Palm Sunday

Binhi sang Pagtuo

April 6, 2009

Greetings from La Carlota City!

Our reflection for this week comes from Luke 19: 28-48.

Yesterday, the Christian church celebrated Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Today is a holiday to commemorate in advance the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor, previously Bataan Day) on April 9 – to honor the bravery and heroism of Filipinos and Americans during World War II.

Connecting our Christian history to that of our Philippine history, we can say that the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was also his Araw ng Kagitingan. Previous to this, the center of Jesus’ ministry was on Galilee and on the outskirts of Jerusalem. His public appearance in Jerusalem was very limited. His audience was mainly the poor, the sick – the marginalized sector of the society. But on that day, Jesus showed courage by riding in a donkey in broad daylight and challenged the political and religious authorities in front of many people.

The people upon seeing Jesus shouted “Hosanna!” which means “Save us, now! We pray!” The people were fed up. They were ready for a revolution. They were looking for a savior. The Pharisees shouted at Jesus, and asked him to rebuke his disciples. But he said, “if they keep quite, the stones will cry out.”

A great multitude was following him. They thought all the while that he will lead them to raid the Praetorium, the headquarters of the Roman camp. He instead turned towards the temple. If you study the map of Jerusalem, from the entrance, Jesus can either go to the seat of Roman power, or to the Temple, the religious center of the Jewish people. He chose the temple. He did not want to start a bloody war with the Romans, that’s why he did not enter riding on a horse, a symbol of war, but on a donkey, a symbol of peace.

He cleansed the temple because it had become a den of robbers. Graft, corruption, conflict of interest had become the way of life of the religious sector – there was collusion between the religious leaders and businessmen. The priests deliberately declared the animals brought by the people as unclean, and those declared as clean were the animals sold only in the temple area. The price was exorbitant. The religious sector was getting richer and richer on the expense of the poor people.

Jesus exposed these evil practices. On that day, he was marked for death. The plot to kill him was under way.

What about us? Is Jesus still trying to enter our lives or are we afraid that Jesus will find out our corrupt practices? Oftentimes, we expect Jesus to act in a way that we expected him to act. But like in New Testament times, he turns to the unexpected – he turns towards the core of our being. He confronts us face to face. He wants to clean us first – to drive away our evil practices. Should we join the plot to kill him? Will we be one of those who, at first, shouted “Hosanna” and later shouted “Crucify him!?” Hopefully, Jesus will enter our lives triumphantly.

May God continually bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain