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How Palm Sunday Subverts Evil

 

It's almost Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday in the land I call my home, traditionally ushers in Holy Week with a flourish of choirs and congregants marching, palms in hand, echoing “All Glory Laud and Honor.” The atmosphere would be charged with a mixture of excitement and expectation. We do know that the original 'Palm Sunday' was more than a ceremonial procession; it was a high-stakes drama set against the backdrop of political tension and spiritual anticipation.

Jesus sends his disciples on an unusual errand to wheel and deal to


secure a donkey, perhaps assigning this task to James and John, reminding them and us that true honor comes from humility, not from seeking high places in earthly kingdoms (as their mother did not so long ago). In a bold, tactical move, my favorite rebel orchestrates a parade that mocks the war horses of Rome's elite and confronts the empire's might head-on. 


As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, the air is thick with expectancy and confusion, because Caesar's parade is taking place. Jesus' parade is a direct challenge to the power and pomp of that of Caesar's. Jesus, trotting along with nothing but divine authority, opts for a donkey instead of a warhorse, turning the expected narrative of power and conquest on its head.

The streets buzz with whispers and wonders. Onlookers are puzzled and
thrilled, sensing something monumental is unfolding. The empire’s guards are on edge, grappling with the ambiguity of the unfolding scene, unsure whether this Rabbi on a donkey is mocking the grandiosity of Caesar or proclaiming a new kind of rulership. The atmosphere is electric with the suspense of this divine drama playing out in real time.



Palm Sunday exposes the absurdity of earthly power and the divine comedy of God’s kingdom breaking through in the most unexpected ways. Jesus’ entry is not just a spectacle but a strategic act of resistance, deliberately provoking the powers that thrive on oppression and control. This ironic critique of empire's narrative, reveals the previously hidden kingdom of God!



The cries of “Hosanna!” ringing through the streets are certainly not romantic cheerleaders’ chants; they are desperate pleas for salvation, and a collective yearning for liberation from the cruel reign of earthly rulers. This chorus of hope is the liturgy of the oppressed and the soundtrack of a revolution that defiantly heralds God's imminent triumph over imperial subjugation and tyranny. 


The chanting is an invitation to witness and to participate in this divine movement that might even be mistaken for anarchism. It’s a call to align ourselves with the kingdom of God, to embrace a public faith that interrogates and challenges empires built on classism, patriarchy, racism, religious nationalism, and the like. It is also a summons to walk in solidarity with the marginalized, and to voice our 'hosannas' against the injustices that ravage our world like the dunceness of removing truth from the education systems and going after DEI in the medical profession. Who comes up with such evil? "Hosanna!"


We raise our palms in celebration and in solidarity, to march in the cosmic procession that subverts the nasty regimes of this world. We must declare, through our actions and commitments, that we stand with Jesus, who inverts the world's order, inaugurating the reign of peace with justice. 


Everyone who claims to follow Jesus should be 'hosanna-ing' "until the philosophy that holds one race superior and another inferior is finally, and permanently, discredited and abandoned"-(Robert Nestor Marley). (Youtube War by Bob Marley for full lyrics). 

Blessed indeed, is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!

#hosanna #palmsunday #liberation #liberationtheology 

Born and raised on The Gem of the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda), I am an immigrant living in the U.S. with my Fantastic Four and High School boops.

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