Jesus and his followers ... Disciples and otherwise ... make their way into the Capitol City for the first time.
On the way they lose their collective minds, taking off clothes throwing garments in the road as Jesus rides pass on a donkey. They rip branches out of trees, throwing them down too ... making ... sort of ... a home made Ticker tape parade.
It's the funniest way to kick off the Highest Holy Day of Christendom.
It's the funniest way to kick off the Highest Holy Day of Christendom.
As they get close to Jerusalem, near Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he tells two Disciples, “Go to the village. As you enter you'll find a colt tied up ... no one's ever ridden the donkey ... untie it ... and bring it to me ... and if any one asks, ‘What are you doing?’ tell 'em, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back as soon as he's done.’”
So they went, find a coat in front of a house ... untie it ... and are immediately confronted, “What are you doing ... are you stealing our colt?”
"God needs it. We'll bring it back when he's done."
They bring the colt, throw their clothes on it as a saddle and Jesus rides into the City.
His followers take off their clothes, spreading them on the road while others threw leafy branches they cut from the fields.
And those in front and those in back cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!”
They enter Jerusalem ... go inside the temple ... look round at everything ... it was already late ... so Jesus and the Disciples leave the others and return to Bethany.
We make it sound so different these days.
We think it's a Hollywood movie ... a gazillion screaming worshipers ... Jesus with perfect hair calmly riding an unbroken Donkey ... keeping their clothes on but cutting Palm branches ... while singing in four part harmony ... "Hosanna!"
The Government and religious leaders are scared to death of the huge crowd of followers Jesus has amassed screaming for them to "BE QUIET!"
The witty response of Jesus is, "If they shut up, the stones themselves will start to sing" ... meaning the Glory of the moment is bigger than the sum of it's parts.
Unfortunately this exchange was added later and probably never actually happened ... but's used to illustrate the point that ... in this case ... Jesus entering Jerusalem is bigger than the sum of it's parts.
If we boil it down it what it really was ... Jesus and perhaps 30 or so of his closest followers ... make their way into Jerusalem ... and not during a peak traffic period.
They appear to onlookers as a gang.
They steal a donkey under the premise "If you act like you're supposed to be doing something people will believe you're supposed to be doing it."
"HEY! YOU STEALING OUR DONKEY?"
"No ... not at all ... we're borrowing it ... God says he needs it for a couple of hours. We'll return it right afterwards."
"Oh! Of course God can borrow our Donkey. Why didn't you say so?"
The donkey's at a Beth'plague or Fig Farm ... a huge agricultural commodity in Israel ... though Figs aren't in season ... so Jesus probably figures they don't need the donkey at the moment ... and he takes her for a spin.
Jesus rides "the ass upon which no man hath ever sat" into Jerusalem surrounded by screaming people, taking off their clothes to throw in the donkey's path, or tree branches with leaves and everything goes fine.
Jesus isn't thrown off ... which, in and of itself, is as much a miracle as turning water into wine.
You ever tried to ride an unbroken donkey?
When I was a kid my Uncle Larry and my Uncle Jerry told my cousin Ricky and I to my Grand Daddy's Farm. They decide give us a donkey ride ... to use Biblical words ... let us sit upon an ass which no man hath ever sat.
When we were done ... it was still an ass upon which no man hath ever sat ... cause the donkey threw us skyward as soon as we sat on it.
I've often wondered how Jesus pulled it off ... especially with crazy people yelling, taking off their clothes and throwing at him ... Palm branches and such.
It's no wonder the Law looked on.
Little wonder the religious leaders were in an uproar with naked people dancing and singing in the streets.
Lord knows the environmentalists were pissed at the ripping of branches off Palm trees.
But Jesus' gang peacefully enters the city ... head straight to the Temple to look around ... hardly anyone's there because it's late ... Church is over ... so they head back to Bethany ... and we assume to return the donkey though the Bible doesn't say.
Of course, it makes you wonder why they went to case out the Temple at night?
The answer comes the next day when they return, run out the people making money off religion ... turning over tables ... causing a riot.
"It is written My House shall be a prayerful place for everyone and you've turned it into a robbers paradise," is how Jesus justified things.
Easter starts with an orchestrated riot ... by a good size gang of religious zealots taking off their clothes and ripping Palm fronds off trees to throw at a "borrowed" donkey ... screaming religious slogans "Hey-sanna, Hosanna, sanna, sanna Hosanna!"
It's crazy right?
It's not the Easter we've been taught.
But according to the oldest Gospel ... Mark ... that's what happens ... other things were later added to the story.
Like most stories ... over time they grow ... substantially ... and this one's no different.
But here's what hasn't changed.
A tiny home made ticker-tape parade, late in the day, after most had left the Temple so they could "case the place out" ... cause they had plans ... starts off a chain of events that virtually the entire world knows thousands of years later.
The next day they return and Jesus loses it ... attacking people selling all manner of religious artifacts, paraphernalia, books, candles and jewelry ... turning over their tables, screaming bloody murder, chasing them out of what he says is, "My Dad's house."
Of course the religious leaders are horrified because they think things are going just fine ... so they do what anyone does when confronted by a crazy looking man surrounded by crazy acting followers ... call the Law ... but Jesus and his gang left before they arrive.
This sets off a chain of events that changes the course of history ... topples a religious institution ... crumbles the largest Government the world has ever known ... unleashes a movement demanding the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven ... leading to a new religious institution ... bigger buildings ... stained glass ... Seminaries ... a bigger bureaucracy ... and tables full of religious artifacts, paraphernalia, books, candles and jewelry for sale.
If you strip away the myth from the man all too soon" ... you too ... can see where we all soon will be.
And where we are is caught in a religious prison far worse than the one Jesus and his followers toppled kicking off Easter.
In Seminary I took a class called "Exit to Ministry" ... required for all during the very last semester we're enrolled ... taught by an old retied guest Preacher from an established stained glass Church.
The idea was for him to impart his practical knowledge of life in the Church ... and he taught us crazy, stupid things ... "when you sit in the chair on the Pulpit and cross your legs, keep your socks pulled up lest you cause a woman in the congregation to lust after your flesh" ... stuff like that.
On the last day, he asks if anyone has anything to say before we're unleashed into world to save it ... by making the religious institution, bureaucracy and image ... bigger, brighter and more refined?
Michael Ethridge, a friend who made a "A" in his Marriage Enrichment class the same time he got divorced, raises his hand.
"Mr. Ethridge," Dr. Graves says.
"Yeah," Mike says, rising from his desk, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and taking moment to look at the rest of us ... "I think we've all made a mistake," he says. "This isn't what Jesus meant ... he was against all of this pretentiousness ... the constant judgment ... the wasted money ..."
"What are you saying Mr. Ethridge," Dr. Graves impatiently demands.
"I think," Mike calmly replies taking a first step towards the door, "the first thing Jesus would do today is rent a Bulldozer and level every single one of these Goddamned buildings with stained glass ... books and suits and ..." his voice wanders off as he ponders and his voice cracks when he speaks again ... "and gold crosses.
Wiping his eyes, pulling himself together he stares at Dr. Graves, "and sanctimonious bullshit ... and tell us to start all over again."
Mike walked out the room and took all the air with him.
No one spoke as his words hung in the air.
It's what's Easter's all about you know.
Tearing down the bad so we can build the good.
Getting back to basics after we've found ourselves so far from the things we believe.
Even taking on crucifixion ... killing off who we are now to become something far better ... that's what Palm Sunday's all about.
Jesus led the way.
It's entirely up to us if we follow or not.
Jesus rides "the ass upon which no man hath ever sat" into Jerusalem surrounded by screaming people, taking off their clothes to throw in the donkey's path, or tree branches with leaves and everything goes fine.
Jesus isn't thrown off ... which, in and of itself, is as much a miracle as turning water into wine.
You ever tried to ride an unbroken donkey?
When I was a kid my Uncle Larry and my Uncle Jerry told my cousin Ricky and I to my Grand Daddy's Farm. They decide give us a donkey ride ... to use Biblical words ... let us sit upon an ass which no man hath ever sat.
When we were done ... it was still an ass upon which no man hath ever sat ... cause the donkey threw us skyward as soon as we sat on it.
I've often wondered how Jesus pulled it off ... especially with crazy people yelling, taking off their clothes and throwing at him ... Palm branches and such.
It's no wonder the Law looked on.
Little wonder the religious leaders were in an uproar with naked people dancing and singing in the streets.
Lord knows the environmentalists were pissed at the ripping of branches off Palm trees.
But Jesus' gang peacefully enters the city ... head straight to the Temple to look around ... hardly anyone's there because it's late ... Church is over ... so they head back to Bethany ... and we assume to return the donkey though the Bible doesn't say.
Of course, it makes you wonder why they went to case out the Temple at night?
The answer comes the next day when they return, run out the people making money off religion ... turning over tables ... causing a riot.
"It is written My House shall be a prayerful place for everyone and you've turned it into a robbers paradise," is how Jesus justified things.
Easter starts with an orchestrated riot ... by a good size gang of religious zealots taking off their clothes and ripping Palm fronds off trees to throw at a "borrowed" donkey ... screaming religious slogans "Hey-sanna, Hosanna, sanna, sanna Hosanna!"
It's crazy right?
It's not the Easter we've been taught.
But according to the oldest Gospel ... Mark ... that's what happens ... other things were later added to the story.
Like most stories ... over time they grow ... substantially ... and this one's no different.
But here's what hasn't changed.
A tiny home made ticker-tape parade, late in the day, after most had left the Temple so they could "case the place out" ... cause they had plans ... starts off a chain of events that virtually the entire world knows thousands of years later.
The next day they return and Jesus loses it ... attacking people selling all manner of religious artifacts, paraphernalia, books, candles and jewelry ... turning over their tables, screaming bloody murder, chasing them out of what he says is, "My Dad's house."
Of course the religious leaders are horrified because they think things are going just fine ... so they do what anyone does when confronted by a crazy looking man surrounded by crazy acting followers ... call the Law ... but Jesus and his gang left before they arrive.
This sets off a chain of events that changes the course of history ... topples a religious institution ... crumbles the largest Government the world has ever known ... unleashes a movement demanding the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven ... leading to a new religious institution ... bigger buildings ... stained glass ... Seminaries ... a bigger bureaucracy ... and tables full of religious artifacts, paraphernalia, books, candles and jewelry for sale.
If you strip away the myth from the man all too soon" ... you too ... can see where we all soon will be.
And where we are is caught in a religious prison far worse than the one Jesus and his followers toppled kicking off Easter.
In Seminary I took a class called "Exit to Ministry" ... required for all during the very last semester we're enrolled ... taught by an old retied guest Preacher from an established stained glass Church.
The idea was for him to impart his practical knowledge of life in the Church ... and he taught us crazy, stupid things ... "when you sit in the chair on the Pulpit and cross your legs, keep your socks pulled up lest you cause a woman in the congregation to lust after your flesh" ... stuff like that.
On the last day, he asks if anyone has anything to say before we're unleashed into world to save it ... by making the religious institution, bureaucracy and image ... bigger, brighter and more refined?
Michael Ethridge, a friend who made a "A" in his Marriage Enrichment class the same time he got divorced, raises his hand.
"Mr. Ethridge," Dr. Graves says.
"Yeah," Mike says, rising from his desk, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and taking moment to look at the rest of us ... "I think we've all made a mistake," he says. "This isn't what Jesus meant ... he was against all of this pretentiousness ... the constant judgment ... the wasted money ..."
"What are you saying Mr. Ethridge," Dr. Graves impatiently demands.
"I think," Mike calmly replies taking a first step towards the door, "the first thing Jesus would do today is rent a Bulldozer and level every single one of these Goddamned buildings with stained glass ... books and suits and ..." his voice wanders off as he ponders and his voice cracks when he speaks again ... "and gold crosses.
Wiping his eyes, pulling himself together he stares at Dr. Graves, "and sanctimonious bullshit ... and tell us to start all over again."
Mike walked out the room and took all the air with him.
No one spoke as his words hung in the air.
It's what's Easter's all about you know.
Tearing down the bad so we can build the good.
Getting back to basics after we've found ourselves so far from the things we believe.
Even taking on crucifixion ... killing off who we are now to become something far better ... that's what Palm Sunday's all about.
Jesus led the way.
It's entirely up to us if we follow or not.
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