Performance art
Mark spoke on Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. In Luke 19, Jesus enters Jerusalem at Passover festival time. This is the festival where the people remember God liberated them from an evil empire. They are remembering their liberation while they are being oppressed by a foreign government - the Romans. It is a dangerous time and there had been bloody uprisings before on Passover. Ones filled with violence and hatred. Ones symbolised by palm branches!
This isn't just a celebration - this is a revolution. Those waving palms and laying down their cloaks are expecting Jesus to be the king who will defeat the ruling empire. This is performance art, full of symbolism. Jesus is coming in on a donkey, imitating the kings of old. He came in on the day that all the sheep came into the city to be slaughtered, probably through the Sheep gate. He is a king and the lamb. And then "Jesus weeps". He cries as he enters into the city. He is weeping because he says "If you only knew the things that made for peace... you did not recognise the day of your visitation." The way to come out of exile is always repentance. To turn toward God again. The way is not anger and violence. Jesus did not come by anger and violence to build his kingdom.
Two other things Mark highlights:
The disciples were praising God for the works of God they were seeing right now. We’ve got to celebrate what God is doing right now. If he is not doing anything recognisable right now, that is a cause for lament. We need both kinds of celebrations - the 'let’s remember' and 'lets notice what he is doing right now'. If we can’t see any evidence of what he is doing now then that would be a good question to ask. God show me what you are doing right now. That is a turning for us.
Jesus and lament - We cannot get to joy if we don't go through lament. There is good Friday and then there is Easter morning. If we don't face the stuff that has caused deep grief in us and the world we only have a shallow joy.