When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!‘ Mark 11:1-10
For the last 2000 years, the parables of Jesus have perplexed his followers. We debate their meaning. We bemoan the fact that we can’t quite figure them out. We wonder why he made it so hard for us all to understand.
One book I read imagined what might have happened in the crowds when Jesus spoke in parable. Strangers and neighbors would have turned to each other and begun talking together. “What do you think he means?” They would have talked amongst themselves. They might have talked on the road back to the village. They could have talked at the dinner table that night. Insights and ideas would have emerged; relationships would have been strengthened. Jesus, this book suggested, spoke in parables to prompt sacred conversations amongst seekers and followers.
Jesus’ Palm Sunday parade was in many ways a parable–only enacted instead of spoken. We can imagine the conversations in the crowd that day in Jerusalem. “What is he doing?” “What is he trying to tell us?” “What is his message about the realm of God?” More sacred conversations, bringing strangers and neighbors together, inspiring holy insights. –Debbie Clark
On this Palm Sunday, may Jesus’ parade inspire us to holy conversation. Amen.