Let me tell you a story about Palm Sunday...
Around 150 B.C. the Roman emperor, Antiochus IV, decided that the Jews will no longer be allowed to worship Yahweh, nor were they to practice any of their Jewish religious ceremonies to include the great feasts. This was unacceptable to the Jews and led to the Maccabean Revolt.
This revolt resulted in developing two new Jewish sects, the Pharisees and the Zealots. The Zealots were those who believed that they were ordained and commissioned by God to kill non-Jews, to include those they considered heretics or hypocrites, anyone who would prevent them from worshiping their God, or anyone who threatened their role as the leaders of the Promised Land. It is not impossible to understand their crude manner of defense when we know that Antiochus was taking Jewish mothers who circumcised their sons and would kill them with their babies wrapped around the mother’s neck. This was a very volatile time for the Jews.
The Pharisees we are familiar with...
The Zealots, like many tribes, groups, and countries, had a flag or representative symbol. Their flag was a palm branch. When the Jews waved palm branches it was a symbol of the Zealot’s non-peaceful stance. And wherever the palm branch was waved or used as part of a parade or ritual, the message was that the Jews are to take Rome by force.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey, the Zealots were giving the sign of the palm branches to send the message that their Zealot Messiah would help them kill the Romans.
In Luke 19:41-44 Jesus expresses his sadness over their misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Messiah, who more like the Pharisees than the Zealots believed and taught that killing his enemies was not the answer to bringing peace to Israel. “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’”
PALM Sunday...It is an interesting look into what the Jews actually thought of Jesus in his time. He was supposed to take the world by force and appoint representatives of the 12 tribes to judge the world. After that there would be peace, but there isn't...so he wasn't! The Jews I know simply believe him to be a prophet that most likely let them down. |