Tag Archives: Palm Sunday

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”(Matt. 21:10, NRSV)

Many editorial writers call it a Triumphal Entry. For many Christians, its the familiar story of Palm Sunday. The disciples retrieve a donkey (older versions say “an ass”) and Jesus rides it into the city. The people of Jerusalem come out to see what is happening and as they do, they shout the words of praise from the psalter: “Hosannah in the highest!”. Its a wonderful scene. 

Its celebratory…

Its powerful…

Its….not quite an accurate portrayal of the text.

You see, the Gospel writers agree that there was an entry into the city. And they agree that he came in on a donkey. The festival that was happening was not about Jesus. There was already a festival going on in the city….the Passover feast was happening in the city. Jesus’ entry was not a continuation of the party, but instead, a crashing of the party. He disrupts the city. Don’t believe me? Matthew says “that the whole city was in turmoil”.  This ain’t peaceful or status quo….Its disruptive. 

Its confusing….

Its unnerving….

Its…..even seismic…. yes, literally, the word in used  for turmoil in Matthew translates “to shake”

The city is shaken with the arrival of this Jesus into the city. He disturbs the status quo. Everything Jesus does in this city from this point in the text forward disrupts, disturbs, and destroys the power structures and status keepers of his day. And that’s the Good News…

In the last few weeks we have bore witness to the kind of social unrest and power struggles that topple governments. The fundamental structures of the American experiment and western democracies are being questioned. At the heart of this questioning is where the power is centered. White silence, elite wealth, and unequal policing are a few of the symptoms of a the disease of white supremacy. An old illness, that has been exacerbated by a pandemic, white supremacy is the second oldest disease of western civilization The first is patriarchy. Now, I’m excited that black and brown people have taken their cues from the 1st century Palestinian black man from Nazareth and rode in on their ass-ets of organizing, collaborating, creativity and resistance. 

Protesting is not meant to be peaceful. Its meant to disturb the peace. Disrupt the normative. Undermine the status quo. After all, peaceful doesn’t mean right….it just mean without discord. Some of the most peaceful periods in history were infused with injustice. Do not equate peace with morality….they are not the same thing. #BLM and other groups like it are disturbing the peace and the peaceful.

And for those who make a distinction between peaceful and non peaceful when they see the destruction of property, there is something else interesting in the text. The text says they chopped down palm fronds, (what a mess)! And the disciples even took somebody else’s donkey! They did some damage in their day. Ultimately though, a man would end up dead, due to the actions of the state, and not the city. In our current day, such a display would cause our news media to declare that a peaceful gathering had turned violent….turmoil in the streets.

Ultimately, I hope that we might envision the world as a bit more complex than a false dichotomy of peaceful protest vs. violent resistance. Every protest is meant to disturb the peace. Shake up the norms and unnerve those who have become complacent. If protesting in this vein makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you are in need of disturbance. If you are struggling to understand what is going on, perhaps its time for you to step outside (with a mask on) and see what the turmoil is all about. 

Lets follow the model of our first century forebears and view all who are marching for equality, justice, and liberation from systemic oppression with a hearty “Hosannah! For we are coming to disturb the peace!”