As the Passover approached, two opposing powers entered Jerusalem. The first was Pontius Pilate, with a strong force of Roman soldiers. The Romans always strengthened their presence in the city in preparation for the Passover feast. The Passover celebrated the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery by the miraculous intervention of God, when Moses was given the power to lead the Israelites to safety.
But at the time of Christ, the Israelites were celebrating the great feast of their liberation under the foreign occupation of the Romans. Unrest was very likely. The city was like a tinderbox that could go up in flames any moment. The Romans made a show of raw military power to reinforce their occupation and the oppressive order that the Empire had imposed upon the land. Pilate himself, the local Roman governor, was in town to oversee the demonstration of dominance.
The other power entering Jerusalem was Jesus. He rode into the city on Palm Sunday, hailed by the crowds as the King of Israel. The Israelites were waiting for a Messiah who would be a military king. He would overthrow the oppression of the Romans, he would liberate the Israelites from bondage, and he would restore the Kingdom of David.
After the Israelites settled down in the Holy Land, they initially lived as a loose confederation of tribes. But in time, they asked God for a king and the monarchy was established. The first king, Saul, was disobedient to God and was deposed. But then, in the 10th century BC, God raised up David, who established Jerusalem as the capital of the kingdom. After David came Solomon, who forged a small empire and built the Temple in Jerusalem.
But after Solomon, things took a turn for the worse. The kingdom was split in two - the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, the two soon becoming bitter rivals. In 722 BC, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. Then in 587 BC, Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, who destroyed the Temple and carried off the holy objects of the Jewish faith. They also deported a large section of the population of the Kingdom of Judah to Babylon, which was the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity.
But in 537 BC, the Persians defeated the Babylonians and they allowed the Israelites to return home and to rebuild the Temple. But the Jewish people still remained under foreign occupation. In the 4th century, the Greeks overcame the Persians in their turn and became the new occupiers of the Holy Land. They were cruel masters, who desecrated the Temple and sought to eradicate the observance of the Torah. The Israelites rebelled and were able to establish limited independence for a time under the Maccabees. But in 63 BC, the Romans arrived and conquered the whole area, once again bringing the Holy Land under foreign occupation.
But now, on Palm Sunday, the Messiah was riding into Jerusalem. The people had every expectation that he would restore the Kingdom of David. In fulfillment of the biblical prophecies, Jerusalem would now become the central power of the world. All the nations would come and worship the God of Israel.
On Palm Sunday, Christ did begin the restoration of the Kingdom of David. But not in the way envisioned by the Israelites. Instead of a political victory, instead of overthrowing the Romans and establishing a temporal kingdom, Jesus conquered spiritually.
Through his death and resurrection, Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin. By being baptized into Christ, we are cleansed of our sins and become partakers of God’s eternal life. Christ's sacrifice also transforms society. The more the message of the Gospel spreads and takes root in the world, the more the generational evil that has marred human history is broken and defeated. Christ also frees us from the corruption of the natural order that is a consequence of sin. At the end of time, Christ will refashion the universe and will establish a new order of creation, the New Jerusalem, where there will no longer be death or suffering, the dark fruits of sin, but only joy and peace and complete fulfillment.
On Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem expected Christ to defeat the Roman Empire. But though Christ did not defeat Rome physically, he defeated the sinful spirit of Rome. Throughout the New Testament, the Roman Empire is seen as the embodiment of human evil. The perverted values of Rome are set against the life-giving values of Christ.
Roman officials and soldiers executed Christ, but they could not overcome him. He rose from the dead and the message of Christianity displaced the pagan beliefs of the Empire. In time the city of Rome, which at the time of Christ was seen as the epicenter of evil, would become the center of the Church that Christ established.
Just as Rome gave way to Christ, so it will be with every human power. Looking at more recent history, we might feel discouraged. Christendom has been shattered. Once Catholic nations have turned away from the faith. Western Civilization has largely abandoned the values of Christ and is on the brink of collapse.
But no human power can prevail against the faith. Christ will overcome all earthly forces. Civilizations will rise and fall. Empires will come and go. But Christ is eternal. He will reign without end over all the nations, over the whole universe, now and forever.
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The readings for Palm Sunday, Cycle C, are:
Luke 19:28-40
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:14—23:56
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: View of Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.