WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
April 9th 2006
Palm Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Dangerous Street Theatre”
Mark 11:1-11
I must have been about ten years old when I figured out that I had outgrown Palm Sunday. Being forced to parade into church carrying palm leaves shouting Hosanna was just too embarrassing. After all, I noticed that many adults seemed to be too grown-up to participate in this silly event. I came to the conclusion that Palm Sunday was a nice day for children but was unimportant for the more mature Christian. However, I am learning to be less mature than I was at ten.
If Palm Sunday is only a once a year opportunity to march into the church waving fresh cut greens it really should be done away with. However, I believe there is a richer meaning to the often misunderstood celebration. Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey in a rather well orchestrated piece of street theatre, which kicks off the events which lead to his execution. As we reclaim this rather strange event for the life of the church, it should lead to a deeper appreciation of what happened on Good Friday and Easter. Most importantly, it will dare us to live more faithfully as followers of Jesus.
Some of you might be wondering what does he mean when says that Palm Sunday is street theatre? It is unlike most of our experiences at the theatre. While street theater is often performed outside it is not like going to the MUNY. It is not the sort of performance where you can buy tickets. Street theatre in its purest from is about celebration and about protest. It is a form of live entertainment which invites people to hear a message they might otherwise reject or stop listening to in any other form. In other words, it is designed to show the message not preach one. So how does this relate to our passage? And what makes Palm Sunday dangerous? Let us take a closer look at the passage.
The words which open the passage “When they were approaching Jerusalem…” are meant to draw the listener back to a warning Jesus gave about Jerusalem in chapter ten. In the previous chapter, as Jesus and the disciples began their trek to Jerusalem Jesus said:
See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again. (Mark 10:33-34).
When the disciples first hear these words, they do not respond. It turns out they are too busy fighting about who will have the places of honor next to Jesus. The disciples, busy making preparations for the glory they expected in Jerusalem, were unable to hear this reality. The disciples are expecting military victory while Jesus is trying to prepare them for the outcome of his life and ministry.
Leading up to the Jerusalem entry, Jesus carefully orchestrates this elaborate street theatre. He sends two of his disciples into a nearby village. They are sent with very detailed instructions. The two disciples are told where they will find a colt and how it is tied up. Jesus even makes sure to give them the password should anyone question their actions. None of what happens in this encounter is an accident. Jesus is making sure that no one misunderstands the deeper meanings of this action.
Even the use of a colt has symbolic meaning. This is not just any available colt but one which has never been ridden. This is no accident. It comes strait from the prophet Zechariah who wrote these lines of poetry:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech 9:9)
This passage in Zechariah is a reference to the long awaited messiah. The messiah is the one who will bring an end to the oppression of the people. It is a warning to all those who have taken advantage of the poor that they are about to experience retribution. It was expected that the messiah would bring about military victory. The arrival of the messiah was popularly understood to mean that justice, peace and righteousness will be established through the use of violence.
This elaborate street theatre continues with the people laying their clothing and leafy branches cut from the fields in front of Jesus. In the Old Testament, this was an action which was reserved for kings alone. However, if those who were seeing or hearing this spectacle did not understand the deeper realities it was made most evident in the shouts about this ancestor of David bringing in a new kingdom. For those watching this simple unarmed group heralding a new king and kingdom it might have seemed quite laughable. However, since this was a time of revolution this simple parade could very well have been a risk to national security.
Jesus has carefully orchestrated this messianic street theatre. It is an event which proves cathartic for those who are at the bottom of the economic and political ladder. The crowds were hungry for the long awaited messiah who would make those in authority pay for their abuse of power. So unarmed or not, this theatre, directed by Jesus was too dangerous to tolerate. It could provoke the people to riot or rebel and so something had to be done. As a result this simple street theatre causes the religious and political elite to take notice and to make plans to execute Jesus.
While it is at the end of the week where this becomes more evident, Jesus refuses to participate in the continuing cycle of violence. Jesus prepares the scene so it is undeniable he is claiming to be messiah. Yet, he enters the city without a weapon. When this confrontation comes to a head near the end of the week Jesus again refuses to join in the calls for more violence. Jesus refusal to bring about God’s way through violence no doubt helps ignite the crowd’s calls for his execution on a cross.
The danger of Palm Sunday today is that it gets trapped in two unfortunate interpretations. The first interpretation is that because Jesus refuses to participate in the continuing cycle of violence it means he was apolitical. This is a rejection of the real political implications that come about when Jesus claims the term messiah. As a result following Jesus gets narrowed into the realm of personal spirituality. The second common interpretation has used Jesus claims of messiah as a justification or foundation for the belief that God is pro-violence and pro-war. Both of these options simply miss the greater reality.
Fortunately there is another option. While Jesus does make claims upon the term messiah, he does so in ways that are clearly meant to be different. Jesus is indeed a revolutionary. He is making claims that a new kingdom has come and that the old way of doing things is doomed. However, Jesus is a truly unique revolutionary who rejects the ways of violence and death. But more importantly Jesus does all of this while inviting others to follow in the same way.
This call to discipleship is not easy. Trying to follow this non-violent messiah in a world addicted to violence and death can seem rather ridiculous and even idealistic. However, this is exactly why Palm Sunday is so important for the church. Palm Sunday confronts us with the invitation to join in the radical reenactment of this dangerous street theatre. By participating in this reenactment we come face to face with the ridiculous ways of God embodied in Jesus. And most importantly it is a reminder that we are called to live our lives in the pattern of this non-violent messiah.
So, the next time we are invited to wave a palm branch and shout hosanna, may we not be so mature that we miss out on this dangerous practice which ended with Jesus upon a cross. May this message move us to our feet so we can wave a palm with reckless abandon and shout loudly: “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen.
