Week 6 – March 29 - Love Leans In (Palm Sunday)

Luke 19:28-44

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

And now back to the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus has been heading toward Jerusalem since chapter 9, approaching the city that carried so much meaning and symbolism and hope for the Jewish people. Jerusalem was the physical location of their socio-political-religious life, the holy city where God’s final salvific work would manifest in the Messiah, an earthly ruler who would overthrow the oppressive foreign forces, and once and for all rise up the fully realized Kingdom of God, reigning over all others nations. Jesus has been to Jerusalem before, first when he was dedicated as a baby, and every year with his parents for the Passover. The significance and expectation of this location would not be lost on him. He would know it in his bones, as he now returns for a final time.

Jesus leans into the anticipation that he knows his followers have. But if we know anything about Jesus at this point, he moves in a way that still defies expectations.

As he prepares to enter the city, he tells his disciples to go and get him a colt. If anyone asks, he says, tell them it’s for the Lord. Jesus then sits on the colt and rides into town from the Mount of Olives, directly east of Jerusalem. Triumphant processionals featuring a conquering ruler were not uncommon, and spreading cloaks on the ground was a symbolic act recognizing Jesus as king. Rather than a warhorse, though, Jesus is entering on a young colt (in other gospels it’s specified as a donkey), revealing what kind of king he will truly be. And his disciples are rejoicing. Loudly. They are praising God, declaring Jesus as king, and shouting an echo of the angels’ proclamation at his birth: “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!”

The image Jesus embodies pulls firmly on a thread that runs all the way back to Israel’s ancient prophets. For anyone at all familiar with the words of Zechariah 9:9-10, which would have been most Israelites, it would be impossible not to see the clear connection. And oh, yes, the people do. Especially the Pharisees, who are threatened and afraid of what Jesus’ presence could mean. If he is king, that is a political threat to Rome (which is the legal grounds used to crucify Jesus) and could result in disastrous consequences for the Jewish people. Jesus being king also means that the season of their political and religious power has come to an end. That’s a difficult pill for people with authority to swallow.

So they push back on Jesus and his disciples, telling them to be quiet. But Jesus does not stop, claiming that even if humans are quiet, the earth knows who Jesus is at this point.

In Zechariah, the king will enter Jerusalem, humble on the colt, and will cut off the means of war, and will command peace to the ends of the earth. The angels and then the disciples announce Jesus’ presence in the world and in Jerusalem as a declaration of peace.

Jesus pauses before entering Jerusalem. He looks over the city, and he weeps. He knows that they still will not embrace the peace he brings, and he knows the destruction that will come as a result. Yet he is not angry that people will not accept or believe him. His heart breaks for them and he grieves.

While Luke is writing after the destruction of the Temple in 70ce., Jesus’ words are offered as prophecy. His love will be rejected, but that does not stop him from showing it and living it out anyway, despite what it costs him. This kind of love is not performative, it is prophetic and present, and as we will see, powerful beyond expectation.

What breaks your heart the way love does?
What would it take for you to love even with a broken heart?