The Most Important Week in History

“Hurry along,” the mother called. “Jesus is coming. Maybe this will be the year that Jesus will begin His reign as our new king. This may be one of the most important weeks in the history of our people. We want to be able to say we were there.” And so, on the day that Christians now call “Palm Sunday,” Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cries of “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory to the highest heaven.” (Luke 19:38 NRSV) and “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel.” (John 12: 12-13) (See also Matthew 21:8-9) and Mark 11:8-10). Even though many in the crowd had heard Jesus teaching about the Kingdom of God, perhaps many times, most in the crowd had little to no understand of the Kingdom Jesus came to establish. As the week wore on, that lack of understanding became more and more evident. Depending on which gospel is referenced, the only act of defiance performed by Jesus during the week was the cleansing of the temple. Whether Jesus cleansed the temple twice, cleansed it during what we call Holy Week (Matthew 21:12, Luke 19:45), or cleansed it at some early point in his ministry (John 2:14-16), the cleansing of the temple—the criticizing and destroying of the profitable religious practices of the day—no doubt angered those who thought of themselves as The Religious Authorities. The only other public actions we are told that Jesus did during this time was what he always did—he taught about God in a way that drew crowds and enthralled listeners. It is unlikely anyone slept during one of Jesus’ lessons. How could this common Galilean, this carpenter who ate with sinners and tax collectors, be a better teacher than those who had spent their lives preparing for and doing temple work? How dare he?

While Jesus continued to teach and to prepare to celebrate Passover with his disciples, the temple leaders plotted and the crowd waited and watched for their new king to begin his reign. While Jesus talked about bread and wine being his body and blood, the crowd was anticipating Roman bodies and blood to indicate that Rome was no longer in charge. (Perhaps, some thought Jesus would stage a peaceful, non-violent coup, but realistically, few could have thought that would happen. No doubt, none in the crowd wanted to be a victim of violence, but, like so many people today, they were more than willing to witness violence so long as their side won.)

By the time the “show down” between the Roman Empire, abetted by the Jewish religious leaders, began, children and their mothers would have been asleep. Did families hear a ruckus and awake? Were women and children part of the crowd that yelled, “Crucify him”? Scripture does not say. What scripture does say is that no real “show down” occurred and that any ruckus that happened was caused by the religious leaders and the crowd (Matthew 27:24). Jesus went peacefully. Jesus remained quiet during questioning. Jesus had said what He needed to say. Jesus’ weapon was not the sword but the cross.

We need to think carefully about the scene before Pilate. The offer Pilate made was to release Jesus of Nazareth, the teacher and healer, or Jesus Barabbas, the murderer and insurrectionist. By this time in the week, the crowd knew that Jesus of Nazareth was not going to be the type of messiah they expected. Maybe, just maybe Jesus Barabbas would be their type of messiah. Weren’t they looking for someone to lead an insurrection against Rome? Weren’t they looking for someone who was not against bloodshed and murder, if that’s what it took to save them from Rome, from the Empire? Jesus taught about love and grace when He talked about the Kingdom of God. Barabbas had shown a willingness to use anger and the sword to bring about the kingdom he envisioned. Jesus brought forgiveness; Barabbas sought revenge. Jesus taught God provides enough for all. The crowd feared having to share what they perceived as limited wealth, they feared being left out, not getting their share. The crowd wanted power and control for themselves. In essence the crowd wanted to be God. Jesus offered dependence and surrender to a higher power, to the one true God.

The Roman Empire did not last. None of the empires created by humanity have lasted nor will they last. That has not and does not keep empires from forming. Just like the crowd before Pilate, we have to choose whether we want to live in a world dominated by love, mutual respect, sharing of wealth and resources or do we want to live in a world dominated by the group that is strongest at the moment, a world dominated by hatred of those different than us, a world filled with anger, disrespect, and fear? If you are part of the strongest group, a group that lives by power and strength; a nation, a country, a political party that believes it is the greatest, the true conveyor to truth, chosen by God to save the world, you want to preserve your way of life, a life that is good for you and those like you. After all, who else matters? If those who complain only would work hard enough or believed as you believe, they could be part of the dominate empire, too. But, sooner or later, someone stronger and greater will come along and your empire will fall. Empire tried to show its strength and power on Good Friday and, for just a little, while it seemed Empire had won. Then Easter came. Love, God’s Love, won the final battle. Empire has not accepted its defeat. Empire still incites riots and battles. I can’t wait for the day that Empire accepts that it has lost. Meanwhile, I want to be an instrument for spreading God’s love, grace, mercy, and justice. The mother at the beginning of the story was right about one thing—Holy Week was the most important week in history!