Yesterday was Palm Sunday. It’s a day in history that I often struggle to understand. How could a crowd wave palms and shout Hosanna on Sunday then shake their fists and demand Jesus’ crucifixion just a few days later? The key is to understand their disappointment. They were expecting this Jesus to enter Jerusalem like Rambo and kick ass – defeat the Romans and usher in a new era of prestige and independence. Jesus didn’t ‘live up’ to those expectations. He allowed Himself to be arrested, He refused to defend himself to Herod or Pilate. He didn’t resist. It looked like weakness. It wasn’t what the people expected. They were disappointed.
Right now, life is pretty hard. We have a list of ‘needs’ and wants. We have another list of who is responsible to provide those things for us: the government, our employers, our doctors, our spouses, God. As I read and listen to news reports, I am bombarded with talking heads telling me, with breathless and urgent voices, who the Disappointer of the Day is, who deserves blame. We are conditioned to be caught up in the mob mentality that demands immediate satisfaction of our desires and condones disrespect and hate when those demands aren’t met.
I want to be clear: I don’t consider myself highly insightful or wise in the heat of the moment, and I’ll confess that I could have gone from palm waving to fist lifting within those few days had I been there. But I hope I’ve learned a few things in studying the events of Holy Week, and so I want to be clear: I am rejecting disappointment in others and I refuse to toss blame like it’s confetti at some macabre pity party. I am going to pray for our leaders, count my blessings, and take responsibility for my own choices. And , I’m going to trust a risen Savior who kicked death’s ass in His own way, and promises good for us.
