By Brandon Brown
"There's always some dude on a horse." - Brian Zahnd
The week leading up to Easter Sunday is Holy Week within Christianity. It is a week which starts with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We call it the triumphal entry, yet it is as subversive as many of Jesus’ actions. Jesus enters Jerusalem from the east on a donkey with a foal in order to fulfill scripture. But this act also serves to upend the triumphal entry as anything like that of a political messiah coming in worldly power. They greeted Jesus with cheers and shouts of hosanna (he who comes in the name of the Lord). The religious leaders sense the danger here and implore Jesus to quiet the crowds to avoid the notice of the Empire. Yet Jesus states the rocks would cry out if the people were silenced.
The might of Rome arrives in Jerusalem from the west and that procession looks entirely different from the entry of Jesus. In this procession, there is not only some dude on a horse, but scores of dudes on horses. All armed and escorted by the might of Roman soldiers projecting the power and supremacy of Rome into that world. There are crowds at this entry as well, but it is a mixture of those whose power depends upon Empire and those whose terror of the Empire compels them to cheer on that which they fear.
The two entries could not be more different, yet many in both crowds were looking for safety, trust, and security in power. This is why many in the crowd who shouted hosannah change their shouts to "crucify him" and "we have no king but Caesar" just days later. They missed the donkey, they missed the peaceful entry, they missed the point. Why did they turn so quickly? Fear, disappointment, and distrust all factor in. They were still afraid of Rome, yet also disappointed that Jesus did not come in power and make Israel great again. Jesus did not take down Rome with might nor throw off the oppressive yoke of the Empire. He was arrested and brought before the powers seemingly impotent. The people were fickle in their trust, but that was not new nor confined to them.
Of course, just as quickly as defeat seems imminent, there is another shift days later. But let's not spoil the end of the week just yet. Instead, think about how we may misplace our trust not in the incarnate God on a donkey but in some dude on a horse. Are we looking to worldly might for security, rescue, and power and invariably seeking the dudes on horses?