Palm Carpet Part Two

The other day when I wrote my blog it was as part of preparation for today’s sermon.  I thought I would post some of what came from that beginning today… 

Are you a royal watcher?  There is an exciting week coming up for people who follow the lives and activities of the British royal family.  There are many websites devoted exclusively to the upcoming wedding of Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton.   At 4 AM Atlantic Time on April 29^th people like my sister-in-law will be awake watching their TV sets to see full coverage of this bit of history being made.  They will be watching the “pregame show” and then Kate arriving at the church in a car and Lady Catherine and her husband driving away in a glass coach.  The red carpet will be out for all the dignitaries who will be at the wedding, most notably Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Crowds will have gathered along the route from the palace to the church as much as 24 hours in advance in hopes of getting a glimpse of the royals and their guests. 

Today is Palm Sunday and we are looking at another big day, a procession of an important person and people all lined up to catch a glimpse.  The story that begins Matthew’s account of the passion story serves the purpose of showing Jesus’ royal status publicly.

First, palm branches were a symbol of triumph and victory to the Jewish people for instance, in Leviticus 23, they were instructed to celebrate the triumph of God bringing the people out of Egypt with branches of palm and leafy willow. It was a custom in the Middle East to cover up the paths of people worthy of the highest honour. In 2 Kings 9:13 (dated in approximately 830 BCE) when Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was declared king, the people spread their coats on the ground in front of him. This may have been a precursor to the red carpet which at one time was rolled out only for heads of state though now this extends to include famous people of almost any sort. “The earliest known reference to walking a red carpet in literature is in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, written in 458 BC. In this story Agamemnon’s wife has servants spread out a “crimson path” for him to walk over when he returns from Troy. He is reluctant due to “knowing that only gods walk on such luxury…”

The main connections between the Old Testament and Palm Sunday come from Zechariah 9:9 which is quoted in Matthew 21:5 where it prophesies, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. and Psalm 118 which we read today, from which came the words people were chanting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” and another mention of laying down branches, “Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.”

For those of us who have the benefit of hindsight in this matter, the perceptions of the people of Israel in Jesus’ day don’t make much difference.  Regardless of the size of the crowd none of the people really knew what was going on.  The disciples had a fair hint at what was going on after Jesus told them that taking the donkeys was to fulfill the prophecy from Zechariah and yet even they were surprised by the events of the coming week.  We know that he was not the king they had been hoping for, entering to get rid of Herod and the Romans.  We also know that he was much more than they could ever have imagined.  Jesus was not entering as a king of one small area in Israel; he was really the king of heaven.  His task, while it would have been confusing to them, was much greater than grasping for political power and improving the lives of the people of the city and surrounding area during his lifetime.  He was coming to improve the lives of all the people of the world for all time.

Our current reality in Canada is a battle for power between our political parties.  In Egypt power was just taken away from a dictator by the people.  In Libya there is a civil war in progress to try to eliminate another dictatorship.  Let’s take comfort in the greater reality that the ultimate king is on his throne and he will be coming again.