Good evening all. I hope you are ok. Today is Palm Sunday. As you can see, we have spent it in spiritual contemplation, or er mostly - going to church, reading the papers and then going to the pictures. (The Motive and the Cue - National Theatre. outstanding). For those not in the know, Palm Sunday remembers Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem - well, when I say triumphal - it was on the back of a baby donkey which doesn't exactly bring to mind kings and crowns and Zadok the Priest etc. (Are you keeping up at the back?) It is also the beginning of Holy Week, the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
This is all quite new to me, brought up, as I was in a very non-recognising of "holy" days sort of household. I mean, we were all very keen on the big ones - Christmas, Easter etc. but not anything that could loosely be described as idolatrous or possibly Popeish. (Although £5 goes to the person who can think of anything more idolatrous than the beginning in September run-up to Christmas that we have to live through every year.)
Jesus rode into Jerusalem, on the back of a baby donkey, partly maybe to confound the expectations of people who were looking for a leader with a big sword who was in the mood to prove that the Romans didn't like it up 'em. Then, the people began to wave palm leaves at him. I read this week - Shaine Claiborne I think - that the palm was a political symbol - a sign of the rebellion of the Jews. The people were possibly trying to encourage Jesus into being more of the kind of leader they wanted him to be rather than one bringing profound insights into peace, love, forgiveness and the Grace of God. Either way, these palms did not bode well for Jesus as the Romans were not likely to take kindly to someone being enthusiastically greeted by large crowds waving huge palm-shaped flags of rebellion at him. They definitely had his number at this stage. I hope this is not a spoiler. I read on Twitter this week about a man who went to see Jesus Christ Superstar, who heard a lady whisper "Oh no!" when Judas betrayed Jesus, which made him wonder what she thought was going to happen and where she had been for the last two thousand years. (That may not be true - not everything on the Internet is, apparently)
To return to Palm Sunday. HOH was "on the door" this Sunday and, it was his job to give out palm crosses to people as they left. I thought this was very nice but, as I said, I am quite new to this kind of thing and I was a bit surprised to learn that we are supposed to set fire to them. That probably won't happen in our house as I can barely be trusted to get a pizza out of the oven without setting the smoke alarm off. However, we will be keeping it as a nudge about what this week is leading to. The cross is a potent symbol - evoking all sorts of reactions. We certainly found that out this week, when as part of some thoughts about changing the welcome area someone suggested that a large cross was moved. Blimey! It was only an idea. It wasn't my idea - I have no strong feelings either way but Good Grief. It just struck me as funny how hard people would fight for something like that when, in the tradition, I was brought up in, a physical manifestation of a cross would be considered to be taking away the focus from the Word. Our old church only had a scripture on the wall. Unfortunately, because of the camera angles, a lot of my wedding photos look as if we have the words Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Lift" on the wall.
Despite the waving of political palms at Jesus, the people also shouted Hosanna at him when he entered Jerusalem. This means "Please save us". Nothing has changed really. We are all still looking for salvation. Whether it is the Princess of Wales dealing with joining a club she never applied to and feeling that pang every time she looks at her children and wonders about the future, or the children in the sixth richest economy in the world, sleeping in their coats for warmth and pretending to take a packed lunch to school because of the poverty in their households or whole nations crying out because of war and famine - we still know what it is to feel hopeless and to look for someone to help. Sometimes the solution is beyond us, sometimes our leaders let us down, sometimes the solutions are within us.
In the next week, Jesus was about to prove that (a) he was a Man of Sorrows who was closely acquainted with the grief that we feel (b) he was the God able to save us when nothing else could and (c) he was bringing a salvation that was nothing like the one that people imagined or believed that they needed. Keep an eye out for your salvation from your distress. It may not look like you expect it to.
Have a good Holy Week.
I didn't know that palms were a symbol of rebellion. Hosanha makes a lot more sense as a shout from the crowd when you know. Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't know that 'loolav' was the Hebrew word for date palm, (comes of joining the livestream from church late as usual) so when the vicar encouraged everyone to 'raise their loolavs and wave them' in the first song I was seriously concerned for his health.
Just goes to show that there is still more to learn even after 66 years of Palm Sundays.