Thankless

Palm Sunday, by RadoJavor

  

Propers: Palm Sunday of the Passion, AD 2025 C

Homily:

Lord, we pray for the preacher, for You know his sins are great.

Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

There was no king in Jesus’ day, but Judea had a court. The Great Sanhedrin served as the supreme legislative, administrative, and judicial authority for the Judean people. It consisted of 70 elders who met in the Hall of Hewn Stone, built into the north wall of the Jerusalem Temple. They convened every day of the year, save for festivals and sabbaths.

But they weren’t sovereign, not really, for all Judea groaned beneath the boot of Rome. Pompey conquered Israel almost as an afterthought, eventually incorporating it into the Empire. Romans mostly cared about trade: trade and taxes. If peace brought prosperity, then they were all for peace. But should war prove necessary, that was just as well.

The Sanhedrin had to keep the peace, had to answer to their overlords. At the same time, they had to deal with religious zealots, dagger-men from the countryside seeking the Messiah, a heaven-appointed warrior who would lead them into freedom by the sword. Rome had gotten pretty good at putting such people down. A messianic claimant would pop up, gather followers, cause a ruckus—and then the Legions would drop the hammer, wipe out a few cities. You really have to nip these natives in the bud.

Passover must’ve been the worst. For the Passover, faithful Jews and God-fearers from around the Empire would pour into Jerusalem, each needing lodging and a lamb. Religious furor would set the whole place abuzz, an underlying current of hope and hard rebellion. Stuck between violent pagans and violent fundamentalists, atop a virtual powder-keg, the Sanhedrin had to keep the peace, or Rome would kill them all. Happy holidays.

And now in comes Jesus. He’d been running around for years at this point, another holy fool from off the Galilee, said to work wonders and to whip up a crowd. Every time He shows up in Jerusalem, people start to wonder, start to whisper: Could He be the one? But this year is already different. This year, the whole city was rumbling about a miracle not two miles away: the raising of an important man, up and out of his tomb, right in front of a crowd of mourners gathered from Jerusalem. Ain’t that just dandy.

So in rides Jesus, and the place goes nuts. They’re throwing palm branches and cloaks before Him, calling Him King and Son of David. And He rides in on a donkey, like a magnanimous monarch of old. It’s a clever bit of theater, that. It feeds their speculations, acting like a king. But it also keeps the Romans for the moment from whipping out their swords, from ending this here and now in a frenzied tide of blood.

The people think that He’s the Messiah, or at least they hope that He might be, and everybody wants to see just what He will do next. He’s already started teaching in those bloody parables of His: fig trees and vineyards, talking about the destruction of the Temple. He’s going to get all of us killed; the authorities have to do something! But they can’t just snatch Him off the street in broad daylight. No, that would trigger the crowd. It has to be done by night, away from prying eyes. They have to disappear Him in the dark.

But to do that, the Sanhedrin must learn of His movements, where He sleeps, where He plans to eat the Passover, information that He’s keeping even from His inner circle. They need a man on the inside, a traitor, a spy. And wouldn’t you know it, they find a volunteer! It’ll be tricky, but it can be done. The people will just wake up one morning and there He’ll be hanging on a cross. That’ll be the end of it, one more dead would-be messiah. It’s getting hard to remember all their names.

These aren’t pretty decisions, but they have to be made. One must protect the people from themselves, even though it prove a thankless task. And nothing ever solves a problem quite like death.

Come on, then. Let’s see how it goes.

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pertinent Links

RDG Stout

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St Peter’s Lutheran

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Nidaros Lutheran

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nidaroschurch6026