Palm Sunday is such a familiar story to many of us; we celebrate it every year, on the Sunday before Easter Day. The image of Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem is one etched into our minds, and we usually approach the day with a mixture of excitement and awe. Excitement that privations of Lent are nearly over, that the biggest week of our year is upon us, that the crowds are cheering Jesus on. And awe, perhaps, too, because we know what comes next, and how quickly the crowd turns. How quickly perhaps we turn, too.
On Palm Sunday Jesus reveals himself as both the Jewish Messiah and the King for the whole world. The donkey is significant, as John’s quotation of Zechariah makes clear: Jesus was proclaiming his humility, but also fulfilling a great prophecy which related to God’s anointed rescuer. That’s why the crowds were excited. The Rescuer was arriving in Jerusalem, just as Zechariah had predicted 500 years ago.
But even as Jesus raises their hopes, he confounds them too. Not just the donkey – prophecy or no prophecy, what sort of king arrives on a donkey? – his first act (not recorded by John, but recorded in the other gospels) is to go into the temple and challenge the materialism and corruption of the biggest festival in the Jewish year.
Jesus came, but not as they expected him to.
And that theme is one which runs through the whole of the gospels. Jesus constantly surprises us. He comes, but not as we expect. Born a King, but not in a palace, rather an animals’ feeding trough. He prefers the company of the disreputable to the respectable. He is rejected by his home town. He challenges the prevailing interpretation of the Sabbath laws. He withdraws whenever popular excitement gets too much. He demonstrates his authority ,but tells people to keep quiet about it.
And then… he arrives in Jerusalem as King, but on a donkey not a stallion. He receives the embrace of the crowd but then challenges their religious practice. He doesn’t even stay in the city, but as Mark records, leaves and spends the nights in Bethany. In our days of PR gurus and image management, no self-respecting adviser would recommend any of these things. What sort of a king is he?
He comes, but not as we expect.
And the good news of this passage is that this is exactly what Jesus does, and still does. He is not an upholder of the religious establishment or the old ways. Jesus is not limited to our buildings or our books. He is always making everything new. His Spirit, like the wind, is wild and free. He is perfectly able to meet with us where we are, to bring us joy in unexpected places, and the peace that transcends understanding. He is with us right now….
Today, let’s approach this extraordinary Saviour with that same mixture of excitement and awe. And may the Lord still come to us in unexpected ways today.