Evening, Palm Sunday, 2010

Luke 19.28-40

“When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples….” (Luke 19.29)

As we lifted palms in church and heard the familiar words of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and shouted “Hosanna!” we were reenacting, as many Christians have done through the centuries, the event that begins the holiest week in the Christian calendar. Each year, Christians from all over the world retrace Jesus’ steps, processing down the Mount of Olives and into the Old City of Jerusalem. Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank have participated in this procession for many years.

Even in Luke’s account, there are mixed reactions to Jesus and the adulation of the crowds. As they shout for joy and throw their cloaks on the path to welcome him, “some of the Pharisees” are worried and warn that this public acclamation should stop.

Not much has changed in the past two thousand years. The procession of palms in Jerusalem—Christians parading through the streets, praising God and marking this holiest of weeks, are still seen as a threat.

Although pilgrims from Ireland, the Philippines and Utah walked in the Jerusalem procession today, most Palestinians from the West Bank were denied entry into Jerusalem. In spite of the efforts of Palestinian church leaders who have been working with Israeli officials for weeks, no permits were given for their congregations to travel to Jerusalem, and Palestinians do not travel anywhere without permits. The five or so miles from Bethlehem to Jerusalem have become a divide that cannot be breached.

In Bethlehem today about 150 Palestinian Christians, with their Israeli and Muslim supporters, (along with two donkeys and a horse) did manage to get past the checkpoint. But they were quickly stopped by soldiers who piled out of their jeeps—beating and arresting the marchers. Eleven Palestinians were arrested at the main tourist checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the place our tour buses go through when we visit. (See photo with the palms and the soldiers arresting one of the marchers.) Four Israeli peace activists who were also detained were later released by the Israeli soldiers. See more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/ Read the story from Ma’an news agency: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=272253 ; more details from Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh’s blog: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/rightsblog2010/

Other Palestinians did manage to celebrate Palm Sunday at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. And others walked with palms in the village of Al-Zababdeh near the West Bank town of Jenin (see AP wire photo at top).

Even Jesus would not have been able to walk today from Bethany to Jerusalem. The Israeli security wall cuts off the main road, between Jericho and Jerusalem, the road that goes through Bethany. (photo shows where the wall blocks the Jericho road).

Today we marked Palm Sunday, not only with readings and reenactments of the procession, but also with the reading of the story of Jesus’ passion—the suffering he endured at the hands of the Roman empire, his arrest, the beating, the insults of the soldiers……….

Gracious God, you sent your son to show us your way of liberation and peace. Help us, who call ourselves by his name, to be messengers of peace and reconciliation in your world today. Help us break down the walls that divide us—to find one small thing we can do to bring reconciliation to the places where we live and work. Amen.