Palm Sunday is a day of both inspiring insight and unhappy misunderstanding, just as it was when Jesus was here. The insight was that Jesus really was "the King who comes in the name of the Lord." However, people misunderstood and thought that Jesus would seize power from Rome, ascend to the throne and liberate Israel. That was not why he was here. Today, the insight is the same. Jesus is King but quite possibly we have misunderstood Palm Sunday itself.
Church traditions have left us with impressions that this is merely a day for waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna,” evoking the notion of a carefree carnival, a blissful and peaceful time. Instead, it was a perilous time for Jesus. Jesus was determined to ride into the risk.
During these festive days, Jerusalem was crowded and combustible. The Roman military was on alert because the Passover season drew vast crowds from all over the ancient world, much as Mecca does today. Normally Jerusalem had a population of about 20,000 to 30,000 people. But at Passover, the Holy City's population swelled by perhaps another 150,000. There may have been 200,000 people in the city. If there was anything extraordinary about Jesus’ arrival on that day, it could spell trouble for him.
Then came this grand entrance. Mounted on a colt, Jesus joined the throng of pilgrims walking and riding into Jerusalem. As Jesus rode down the hill, the crowd swelled in numbers. People lay their cloaks down on the ground so that the donkey walked over them, and spread branches of trees beneath the animal's hooves. Some people waved palm fronds associated with royalty. Some people knew Jesus, and some only knew about him. Some had heard about Jesus and some had never heard of him but even at that moment his identification was being passed from person to person and his procession merged with the Passover mob. “This is Jesus, you know, the one who does all the miracles.”
By weeks end many of these cheering voices would raucously call for his crucifixion. He didn’t need to come here. He came to accomplish a purpose.
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