It’s poetic and maybe a bit ironic that this year’s Palm Sunday and the third “No Kings” day fell on the same weekend. Makes me wonder if scheduling the latest “No Kings” day on the eve of Palm Sunday was intentional, that someone(s) on the planning committee would have understood the imagery and messaging of the two days.
Palm Sunday conjures up images of a celebratory parade. Titles for this passage commonly include the word “triumphal”. Triumph? Over what or whom? Jesus is the center of everyone’s attention and cheers as he enters Jerusalem days before Passover. But over what or whom is he triumphant at this point? It is anticipated triumph indeed.
It is anticipated triumph over the oppressive Roman Empire and of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judaea and his leader, Emperor Tiberius. John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg first wrote of this procession and another procession happening in Jerusalem in the year 30 CE, in 2006. Crossan has done a fair amount of speaking about these two processions, these two parades.
He points out the diametrically opposite characteristics of the key elements of these processions:
- Entry points
- Jesus uses the East Gate which leads to the Temple complex
- Pilate uses the West Gate which leads to the imperial complex
- Modes of travel
- Jesus on a humble, and borrowed, donkey and colt
- Pilate with warhorses and chariots
- Reception
- Jesus is greeted by fellow pilgrims with excitement and joy, and shouts of “Hosanna!”
- Pilate is greeted by no one, except maybe local authority leaders
- Hopes
- Liberation from oppression
- Hold the status quo and squash any rebellion
The people welcoming and excited to see Jesus believed he was the long-awaited messiah who would liberate them from the oppressive Roman government who controlled their lands and lives. Hosanna! Not a cheer of praise, but a shout of “Save us!”! That’s what the Greek word means, not “Yay!”
“Save us, Jesus! Save us!”
Liberate us from the emperor’s control, from Rome’s taxes, from the empire taking our resources.
Sound familiar? Did the chants and signs of Saturday’s “No Kings” day echo those same desires? The middle class is losing ground as their taxes go up to pay for the tax cuts the extremely wealthy receive. The poor who make too little to pay taxes are hurting from the rising cost of living and the loss of social safety nets. The rights of immigrants, women, LGBTQIA people are being eroded as new laws are put in place, or existing laws are ignored, and as Congress abdicates its responsibilities. Plans are in the works to dole out public lands to corporations for their profits, and ecological and environmental protects are being dismantled at the very risk of our health and lives.
This past Saturday, and the previous two “No Kings” days, were also about saying no to a more and more oppressive government. Saying no to rolling back women’s rights, to turning away or sending back immigrants and refugees, and to erasing trans-gender persons.
If we had better long-term memory, we would recall that the original “No Kings” day in this country happened almost 250 years ago as tea was dumped into Boston’s harbor in protest of King George of England. Today a wanna-be king and his oligarch friends want to turn things back and take the power out of the hands of the people. We the people are saying “NO!”
The details, times, setting are different. The desire to live freely and thrive is the same now as it was 2000 years ago. The big difference is that millions of us are not waiting or expecting a single individual to rescue us. That power resides in us working together.
It’s hard to ignore the stark differences, yet similar elements, of these two processions that took place in Jesus’ time. It is also not difficult to see the similar desires of people feeling the weight of empire, both then and now. Was the timing of Saturday’s “No Kings” accidental? I don’t know. But I and those I attended with, we waved palms as well as signs. Not to say “Hosanna”, but to say, “Jesus is Lord, Caesar (or insert another name) is not.”…a declaration of a different kingdom.
Jesus spent his ministry teaching people about justice, the abundant (not the oligarchy) life, service, and most importantly, about loving the neighbor. In a few days, on Maundy Thursday, Christians will once again hear in the story for that day, what makes for a good life. One last time, Jesus will tell his disciples what is important in this world, in this life. We, like them, have short-term memories and need to hear it again as well.
Until then…
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