Palm Sunday: Public Jubilation and Christly Lamentation (Zechariah 9:9-10: Luke 19:28-42; Philippians 2:5-11)
By Craig M. Watts
Again Jesus had to straighten them out by telling them that His kind of rule is utterly unlike that of Caesar and other power brokers. He says, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them ... but it shall not be so among you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as one who serves" (
Luke 22:25-26).
Jesus rejected the rule of power and chose instead to fight His battles through the strength of love and persuasion. He resisted the temptation to allow security to be a controlling factor in His life. He did not cling to the power that was at His fingertips.
Rather, as our epistle text proclaims, though Jesus "was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (
Phil. 2:6-7). It was in a state of apparent powerlessness that He lived and died. But even in what appeared to be His defeat, the victory of God was being accomplished. But His followers failed to see it.
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So as the glad procession accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem, glorifying God on His behalf, Jesus wept. He wept because He knew that they praised God, not because of who Jesus was but because of who they wanted Him to be. He wept because He knew that even though they sang, "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" they would never experience peace on earth.
"Would that you knew the things that make for peace," Jesus cried, "but now they are hid from your eyes." He knew that Jerusalem was destined to destruction because of the political maneuvers, power plays and intrigue in which the Jews were determined to involve themselves. Their destruction would come even as the church was breaking forth with new life. And even though the downfall of Jerusalem was a fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus wept over it.
His grief announced the end of an old age and the beginning of a new one. Though Jesus knew that God was in control, He wept over the coming fulfillment of prophecy for He recognized that the new does not come without anguish. Jesus stands in sharp contrast to our contemporary prophecy buffs who announce the end of the world in such a cavalier manner. Jesus wept because He saw that those who trusted in power and violence were bringing destruction upon themselves.
Today as we praise Jesus we need to ask ourselves if we, too, sing and rejoice before our Lord because of who He is or because of who we want Him to be. We also need to ask ourselves whether or not we are the sort of people He calls us to be, people who choose His way and not the way of Caesar and the power-brokers. For if we are not, even in the midst of our jubilation and songs of praise, Jesus may yet be weeping.