This Sunday we will observe Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the final week of Jesus’ life, a span of time that Christian tradition has come to refer to as Holy Week. While the week culminates in the events of Good Friday and Easter, the movement through the entire week tells us of significant interactions with followers as well as definitive confrontations with adversaries, each of which brings greater clarity about how Jesus understood his mission, to incarnate the kingdom of God.

Our scripture reading for this week is from Mark’s version of the Gospel. It is interesting to note that Mark is the only Gospel writer that makes the effort to record the events of Holy Week on a day to day basis, signifying a certain level of care to how the story of the week is shared. Ultimately, it is a story of resistance and subversion as Jesus seeks to challenge the “domination system” that Rome, and all empires, employ. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan write, “There is nothing unusual about this form of society. Monarchical and aristocratic rule by a wealthy few was the most common form of social system in the ancient world. And one could make a good case that in somewhat different form it remains with us today.” Jesus actions on Palm Sunday represent a direct challenge to the legitimacy and normalization of such systems. As Jesus entered the city from the east, Pontius Pilate would have been entering the city from the west, leading a parade glorifying all the imperial power of Rome.

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