People's Proclamation
A Reflection for Palm Sunday; March 28, 2021 (Sunday)
John 12:12-19 (NRSV)
By: The Rev. Dionito M. Cabillas
Bacood Parish of the Holy Child, Lubiran, Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila
As the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem, “The great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!’” (John 12:12-13)
The people expected that a powerful “King of Israel” would confront the powerful leaders of the Jews or Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was composed of several officials in Palestine under the Roman domination. They were the Sadducees, Pharisees, Scribes, and the Elders headed by the High Priest. The Sanhedrin had the power to rule in various political, religious, and judicial functions except in the imposition of the capital punishment or death penalty.
John the Evangelist described the festive situation. There were two groups in the crowd: One group consisted of the people who “had been with Him [Jesus] when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify” (John 12:17 NRSV). The other group was made up of those people in Jerusalem who “heard that He had performed this sign” [raising of Lazarus] and “went out of Jerusalem to meet Him (John 12:18).
Definitely, the action of the people had disturbed the Sanhedrin, especially the Pharisees. “The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!’” (John 12:19)
Jesus had been proclaimed by the people as “King of Israel.” Jesus had been declared as the “Messiah or Christ”. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. We as people of God assert that Jesus is our Lord and Savior! Proclaiming Jesus to the world is our task but we should not forget that His teachings and deeds are also most important. It is not enough to say, “Praise the Lord!” It is imperative to explain and propagate the Good News. After all, Jesus calls for repentance and the acceptance of this Good News (Mark 1:15).
As we contemplate on the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, we should remember that the people then proclaimed Him as “King of Israel” and it was also the same people who later shouted, “Crucify Him.” Jesus’ mission on earth was not properly understood by the people. At that time the people expected Jesus to liberate them from the oppressions of the Roman empire. But Jesus’ mission extended beyond the people Israel, i.e., to liberate and redeem the peoples of the world.
On our part as children of God and followers of Jesus, we have the task of educating the people and empowering them so that they will know how to act for themselves. Admitting that there is indeed danger in propagating this message, nevertheless we are mandated to do this work. We must empower the people and let themselves join in the proclamation of the Lord’s liberation and salvation of humankind.
We must bear in mind that when the people are not satisfied with our performance in carrying out the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, they would also tell us, “Enough! You have to take rest!”
