Message: Two Processions / Luke 19:28-40

Today is Palm Sunday.  It is the day when we remember how Jesus entered Jerusalem. It is the beginning of Holy Week, a time for remembering, reflecting, and walking in Jesus’ way to the cross.

When Jesus came near Jerusalem, many people celebrated his arrival. They laid their cloaks on the road and waved branches in the air, shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"

It was a beautiful scene, but this story is more than just a celebration. It invites us to look deeper, revealing that there are different ways of walking through this world.

Biblical scholars suggest that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, would enter Jerusalem during Passover. He came from the west, in the direction of the Roman administrative centre, in a grand procession with chariots, soldiers, and golden eagles on poles. The air was filled with the sound of marching feet, creaking leather, clinking bridles, and the beat of drums, a powerful display of strength.

Passover was a Jewish festival that celebrated God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. For the Roman Empire, this festival was a time of risk. Crowds of Jewish pilgrims filled the city, and the memory of freedom was strong among them. Pilate’s procession was designed to send a clear message: Rome was in control. Any attempt to challenge their authority would be met with force.

While Pilate entered from the west, Jesus approached Jerusalem from the east. His procession looked very different. Jesus came not on a war horse, but on a young donkey. He came not with soldiers, but with ordinary people who had followed him along dusty roads. He came not with weapons, but with a heart of compassion. He came not to dominate, but to love. His entrance was not a parade of fear, but a procession of hope.

On Palm Sunday, this Gospel story asks us: which procession will we join? The world still puts on many parades like Pilate’s. We still hear messages telling us that peace comes from weapons, success comes from victory over others, and salvation comes from wealth and power. These values are not new; they have shaped human history in every generation.

But Jesus offers us another way, the way of courage, humility, and love. Jesus invites us to follow him not through displays of force, but through acts of compassion and justice. Jesus calls us to let go of arrogance and violence. Jesus shows us how to trust in the power of God’s love even when it looks weak in the eyes of the world.

In Luke’s Gospel, some Pharisees told Jesus to quiet his disciples. But Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” The truth of God’s kingdom cannot be silenced. Nothing can silence the voices of those who long for God’s mercy.

This past Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian executed on April 9, 1945, at the age of 39. From early on, Bonhoeffer was recognized as a gifted and promising theologian. But he could not remain silent in the face of the injustice of the Nazi regime.

Bonhoeffer once said, “If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I cannot, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” He chose to join the procession of Jesus, not Pilate’s march. That choice led him to resist Hitler, and in the end, it cost him his life.

For Bonhoeffer, faith was never passive. It was an adventure, an act of courage, throwing oneself into the arms of God. But that did not mean doing nothing. With bold conviction, he declared that Jesus Christ alone is the true King. No one else can take his place.

Just days before his execution, Bonhoeffer prayed with these words:

“O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to you, I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with you there is light.
I am lonely, but you do not desert me.
My courage fails me, but with you there is help.
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience.
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
Father in Heaven, praise and thanks be to you for the night. Amen.”

Palm Sunday reminds us that the way of Jesus does not always appear impressive in the eyes of the world. It may seem small, vulnerable, or even foolish. Yet it is the way that leads to life. It is the way that brings hope to those who feel forgotten. It is the way that restores what is broken and brings peace where there is division. It is the way that leads us to true joy because we do not walk alone: we walk with Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ procession to Jerusalem was not easy. The journey led to Golgotha, through suffering and loss. But the story does not end there. Beyond the cross, there was resurrection.

May the hope of Christ go with us in this Holy Week, as we walk in the way of Jesus and join the procession of the kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God. Amen.


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