Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8

We are fascinated by displays of power and greatness and we love happy endings. Perhaps that is why we spend most of our attention during Holy Week on Palm Sunday and Easter. Let us not forget that Gethsemane and Golgotha are central to the drama.

Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The crowd was looking for a warrior to drive out the hated Romans. If that had been his intent, he would have led the parade astride a white horse. The donkey ride was to be a lesson. Surely the people would recognize the prophecy of Zechariah when he wrote the words, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The donkey was a symbol of a peaceful king not a warrior king. Jesus was demonstrating that Israel would triumph over both the Roman Empire and the Jewish leaders who served at the behest of the Romans. But the triumph would come, not by power, but in humility.

The people totally misunderstood the lesson. They harkened back to the time when Judas Maccabeus overthrew Greek rule in Israel. They waved palm branches and shouted Hosanna, which means “save us.” Surely this man leading the parade on the donkey will overthrow the hated Roman Empire. Well, they got it all wrong.

Today we also want to emphasize the parade. We tend to forget that the king was riding to his death. The cross is central to Holy Week. When Jesus was led away from Gethsemane, the parade was moving toward its conclusion. This Jesus who had ridden into town on a donkey was now going to be finally and ultimately humiliated. The end of the demonstration was not unlike the outcome when Martin Luther King came to Memphis. In both dramas, non-violent activism by the central figure led to his own violent death.

The resurrection on Easter morning validated the terrible events of Friday. It is right that we should celebrate Christ's resurrection, but we must remember that it came at a terrible price. We also celebrate Easter with a parade. We trivialize it with bunnies and eggs and fancy clothes. We like our religion to be clean and neat, but crucifixion is not clean and neat. It is a messy business. It cannot to be sanitized. When we take the name Christian, we too must be broken with him. Grace is not cheap. It also comes at a terrible price.

Prayer: God of grace, as we move toward the culmination of our Lenten journey, we look at the cross and all that it means. Our journey also has a cross. Only by humbling ourselves and yielding to your will can we fully participate in the resurrection event. Only when we die to ourselves, will we be raised into newness of life. May God be praised. Amen.