Palm Sunday Paradox

Palm Sunday Paradox
Palm Sunday; Mark 11:1-11
They wanted a victor to take power and reign –
his crown would be thorns on a victim in pain.
The man on a donkey, foretold as a king,
rode humbly despite the hosannas they sing.

They’d gathered some converts to bolster their cause;
his teaching forgotten in shouts and applause.
Yet how many times had he said, “First is last;
my kingship is service, not power of the past.”

Their shouts turned to anger: “He thinks he’s God’s fool!
He overturns tables and not Roman rule!
He gathers no army of angels to fight!
What use is he dying in such desperate plight?”

So how do we claim him, as fool or as king?
Does he choose a donkey while we praise and sing?
As we seek more converts to prop up our dreams,
he bleeds on our carpet and upturns our schemes.

Not many accept that God’s vulnerable here:
when power is surrendered, the kingdom draws near,
and those who have had to let go see the king.
Their silence and wonder transform what they sing.
Barbara Messner March 2018