’s mission.
And later, when the powers of the world had their way with him, dishing out their worst, Jesus resisted the temptation to fight back, to reveal his divine power.
And near the end, as his life was slipping away, Jesus resisted the temptation to condemn the people who had turned against him, to curse his friends who had abandoned him.
Instead, Jesus endured the suffering, revealing the depths of God’s love.
In a time of turmoil, Jesus remained faithful to God’s mission.
Not unlike the people of Jerusalem two thousand years ago, today we are living in a time of turmoil.
With so many loud and angry voices clamoring all around us, with the shedding of blood close to home and far away, it is tempting to just be like most everybody else – to despise the people who are different, to always put our interests first, to look away from the suffering and despair endured by people from Baltimore to Ukraine, to judge others without mercy.
But, as disciples of Jesus, as the Body of Christ in the world, we are called to walk in love, as Christ loved us.
So, in our own time of turmoil, let’s keep our eyes on faithful Jesus, and, especially during this holy week, together, let’s follow him to the cross, the tomb, and to the new life of Easter.
Amen.
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