My middle brother loves the New Year's Day parades. I never really understood his fascination until we got a color TV. Finally, a college friend asked me to go to the French Quarter the Saturday before Mardi Gras. My friend did his best but nothing really prepares you for the Saturday night parades and the crowds they draw. Mardi Gras is a time of extreme joyous celebration.
The most celebrated parade in the Bible is Palm Sunday. Jesus instructed the disciples to borrow a colt he could ride into Jerusalem to fulfill the Zechariah 9:9 prophecy. A large crowd gathered putting their cloaks and tree limbs on the road while singing Psalm 118:25-26. The Passover pilgrims in Jerusalem made the crowd enormous.
A member of our parish owns horses and was surprised Jesus could ride an unbroken colt. To her, the colt would not have been happy at having a 175 pound man on his back for the first time. Another local country boy agreed adding the colt must have been at least two years old. Also, he trains his horses to expect the unexpected before taking them to the Mardi Gras parades.
Each of the four gospels adds
something special to the story. Mark 11:1-11 tells us Jesus started his ride
near the Mount of Olives
making the whole ride about a mile. The final verse
tells us this parade took place late in the day.
Matthew 21:1-11 identifies the
mount as a donkey with a colt. Cloaks are put on the pair rather than letting
Jesus ride bareback. Leading the mare with the colt could have kept him calm. Still,
anyone who can calm storms can calm a colt. The final verses indicate the ride ended
with the crowd in turmoil
.
Luke 19:28-40 ends with the
Pharisees pleading with Jesus to get the crowd to stop singing. Jesus tells
them the stones would shout out
if the people stopped. Can you imagine trying
to quiet a Mardi Gras parade crowd?
John 12:9-16 tells the crowd initially
gathered to see Jesus and the recently raised Lazarus. The chief priests were
worried because Jesus was drawing the Passover crowds away from the temple. They
were concerned the palm
carrying crowd would try to make Jesus king. The
chief priests running the Sanhedrin would be blamed resulting in the Romans crushing
the revolt once and for all.
Do you celebrate Jesus?
Grace and peace in the power of the Holy Spirit.
(J. Wesley McComb is a published author and a member of Christ Episcopal Church, 1534 7th St, Slidell, 643-4531.)
© by The Slidell Independent newspaper; originally published on February 11, 2010. Used by permission of publisher and author.