“The Triumphal Entry!”

“The Triumphal Entry!”(Zec.9:9-12).
The old covenant actually had to be abrogated because of its ungodly way of administering justice. Imagine that in the cause of men fighting, if one hit a pregnant woman and if there was “serious injury,” the punishment was “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot…”(Ex.21:22-25).
The incarnation brought a drastic paradigm shift – a complete opposite of this Hamurabic law. Jesus asks us to turn the other cheek to receive another slap. He asks us to give our inner garment to the creditor who takes our tunic as a loan repayment. He asks us to go an extra mile on top of the distance our masters or tormentors require of us.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnation of nonviolence. We do not fight the enemy on his terms. We choose our weapons; which is by being weaponless. If the enemy engages us in fighting, we do not give a punch; yet we win by tiring him out by simply dodging his aimless punches.
Gandhi captured this very well by saying “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
Nonviolence, nonretaliation is not a weakness; it is rather a demonstration of inner strength as it shames the enemy.
Such inner strength is an affirmation that it is the LORD who fights the battles of those who surrender their fights in his hands. Yes, “the battle is the LORD’S!” He fights for us and we just have to be still.
For God to fight our battles we must be humble enough to submit to his will. Peace is beautiful!
On Palm Sunday we celebrate and commemorate the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem of the Lord Jesus Christ. He entered Jerusalem, conscious that he was entering to be made the scapegoat of nonviolence advocacy.
Peace is beautiful and can never be achieved by any other means, other than peaceful means. Ironically, peace has an expensive price: “Advocates of nonviolence die through violence; but that’s what makes them scapegoats of nonviolence.
Our Palm Sunday celebration reminds us that Jesus comes to proclaim peace to the nations. He comes to free prisoners from the waterless pits. He comes in simplicity as he rides on a donkey – a beast of burden – even when he is a King, righteous and having salvation.
As a troubleshooter, he takes war chariots and war-horses. Also in the new dawn that he ushers in, “the battle bow will be broken.”
May we use the celebration of Palm Sunday to serve as a reminder that we should emulate the humility and submissiveness of our Lord as we carry his name here. May we be advocates of God’s peace that passes human understanding.
Palm Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit, encourage us daily to be advocates of nonviolence as we submit to the LORD in humility. Amen!
Happy Palm Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
13/04/2025.