Palm Sunday 2020: Welcoming someone who refused social distancing.

What can be said of Palm Sunday in the midst of the coronavirus? What can an event two thousand years ago say to people today? For the Bible story to mean anything, whether it’s Jesus entering Jerusalem or any other, it must be able to transcend time. What was really going on way back when, and what can it say to us today? What did it mean that palm branches welcomed Christ into the city, and what would it mean for us to place palms to welcome into our homes today?

Like so many distant stories, age causes us to gloss over the details and soften the edges of the picture. Jesus told his disciples they were turning toward Jerusalem and it caused quite a reaction. None of the disciples thought it was a good idea. In fact, they thought it might cost Jesus his life. Better to stay at a distance, they felt, but he began walking and they reluctantly followed.

Jerusalem was the political and religious capital at the time. Just as it was puffed up with its own self-importance, it was also mired with corruption and intrigue. There were the Romans and the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, those who had made peace with Roman occupancy and those who were zealous about Romes removal. There were those longing for God and those who believed God had forsaken them, those who longed for a Messiah and those who felt such longings were a childish dream.

Towards it all, Jesus walked. Despite the growing concern about the man, he paraded down the middle of the road, through the city gates. As I read the story this year in the context of the “social distancing” we’re all practicing, I couldn’t help but marvel at Christ’s audacity. He never kept his distance. In fact, he seemed to defy every kind of social distancing prescribed by his society. From the start, his is a story about God drawing near. God with us, we often say at Christmas, but it’s equally true on Palm Sunday. Even when others advised against it, even when there would be dire consequences, Christ entered in, draws near. 

He did it way back when, and he does it today. For that, I stand with the palm branch of my heart and welcome him.