Since the Roman Catholic Church's revision of its lectionary (schedule of readings for services), the Sunday before Easter, known as Palm Sunday, has both the account of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (you can read it here) and St. Matthew's account of the Passion (read it along with the other readings here). Many other Western denominations followed suit, presenting a very complex fabric for the listener to process.
Before this, Christians were expected to show up for all the Holy Week services showcasing the last week of Jesus' ministry in Judea. Sunday was spent on the triumphal entry, Monday the "Cleansing of the Temple," Tuesday the confrontation with the religious/political establishment (there was NO separation of secular and sacred in Judea at that time), Wednesday the betrayal, Thursday the Last Supper, Friday the Passion, and Saturday Jesus among the dead, with the triumph of the Resurrection on Sunday.
That progression is still in force, but this Sunday has changed. With the new rules we catapult the listener from the triumphal entry right to the Passion with very little lead up. The contrast is jarring. The slow burn of Holy Week is replaced with the explosion of events that the Liturgy has become. That is both lamentable, but also potentially providential. In this abrupt, in-your-face turn of events, we see the unveiling of the Kingdom of God and what it stands for...and the Principalities and Powers of the World reacting. The contrast of the poor and downtrodden rejoicing in the Kingdom and begging for their salvation with the exploiters and oppressors trying to destroy the Kingdom and with it wipe out hope is biting. Jesus comes to Jerusalem proclaiming humbly that God is the true King of all that is, seen and unseen, and the Adversary proclaiming that hope is dead and all attempts to bring hope are futile, painfully, humiliatingly, fatally futile. The serpent strikes the heel.
There is a price for our redemption, a price for the establishment of the Kingdom of God, a price for the restoring of our hope. It is in today's contrast that we see Jesus proclaim that hope and pay the price for brining it to us. In the week to come we will explore the proclamation and the hope and the price more deeply, as we then celebrate the victory against the Adversary a week from today.
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