CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: It's Not About the Palm!

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

The ways in which we have been asked to step back, settle in, stand down and stay home are in high contrast to how on the move Jesus was during the days leading up to his betrayal, torture and execution. In the days and nights before Jesus washed the feet of his friends, he was constantly surrounded by friends and enemies as he moved around the hills of Jerusalem, walking from one side of the Kidron Valley to the other. Over the course of his last days, he moved from Bethphage to Jerusalem back to Bethany back to Jerusalem, staying with various friends. Finally, he moves through the crowded streets of Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa – the Way of Sorrows. No staying safe at home or shelter in place for Jesus.

As our own cities are coming almost to a standstill, as plans for large gatherings for Easter services and Easter dinners are cancelled, what can Jesus of Holy Week tell us about our own walk in faith? As orders for palms and Easter lilies are cancelled, how might we find our way through Holy Week in a different way?

Well, first of all, Jesus knew – even if the crowds didn’t – it is not about the palms!

Jesus knows, even if we tend to forget, that it’s not about the palms. No matter how much we love those outward signs and liturgical processions, it’s not about the palms or the parade. No matter how we yearn for those tangible elements to be placed in the palms of our hands – it’s not about the palms! It’s about what we hold in our hearts and how we find different but also real ways to hold hands in the storm. Holy Week more than ever is about the inward journey of walking with Jesus, no matter what is stripped away.

Second, Holy Week reminds us how quickly things go from good to bad, from normal to unprecedented. Holy Week tells us don’t be surprised when cheering crowds turn into jeering mobs. When people who once sung out blessings morph into the ones hurling curses. Holy Week tells us don’t be surprised when markets crash and our “position” in the world is upended. Holy Week reminds us what we try to minimize most of the time: There are times when things will get worse before they get better.

This pandemic is likely to get worse before things get better. This particular Holy Week reminds us that some of our most essential work is to accept our mortality and to be prepared for a holy death whenever it may come.

There is also good news in Holy Week for these particular weeks and months ahead. There is good news for us in how Jesus was prepared to go where others could not. Holy Week reminds there were places the disciples could not go, but Jesus could. There was work the disciples could not do, but Jesus could.

Holy Week reminds us that Jesus goes places we can’t go to do the things we cannot do. Jesus goes through hell to bring us heaven. Jesus dies nailed to the cross that we might be free from the power of death. No pandemic will stop the real presence of Jesus from embracing us with love –even from the hard wood of the cross.

So: It’s not about the palms this Holy Week. But it is still all about Jesus. Things are going to get worse before they get better. But Holy Week is only Holy because we know we are guaranteed to meet on the other side of whatever this life throws at us. Jesus will pull us through to the other side of this and every adversity. Jesus goes where we can’t go and does what we can’t do. Such knowledge frees us to focus on what we can do as well as accept our limitations. As we pray in our evening prayers, we know that Jesus will “tend the sick…. give rest the weary, bless the dying, sooth the suffering, pity the afflicted and shield the joyous” and where he is, there will we be also.