Palm Sunday Homily, 28th March, Sylvia Parrett
Luke 19: 28-40
We have just walked along the road waving our palm crosses, singing hymns of praise, accompanied by Biscuit the donkey. And the hymns included glory and praises as well as Hosanna meaning 'praise the Lord'. And we do this each year. Why?
It is both a commemoration and a celebration – a procession copying Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem around 2,000 years ago. It happened towards the very end of Jesus' 3 years of ministry – preaching, teaching and healing the sick. Jesus made arrangements for the donkey – no offence Biscuit – but a lowly beast of burden, and his followers really thought it was to be a procession of triumph leading to his triumph in Jerusalem.
Jesus deliberately chose the donkey, although in Luke's gospel that we have just heard read, it is recorded as a colt, to show to everyone that he was coming in peace.
The route they took was hot and dusty as they climbed from Bethany and Bethphage on the Jericho side of the Mount of Olives. I haven't been there, but my guide book says it is about 20 minutes walk from Bethany to the top and then 20 minutes down to the city of Jerusalem – so it was undoubtedly hard work. Our route has been very much easier – shorter, flat and with a smooth road surface.
Whenever pilgrims walked this route to Jerusalem they always sang Psalm 118 which begins and ends with the words 'O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever'. It was part of the Passover ritual each year. They were full of praise and joy believing that their Messiah would be recognised as such by everyone.
But for Jesus it was different – he knew, and we know – because we know how the story continued – that it wasn't to end in Jesus' glorification as their king in Jerusalem but would lead instead to his salvation for the whole world through his passion, death, and resurrection.
The thing is that we followed the donkey along the road – Biscuit acting as a symbol for Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus followed the road knowing what was in store for him. Do we, mere mortals, follow him, not knowing what is in store for us? Or are we only happy to follow him when everything is going well? When the road gets rocky and hard many people want to give up as followers of Christ, but we know that Jesus will always be there, walking alongside us, however bad the situation – to comfort and support. This is our challenge – to follow Jesus' road whether rough or smooth. Elsewhere, in John's gospel (John 12:26) Jesus says 'whoever serves me must follow me'. As we have followed Biscuit this morning are we prepared for the rough and the smooth, as we put our lives in his hands? Amen
Sylvia Parrett