Palm
Sunday—A Day of Passion
Palm
Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, [begins] the week during which we
hear again the familiar
story of Jesus’ passion. Usually when
we talk about the passion of Jesus we mean the suffering of Jesus.
But what if for today we could suspend that association and consider
instead what Jesus was passionate about.
Jesus looked around at the world of his day and he could not rest with
the way things were. He dreamt of a world of justice and peace and mercy
in which all people could flourish. He called it the Kingdom of God and
to it he committed his heart and mind and soul.
There were two parades in Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday. From the
west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, led a column of well-groomed
horses carrying armored Roman soldiers. It was a procession proclaiming
the might of the powers that be, there to ensure the security of the
city during festival time of the Jewish Passover.
And from the east, Jesus, riding on a donkey, led a ragtag procession
of peasants. According to Jesus scholars Marcus Borg and John Dominic
Crossan, these two processions were the embodiment of “the central
conflict that led to Jesus’s execution.”* A “counter-procession,” if
you will, a political demonstration, an intentional insult to the procession
on the other side of the city. Business as usual versus the Kingdom of
God: the entire story of God’s longing for the world collapsed
into that one moment.
It is unlikely that any of us will ever be nailed to a cross. But every
one of us is called to be passionate about something, to care enough
to be curious about the possible and discontent with the probable. Jesus
lived his passion for an alternative world, and it cost him his very
life. Are any of us willing to risk even a little bit of our comfort
or security or privilege for the sake of our passion?
“Two processions entered Jerusalem on that day. The same question, the
same alternative, faces those who would be faithful to Jesus today. Which
procession are we in? Which procession do we want to be in? This is the
question of Palm Sunday and of the week that is about to unfold.” (Borg & Crossan,
p. 30)
— The Rev. Eyleen Farmer
Copyright ©2006 Calvary Episcopal Church. From a sermon preached
on April 9, 2006, The Sunday of The Passion, Palm Sunday
*The Last Week, Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan, p.2