The black Baptists of the South are not known for their adherence to a liturgical calendar, but we do know Palm Sunday and Easter. Palm Sunday is the tremor before the earthquake of our resurrection celebration, the birth pangs. Palm Sunday, then, is not the time for the best songs, suits, or dresses. The palms and shouts of hosanna are a preparation for something greater, the acclamation that Christ is risen.
But as the Palm Sundays have stacked one upon the other, more questions linger. What did Jesus want to teach us when he entered Jerusalem astride a donkey to the shouts of hosanna? Did he do it so that we would have a nice liturgical action of palm-waving to entertain the kids on the verge of Eastertide?
Immediately following Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem amid waving palm branches, Matthew, Mark, and Luke record that his next stop is to clear out the Temple. What does the clearing of the Temple have to do with palms and the parade from earlier? Last and most importantly, what do these two events have to say to us as we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in churches divided by race and class?
The Temple and palms do speak with a common voice. They reveal God’s vision for peace between the ethnicities and our reconciliation under the universal kingship of Jesus. To hear that common voice, we must pay close attention to the Scriptures that Jesus uses to interpret his actions on that fateful on the first two days of Holy Week.
Beyond Humility
Palm Sunday begins with Jesus on the outskirts of Jerusalem instructing his disciples to bring him a donkey to ride into the city. The gospel writers make it clear that this royal gesture is a dramatic enactment of Zechariah 9:9. The section quoted in the Gospels says, “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt” (John 12:15). The sign of the king of the universe coming on a donkey’s colt has been the fodder for many hymns, possibly the most famous being the line “Ride on! Ride on in majesty in lowly pomp ride on to die; bow thy meek head to mortal pain, then take, O God, thy power and reign.”
In this reading of Jesus’ actions, Palm Sunday reveals his humility. He is not like other kings who enter cities atop war horses in celebration of bloody victory surrounded by those society deems worthy. He is the humble king who saves by dying for the sins of the world. That Jesus cares for the lowly has long been a source of solace for oppressed people of color. The Messiah becomes the foundation of a restored sense of dignity in a culture that often denied their personhood. This interpretation of Palm Sunday has much to commend it, and I have no intention of unraveling it. I do, however, want to highlight a theme that is often missed.
The first rule for understanding Old Testament citations in the New Testament is to go back to the original context and see how that informs the New Testament’s use of the Old. When we go back and see the wider context of Zechariah 9:9, we observe a focus on the reconciliation of the nations.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zech. 9:9–10, my emphasis)
According to Zechariah, the coming of the Messiah will signal the end of war in Israel. The weapons are put away! Instead of words of violence, the Messiah will speak words of peace to the nations. Stated differently, according to Zechariah 9:9–10, the coming of the Messiah does not involve the destruction of the nations but the extension of blessing to the nations.
The words “from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” in Zechariah 9:10 are drawn from Psalm 72:8. Psalm 72 says that the Abrahamic promises of blessing to the nations will be fulfilled through the just, righteous, and international rule of the Davidic King: “May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed” (Ps. 72:17).
Jesus’ choice of Zechariah 9:9–10, then, says that his coming means God’s plan of bringing blessing to the nations will occur in and through his reign. This reign will be known for peace between Jews and Gentiles and blessings for all. Palm Sunday isn’t just about humility; it also about the expansive kingdom of the Son.
Therefore, we remember Palm Sunday rightly when we remember that God has called the divided peoples of the earth (black, white, Latino, Asian) to peace and reconciliation. This is not anachronism. This is the application of the good news in Christ to the reality of life in our day. We must long to be reconciled to our brother or we miss a crucial aspect of what Palm Sunday teaches.
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Source: Christianity Today
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