Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29; Matt: 21:1-11
When my children were much younger, I would often take them to parades – especially the St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. We’d watch the pipe and drum corps from high schools and volunteer fire departments file past. We’d note the Ancient Order of Hibernians (basically an Irish-Catholic men's club) from various New York counties decked out in glory. Maybe it was those tartan skirts, the plaintive cry of the bagpipe but I’d always find my eyes brimming with tears as the melody of “Danny Boy” drifted over the crowd. It brought back long buried memories of an Irish-Catholic childhood, of long departed parents, and grandparents and the saga and struggles of the Irish as it filtered down through the O’hearnes, the Hennessey’s, the Salmon’s and the Smith’s clans, to which my family belongs.
That is the power of a parade, a march or a procession. They pull us into a collective history. They give voice to a common pain or a common joy. From the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Memorial Day parades, July 4th parades, to the West Indies Labor Day Parade – to a March for our Lives event against gun violence. People gather to march, to proclaim, to protest, to lift up a heritage or show pride in one’s identity -- they generate power to draw people together and rekindle hope and vision. Take a moment – what’s your favorite parade – and what does it mean to you?
This Palm Sunday, we join with Christians all around the world in reenacting the excitement of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In our songs, our readings and waving of palms and processions, we too invoke that age-old story of how Jesus entered the Holy City one last time. We remember that dream for deliverance the swelled the hearts of those people who lined the dusty road that Jesus took. Their hope is our hope.
We follow in the footsteps of the people of Israel, who knew how to put on a stellar procession. It is said some thirty thousand men accompanied King David to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. Vigorous dancing, songs, lyres, harps tambourines, castanets and cymbals; with a myriad of burnt offerings were all part of the pageantry. The people sang the popular psalm 118: a top ten hit with the Israelites -- “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I might enter through them and give thanks to God.”
In this spirit, Jesus embraced the parade. He knew what it meant to the people. And the crowd sang songs, their equivalent to “Danny Boy.” They sang out psalms of a common struggle, psalms that recorded the pain and promise of the Jewish people. “Hosanna to the Son of David” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” they proclaimed, as they once shouted for King David.
Without a doubt Psalm 118 dominated the procession. This psalm is a key processional psalm in the scriptures. It’s a parade song – like “Stars and Stripes Forever.” People sung psalm 118 during major festivals and processions in the life of the Jewish community. It was a psalm that filled them with pride, vitality and hope. The crowd sang such songs because they were filled with longings for a conquering messiah along the lines of a triumphant roman general, a mighty King David. They thought Jesus just might fill the ticket. Some “paved” the road with their garments which was a sign of submission before a dignitary (2 Kgs 9:13). Others threw down branches from the trees, most likely palm branches, where were symbols of victory and deliverance for the Jewish people (Suetonius, Caligula, 32).
Thus, began the collision course that would culminate on Good Friday. Our text from Matthew today depicts that not everyone was happy with the parade. Matthew tells us the whole city was in turmoil, a word used also at Matthew 27 to describe how the earth shook at the moment Jesus died – it is a word related to seismic – describing how the earth shakes and moves violently during an earthquake. Jesus’ presence clearly shook people down to the core of their being.
Through the unfolding of Holy Week, we see the real parade of faith emerge for Jesus. The one that leads to Golgotha, where he is crucified. Jesus remains on parade and true to himself and his mission. Jesus in fact picks up the quotes the parade psalm, psalm 118, to those plotting to arrest him: “Have you never read the scriptures,” he told the chief priests and elders, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?”
Likewise, Psalm 118, the parade psalm was on Jesus’ lips the night before he died. As part of the ancient Passover ritual, Psalms 115-118 were sung at the conclusion of the meal. It is speculated that Psalm 118 just might have been the final song Jesus, and the disciples sang as they left for the garden at the Mount of Olives. “I will not die but shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord…” was likely the last line Jesus sung before his arrest. I’d like to think that Psalm 118 was like “Danny Boy “to Jesus: that song that Jesus kept close to his heart, that kept him going, as darkness descended Holy Thursday night. Jesus will be betrayed, denied, abandoned, tortured, and publicly humiliated, but Jesus will not waiver. The words from Psalm 118 were constantly in his heart: “The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.” A parade song that sustained Jesus, even when he felt deserted by his Father. This week, what scriptures, what song will sustain you as you walk alongside with Jesus?
This is why it is important that we begin Holy Week with the power of processions and parades. It reminds us of the living journey of our faith. This is the week our faith is on parade. Will we follow Jesus through that lonesome valley? Will we share that last supper with him? Will we stay awake with Jesus as he prays so earnestly in the garden? Will we remain steadfast as darkness descends - will we follow Jesus on that Via Delarosa to the cross at Golgotha?
In the pain and sorrow that Holy Week evokes, I hear my grandmother voice, singing:
Oh Danny boy oh Danny boy I love you so
But when ye come and all the roses falling
And I am dead as dead I well may be
Go out and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an ave there for me
As death’s dirge approaches, and the roses fall, the parade of faith summons us to kneel and pray. Let us wave our palms for Jesus. May his procession to Golgotha shake us to the core. So let us remember the songs and scriptures of our parade of faith once more. Let us remain faithful and steadfast in the parade of faith this Holy Week. It calls us to our common experience of suffering and vision for a better life. A life that Jesus went to the cross for. A life Jesus died for.
So today we begin the parade of our faith: the parade for our lives. May these comforting words from Psalm 118 touch us in our darkest moments this Holy Week: “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.” For blessed is he, who comes in the name of the Lord.” Hosanna to the Son of David! Amen.