Christian Reflection and Prayer

Like that of the prophets of old, this was
an overt act designed to drive home the
truth of the whole matter: a king bent on
war rode a horse, but one seeking peace
rode an ass. John’s crowd was remembering
another triumphal entry, one that Simon had
decreed would be marked annually as a
Jewish independence day. Jesus’ mind,
however, was on something else:

Scripture:

Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, 0 daughter of Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt the foal of an ass [Zech. 9:9].

Reflection:

The palm wavers rightly see triumph in
Jesus, but they don’t understand it. Jesus
has come to conquer not Rome but the
world. He comes to the holy city not to
deal death or to sidestep death, but to
meet death head-on. He will conquer the
world and death itself by dying. Just after
his triumphal entry, according to John,
Jesus makes it clear how he will win:
"Now is the judgment of this world, now
shall the ruler of this world be cast out;
and I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to myself" (12:31-32) His
being lifted up to glory is at once his being
lifted up on the cross.

We confess our misunderstanding. We, too,
come to the city gate, agendas in hand, amid
crowds lined up as though Santa Claus were
coming to town. In a world that routinely places
ultimate value on less than ultimate things, even
the faithful are tempted to come with their want
lists. Our nationalistic or consumeristic religions
preach that to keep the rest of the world scared
or guessing while satisfying our seemingly
endless material desires is to be not far from
the Kingdom of heaven.

The palms say that such an approach has been
taken before, but has been found wanting. Glory
worthy of the name, the glory that is promised,
will not be found in a new hero, system or political
movement. "My kingship is not of this world,"
says the Johannine Jesus (18:36) -- who also says
of his followers, "they are not of the world" (17:14)
Jesus’ glorification comes through an act of self-
sacrificing love. Life of eternal dimensions is the
here-and-now gift to those who believe that this
self-sacrificial One is the Son of God. The waving
branches say that we misunderstand as did his
disciples. Our hopes and dreams are too much
occupied by the ultimately doomed and dead.
And as in the case of the disciples, only Jesus’
death and resurrection will clear up our
misunderstanding.

by Byron L. Rohrig

Prayer:

Lord, you entered Jerusalem with peace in your
heart. Be our vision that we too can live as people
of peace in the face of the world’s many conflicts.
May we hold your vision of justice and peace ever
before us.