We have listened
to this story so many times, replayed the events, taken the images to our
hearts !
This entry into Jerusalem,
the city of peace, would have presented an extraordinary temptation to
any mortal man. He fulfilled the prophecies, He entered, riding a donkey,
the symbol and symptom of peace, and the rule of God. Yet the city itself
was ready for a more violent, if less profound revolution. The city leaders
knew this and spoke with him about it. Right there, he could have taken
over the city - and perhaps the world, for all we know. No agony in the
garden, no bloody sweat, no crucifixion.
What a dilemma !
The people shouting,
calling out, dancing in the streets, recalling the glory days of King David,
and our Lord, knowing himself Lord, Lord even in the sense in which they
meant it, knowing that if the people said nothing the very stones themselves
would cry out. And yet, and yet, the sense in which they meant it, meant
death, blood in the streets, one person lording it over another, one people
murdering another.
For he was fullfilling
the inner meaning, not just of the prophecies, but of their heart. The
Kingdom of God is not just show. The King riding the donkey was not just
a symbol to provoke an uprising, but the inner message of Kingship itself.
Royalty, wisdom, healing, - and - later in the Temple, the violence of
purging. This is a message about government, and about government of self.
Jesus journey begins
with his weeping over Jerusalem and his foretelling of terrible grief to
come.
And when he was come
near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Saying, If
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things [which
belong] unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
This is the physical
fulfillment of his Temptation in the wilderness, when he was offered the
Kingdoms of this World. His people welcome him with open hearts and arms,
and wild cries of joy, but his rejection of that temptation to become the
Earthly King, will lead to betrayal, scourging and a crown of thorns.
This is the real Kingdom,
the real Power, and the real Glory. It is a choice that will also
lead to the Resurrection and Ascension, and to the presence of his inexorable
gentleness in our lives near two thousand years later. If we are
lucky he will change our minds, our hearts, our souls and our expectations
as He once purged the Temple. As we are transformed into a House
of Prayer, instead of a house of commerce, so we become powerful agents
of change, and even of a deeper revolution, a deeper freedom in the world
about us.
With His Blessing,
let us too cry, Come Lord Jesus !
Hosanna to the
Son of David,
Blessed is he
who comes
in the name of
the Lord !
