The Blessings of the Coming Realm (of David or God?) —Lectionary Reflection for Palm Sunday (Mark 11)

Mark 11:1-11 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵ some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They told them what Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!

    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

¹⁰     Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹ Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

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                Palm Sunday could be considered a bait-and-switch experience. We celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people welcome him, according to the Gospels, with shouts of praise. There are not many Palm Sunday hymns, but they all invite us to celebrate the moment while hinting at what is to come. Consider the classic Palm Sunday hymn “Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!” that closes with the words “Ride on! Ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die; bow they meek head to mortal pain; then take, O God, thy power, and reign” [Glory to God, #198]. Yes, Jesus rides into Jerusalem in majesty, with the people shouting hosanna and spreading their cloaks in front of him as he rides his donkey into the city. However, whatever realm will emerge from this triumphal entry won’t fit with the expectations of many in that crowd who were hoping for a king like David. A realm will emerge, but it will not be quite different, for as the hymn suggests, the realm of God emerges from Jesus’ suffering and death.

                Those of us who have experienced year after year of Palm Sundays, especially if we have been called to preach, know that Palm Sunday is problematic. Some will skip it altogether and simply jump to Good Friday in the form of Passion Sunday. After all, most Mainline Protestants don’t have a strong attachment to Good Friday services. So, it might be worth focusing on the cross on the Sunday before Easter, so we get the proper context for our Easter celebration. Nevertheless, Holy Week begins with Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem with a crowd hailing him as the blessed one who comes in the name of God, and with it the hope of the restoration of David’s kingdom.

                The fact that the triumphal entry appears in all four Gospels suggests that for the early church, this is an important moment in the story of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is also linked to the observance of Passover, such that when Jesus headed into Jerusalem, he did so as a pilgrim accompanied by other pilgrims who came to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the holiest seasons in Jewish life. You can imagine the sense of excitement in the air as people gathered in different parts of the city to celebrate the story of God’s act of liberation that led to the people of Israel leaving slavery for life in the Promised Land. One of the places in the city that these pilgrims would want to visit was the Temple, a sacred space that serves as a point of conflict between Jesus and the religious and political leadership. Our reading ends with Jesus’ quick visit to the Temple before he heads back to the nearby village of Bethany where he was staying.

                Mark’s version of the story of the triumphal entry begins with Jesus and his disciples heading toward the city from a place near the villages of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. When they reached a spot near the Mount of Olives outside the city, Jesus sent two of his disciples to a nearby village to fetch a colt that had never been ridden and that was tied up in the village. Jesus told the disciples that if anyone asked what they were doing they should simply tell the questioners that “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” These instructions suggest that Jesus' entry into the city was not a casual event, but had been well-planned in advance. That suggests that Jesus knew what he was doing and what the outcome of his actions would be. It does appear that from this point on Jesus was seeking to provoke a response, knowing that response likely led to his death, a death that Mark has been hinting at several points in the story leading up to this moment.

                When the disciples brought the colt to Jesus his disciples threw their cloaks on it and Jesus sat on the colt. As he rode this animal into the city, people began to spread leafy branches (palm branches are not mentioned here, though palm branches appear in John’s version) on the ground before Jesus. People went ahead of Jesus and followed from behind, creating a parade of sorts. They shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  This salute to Jesus is an adaptation of Psalm 118:26. The declaration found here serves as a reminder that many people misunderstood Jesus’ mission. As for Mark, Ron Allen and Clark Williamson note, he “did not envision a Davidic political state but the cosmic divine realm. Jesus supersedes David (12:35-37)” [Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, p. 118].

                As we read this passage it is easy to envision this being a spontaneous event. Jesus just happens to ride into the city on a colt. The people see him doing this and they begin to hail him as the blessed one who will restore David’s kingdom. But, if we pay closer attention to the story, we begin to see that this event is well-planned and probably provocative. We’ve already noted that Jesus sent two disciples to fetch the animal on which he would ride into the city. We would be wise to assume that Jesus would know of Zechariah’s prophetic message that spoke of something like this happening:

 ⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

    Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you;

    triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰ He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

    and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

    and he shall command peace to the nations;

his dominion shall be from sea to sea

    and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zech. 9:9-10)

Mark, unlike John and Matthew, doesn’t include Zechariah’s words, but if we read Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in light of these words, then we can see how the people might see his entrance on a colt/donkey as an intentional reenactment of Zechariah’s declaration. There would be no war horses, no army, no battle bows. Yet, he would command peace to the nations.  Besides the word from Zechariah in the background, might we also consider whether Jesus’ disciples, knowing this passage from Zechariah, also began the chant, shouting Hosanna?

                Suggesting that Jesus might have set all of this up might seem sacrilegious, but as the Gospels share the overall story of Jesus, they portray him as being in command of events. There are times and places where he’s caught off guard, but when it comes to big events, especially provocative ones, he seems to know what he’s doing. When he enters Jerusalem, riding on a colt, with the people hailing him as the blessed one, assuming that he’s about to claim David’s throne, you know that the authorities in Jerusalem wouldn’t be happy with this. Neither would the Roman overlords be happy with such provocative actions, especially during Passover, a season that celebrates liberation from slavery. While the colt might not seem to be a symbol of power, such as the war horse that Pilate would have ridden into the city, perhaps at the same moment but through a different gate, the word of Zechariah overrides our initial perceptions.  Yes, “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

                Since the Temple will emerge as an important focal point for what is about to take place, we need to take note of Mark’s brief reference to the endpoint of Jesus’ “triumphal entry.” Mark tells us that Jesus went into the Temple and then headed back to Bethany. It seems somewhat anti-climactic. Surely Jesus, having created such a commotion with this entrance into the city is going to do something dramatic. Yet, all he does is stick his head into the Temple and then go back to where he was staying, perhaps for an evening meal. Matthew’s version pictures Jesus doing something dramatic, as he places the cleansing of the Temple immediately after Jesus enters the city. Then and only then does Jesus return to Bethany (Mt. 21:1-17). In Mark’s telling of the story, which most scholars assume Matthew used to write his Gospel, Jesus returns the next day and cleanses the Temple (Mk. 11:15-19). Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if the cleansing of the Temple happens on day 1 or day 2, in either case, Jesus pushes the buttons of the leadership in Jerusalem.

                As we ponder this Palm Sunday Gospel reading, recognizing that initial perceptions on the part of many of the people in the crowd were wrong, this might be an appropriate reading for this moment in time. Consider the many Christians in the United States and elsewhere (consider Putin’s Russia or Orban’s Hungary) who feel oppressed because they believe they are losing power. So, they embrace forms of Christian nationalism that include authoritarianism in the name of Jesus. There is fear of diversity, especially religious diversity, that might undermine the Christian hegemony in America. When we ask God to bless America, are we thinking of the “Christian God” who will shower blessings on Christians, and Christians alone? It has been said that in most of our churches, it would be easier to remove the cross than the American flag.

                So, what kind of realm does Jesus promise to bring into existence? Is it one that looks a lot like the Christian nationalism many seek to institute in our country and elsewhere? Or is it a cosmic realm that transcends our earthly governments, a realm that is revealed through the cross of Good Friday? Yes, Easter will come, but not before Jesus suffers the indignities of death on the cross. So, as the third stanza of Thomas Troeger’s hymn “A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd” states: “Lest we be fooled because our hearts have surged with passing praise, remind us, God, as this week starts where Christ has fixed his gaze” [Glory to God, #200]