It's customary to point out that Jesus' high "approval rating" on the first Palm Sunday plummeted by Thursday and Friday. A pastor friend calls the effect "liturgical whiplash."
It's hard not to point out the quickness of the people to reject Jesus, after they had greeted him with palm branches and enthusiasm. There is anti-Judaism in the account, unfortunately, for which Jews have suffered over the centuries.
But there is also a lesson about a difficulty in religious belief generally: how quick we are to misidentify (or miss) signs of God's grace. How impatient we are when the Lord comes to us in a way we don't recognize.
We tell the Palm Sunday story from the standpoint of knowing the ending. We know that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his followers during those Easter Season days. We know how Jesus' resurrection validated his teachings and identity.
But try to imagine Palm Sunday without thinking of Easter: Jesus was an eloquent and insightful teacher-healer connected to the long-delayed expectation for Israel's redemption. He spoke of the necessity of his death, but his words were upsetting and confusing to his hearers, not filled with positive meaning. Of course we know now, he was Jesus Christ. The folk he encountered had no benefit of hindsight for such baffling words, no understanding of the truth of his call to discipleship. As the events of Holy Week unraveled, the crowds (and the disciples) seemingly had insufficient validation to convince them of Jesus' identity.
Among the many enjoyable, loquacious cab drivers in Dublin, Ireland, we met a cabbie one summer, who joked about American politics. Mimicking people's shifting, fussy opinions, he said, "Barack Obama? Worst president ever! George W. Bush? Worst president ever! Bill Clinton? Worst president ever! George Bush 41? Worst president ever!"
You could say: after the enthusiasm of Palm Sunday, people began to look at Jesus and think, "Worse Messiah ever!"
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