Palm Sunday homily: The messiah of peace

We are Each Other’s Bread and Wine
no. 2

Eichenberg's Lord's Supper (small)by Abbot John Klassen
Saint John’s Abbey
Collegeville, Minnesota, April 27, 2008

 

For a long time I have puzzled about the detailed instructions Jesus gives to his disciples regarding the colt he is to ride into Jerusalem.  In the Gospels, Jesus is not an arranger; he is always moving and speaking on the fly. But in this instance, he has set this all up. He’s taking pains to stage this event, to send a particular message.

Unlike the rest of his passion, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is his own initiative. It is a symbolic action at Passover time, when Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims, that manifests the meaning of his life and mission. This symbolic action is also a final plea to the religious authorities who have already decided to condemn him to death after the raising of Lazarus.

Earlier, Jesus had arranged for the colt he would ride into Jerusalem when he gave two of his disciples travel directions and told them the password they would need to use:  “The master has need of it.” The choice of a donkey was not simply to give an example of humility, as Zechariah suggests. The donkey was a noble beast in Jesus’ day, used by royalty on missions of peace.

The horse was the messenger of war. Jesus comes as King of peace, love, and forgiveness, the King of compassion, who weeps for his beloved Jerusalem as it comes into view. The Jews would certainly recognize the significance of Jesus riding a donkey — it is a declaration that he is a Messiah of peace.

The passage from Zechariah reads this way (and I am using a more complete set of verses):

Lo, your king comes to you;
a just savior is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,
and the warhorse from Jerusalem;
and the warrior’s bow shall be cut off,
and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. [Zech. 9.9 – 10b] 

To banish horses from Jerusalem, and the chariots from Ephraim, and to cut off the bow of war: this is a call to disarm.

The passion narrative from Luke’s Gospel includes getting into the debate as to who among them is the greatest. Jesus is very clear with them that he is a nonviolent servant in their midst. Jesus prays for Simon Peter that his faith may not fail. When they get to the Garden of Gethsemane, he again urges his disciples to pray not to have to undergo the test, what is translated in the Our Father as “Lead us not into temptation.” Jesus prays with incredible intensity to be delivered from this cup.

Twice Jesus repudiates the use of a sword and heals the servant who is harmed. He forgives the repentant thief and promises Paradise to him. He asks the Father to forgive those who put him to death, for they know not what they do. Truly, in Luke’s Gospel Jesus is a Messiah of peace, of compassion, and forgiveness.

At this time in our history and in this Holy Week, it seems fitting to hear the message of Jesus anew, and to pay special attention to this call to disarm. I don’t pretend to know the full implications of what this means, but as Americans, our love affair with guns and force hurts us in ways we seem unable to grasp.

Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are celebrating, through symbols of bread and wine,

Jesus’ loving gift of himself and his life for us. God as Trinity continually invites us to come to communion, to be in communion with God and each other. God invites us into the mystery of Eucharist to strengthen us for discipleship, for service to the Gospel. May we always know that we serve a Messiah of peace.