Everyone loves a parade — well, almost everyone! Certainly, for the younger generation they are magical.
Ithaca has a huge parade every year at the May festival. Crowds line the streets, standing or sitting as floats show off their best and local groups dance, sing and play. Children surge forward hoping to be recipients of candy and small trinkets thrown into the crowd. It is bright, it is colourful and it is noisy. It is a window where people can forget their troubles and come together to join in the fun.
Palm Sunday is all about a parade. As I pondered it the words of a song, well known to my generation, came to mind. The first four lines got stuck in my head as I sang them over and over (but not out loud!).
“We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
The crowd called out for more”
This same sense of abandoned joy comes across in the parade in our lectionary (Luke 19.28-40) Jesus came riding from Bethphage to Jerusalem on a colt which had never before been ridden. As the parade continued the crowds turned out with cheering, waving branches and laying their cloaks along the road mindful of the young donkey’s hooves.
It always seems a little bit of a strange, completely out of character that Jesus paraded with all the fanfare that the author of the gospel describes.
Maybe, the author of the gospel included it to emphasize the sovereignty of Jesus. The crowds chanted, “Blessed is the Sovereign” (38)
Maybe, the author of the gospel included it to emphasize the relationship of Jesus to God.
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God” (38)
Maybe, the author of the gospel included it to emphasize the connection with the angels at the birth stories and the message of peace.
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven” (38)
All these are worth spending time to think about but I’m not remaining there today. As always as I read the Palm Sunday story each year, despite the joyful words, I feel sad. I wonder once again at fickleness of humanity.
The parade is only the beginning of a weeklong journey that is a bit like a roller coaster ride. Not that I have been on a roller coaster, but I have watched others on them. The amazing highs with the screams as they drop to deep lows.
One thing I have noticed as people leave roller coasters they are often disorientated, a little dizzy, they have an unsteady gait and, in some cases, even vomit. But then they queue up for more! The song catches it well “I was feeling kinda seasick/The crowd called out for more”
But this initial air of excitement waned. Within a few days the cries of the crowd changed to “crucify”. The cries of peace turned to cries of violence. It is unnerving and unsettling. What changed the people?
I think this story shows how fickle human beings are. Women’s Ways of Knowing (Belenky et al 1986) details how women think, make choices and decisions about their own lives. I found it interesting that the research showed people will often just go with the majority or follow the opinion expressed by a perceived authority.
Is that what happened here with the crowds?
Was it simply a case of going with the perceived authority?
Was it keeping in line with the majority?
These are salutary thoughts. They make me feel sad but challenged.
I think this year Palm Sunday offers an amazing opportunity for each of us.
Would I have swayed with the crowd to change our voice from joy and peace to death and violence?
Or would I have been strong enough to remain with the few women at the foot of the cross?
(For those who didn’t recognize it: A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum)