Well, here we are then…

remembering Palm Sunday and on the verge of another Easter…

as our society prepares for yet another secularised, 

commercialised celebration––

one that might as well be known as “the annual Baker’s and Confectioner’s Holiday”.

And, it would be easy to shake our heads and lament the demise of religious consciousness;

and let out an exasperated “tut-tut”… 

when the supermarkets start stocking hot-cross buns and Easter eggs immediately after New Year’s Day…

or advertise “Easter buns” rather than “Hot-cross buns”.

But we do live in a secular society;

one that–– 

for a whole variety of reasons––

no longer senses a need for the Church or for organised religion;

where people of younger generations are, generally, suspicious or sceptical;

they’re intolerant of those who don’t “walk the talk”…

and are turned off by clichés and hype;

and, frankly, they don’t really care why we have this holiday.

They’re just grateful for some time off to spend with their friends and families…

or doing whatever it is that gives their lives meaning.

And none of that is going to change any time soon.

Of course, there will always be those of us who aren’t happy with the secularised, commercialised celebration––

those who think that Easter is important.

There are some who will come to church, simply because that’s what they have always done at Easter;

because, somehow, they feel that they ought to––

like going to visit an awkward old relative for their birthday.

And there will be some for whom the events of the first Easter are central to their faith;

and they’ll continue to celebrate it with feeling.

 

But, let’s face it…

should we really expect a different scenario?

 

After all, the very first Easter was an event that polarised opinions…

and elicited a range of emotions and responses.

Indeed… 

if we leave aside all of the cultural packaging…

all of the embellishment…

and all of the pious exaggeration that we find in the Gospels… 

then, what we’re left with from the accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry…

is someone who divided people’s opinions;

someone who––

everywhere that he went and through everything that he did––

elicited a range of emotions and responses.

Take this morning’s reading… 

Luke’s account of the event that we know as “Palm Sunday”.

Jesus…

riding a young donkey––

that his followers have effectively pilfered from someone’s front yard––

heads towards Jerusalem.

Clearly, the historical Jesus intended it to be a parabolic parody of power and its pretentiousness…

or a biting piece of political satire…

as he mockingly emulated the behaviour of a Roman general or emperor…

returning home in triumph;

or a Roman governor––

like Pontius Pilate––

asserting his power and position as he entered Jerusalem.

Jesus may even have intended his little piece of street-theatre to have been a political protest.

But whether he intended it as a parable…

a parody…

a protest…

or all three…

it demanded some sort of response from those who observed it.

 

Sure, his followers went along with it.

They yelled and sang.

They praised God.

They acclaimed Jesus as king.

And, maybe, some of them understood it as a political parody or protest.

But the author of Luke’s Gospel suggests otherwise. 

Because… 

he specifically notes…

they acclaimed him as king because of “all the deeds of power that they had seen”.

In other words…

they took it quite literally…

and seriously.

Clearly, for them, Jesus was the King that Israel was expecting––

a great and powerful king who would liberate the nation…

throw out all the hated Romans…

and restore its glory.

They were stuck in traditional…

outmoded…

simplistic ways of thinking…

unable to see beyond what they had been told, or had learned, at Sabbath school.

They couldn’t see that Jesus was doing something new and different;

something that didn’t fit their old ways of thinking.

Rather, the disciples saw Jesus as someone who simply confirmed their existing beliefs…

expectations…

and prejudices.

 

Then there were the Pharisees.

They certainly didn’t acclaim Jesus as king!

And while they probably recognised Jesus’ act as a parable, a parody, or a protest…

they certainly didn’t treat it as a joke.

Far from it!

In fact, they were down-right angry at his disciples’ shouts of acclamation;

and, no doubt, they were angry with Jesus, himself, for doing what he did… 

because they perceived it as a threat.

They perceived it as a threat to the stability of the nation.

After all, there had been a couple of small peasant uprisings…

in Judaea…

during the Roman occupation.

And the Romans had dealt with each one of them ruthlessly.

So the Pharisees would have been fearful of reprisals––

even for ‘innocent’ bystanders, such as themselves.

And yet…

they weren’t really innocent bystanders…

or uninvolved spectators. 

After all, why were they there in the first place?

Unlike in the other Gospels––

where Jesus’ actions happen as part of a larger public event––

in Luke’s Gospel, they don’t.

Despite what some of our English translations imply…

there’s no crowd.

Just a bunch of Jesus’ disciples––

who do all of the cheering and acclaiming;

and this small group of Pharisees…

clearly keeping a close eye on them.

And, let’s make no mistake about it…

they would have perceived his piece of street theatre as a personal threat.

After all, the Pharisees were part of the ruling class of Judaea.

Sure, they didn’t like the Romans.

But, at the same time, the Pharisees benefited personally from Roman rule.

It brought security.

It brought them economic prosperity.

The actions of Jesus and his followers threatened all of that.

It threatened their sense of security, their power, and their privilege.

And it was a challenge to their vested interests.

The Pharisees saw Jesus as a dangerous threat to their comfortable way of life.

And, to a large extent, they were right.

 

According to the author of Luke’s Gospel…

Jesus’ actions on so-called ‘Palm Sunday’…

were a direct challenge to the way that we perceive Jesus.

Does he exist simply to confirm our existing beliefs, expectations, traditions, and prejudices?

Or is he a threat to the carefully constructed and managed social structures…

and the beliefs, expectations, traditions, prejudices, and vested interests…

that prop them up?

 

Does not ‘Palm Sunday’ confront us with the same challenges today?

 

Like the disciples…

there are many today who never grow out of their simplistic Sunday School faith;

whose religion is an unquestioning traditionalism;

whose view of the Bible is quite literal;

and who are–– 

deep down–– 

afraid to face the really difficult questions of life;

and who simply use a caricature of Jesus to prop up their particular political ideology…

or the cultural values that they have swallowed uncritically.

And, like the Pharisees, there are many today–– 

when confronted by the demands of Jesus––

feel afraid or threatened…

because they don’t want a God who will disturb them.

They don’t want a God who will come riding into their lives… 

upsetting their sense of order and comfort…

their security and complacency…

their self-interest and way of life.

And let’s make no mistake…

for a lot of us, that’s how our faith––

that’s how our religion––

operates.

 

So…

as we draw near to Jerusalem and another Easter…

we’re confronted yet again… 

with the perturbing and pertinacious parody of Palm Sunday…

which demands from us… 

a response.