THE CROWDS OF THE HOLY WEEK

Reflections on the Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion: Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14-23:56

The ‘crowds’ constitute a key character in the eternally salvific ‘Passion Play’ of the Holy Week. When we read the gospel narratives of the Holy Week closely, we discern three distinct crowds.

The Pilgrim Crowd:

The Passover was undoubtedly one of the important events of the Jewish calendar. Jesus, who had always ‘set his face to go to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51, 13:33, 17:11, 19:11), leads a mixed crowd from Galilee (the epicentre of his public ministry) to Jerusalem for the feast (Matthew 19:2). Avoiding Samaria due to the unexpected hostility (Luke 9:51), Jesus chooses the alternative longer way through Perea and Judea beyond the Jordan to reach Jericho, the oasis city. Though marked by interesting encounters, healings, conflicts, and questions, the pilgrimage also narrates the disciples' hesitations, fears, and questions concerning the forthcoming ‘passion’. Jesus warns the crowd about the forthcoming events in Jerusalem and explains their significance (Mark 10:32-34).

The Palm Sunday recollects the final part of this pilgrimage. Jesus leads the pilgrim crowd from Galilee along with a few more that had followed him since the raising of Lazarus. The grand entry is by no means incognito. Jesus himself seems to be aware of its significance and does not hesitate to prepare for it as he sends his disciples ahead of him to find a colt for the procession and a room for their final Passover. The pilgrim crowd, which was largely made up of ‘outsiders’ from Galilee and Judea, now merges with those in Jerusalem who had come to welcome them. Together, this Palm Sunday crowd lay down clothes, break branches with green leaves and palm leaves to spread them on the path of Jesus on the colt, and cry out in ecstatic joy singing Hosanna! Their cry and tumult shake Jerusalem to its core. Those who had walked the pilgrim path with Jesus now have reached the climax and the events of the Holy Week will transform this Palm Sunday crowd into the Pentecostal Crowd (Acts 2:1)

The Political Crowd:

We meet a remarkably different crowd at Pilate’s Palace. Perhaps, we have all heard the oft-repeated commentary that the crowd shouting Hosanna on Palm Sunday would cry ‘crucify him’ on Good Friday. Can we be sure, though? Some interpretations beg to differ. The crowd gathered at the palace, unlike the pilgrim crowd of Palm Sunday, had political motivations to attend the governor’s annual Passover event, which he staged to garner local popularity and approval. Of particular interest to the crowd was the custom of releasing a prisoner by popular vote as part of this event (Matthew 27:15-18). Given that many popular rebel leaders were held as political prisoners by Pilate, this custom proved to be an opportunity to ensure their release. If they could shout loud enough, maybe they could get their preferred prisoner released.

Thus, the nature and purpose of the crowd were more political than spiritual or religious. And this was exactly what transpired on Good Friday. The crowds call vociferously for the release of Barabbas, a rebel who had led an uprising in which at least one person died. He was convicted for leading an insurrection and for murder. The cry for the crucifixion of Jesus was but a necessary corollary to their actual agenda. Jesus’ innocence or the unholy intentions of the religious leaders who handed him over to Pilate did not matter. Pilate tried to release Jesus after the warnings of his wife and his conscience. However, he gave in to the pressure of the political crowd, perhaps fearing the outbreak of a riot. The crowd’s political agenda and their majority opinion finally won!

The Perplexed Crowd:

At the foot of the cross, another interestingly mixed crowd gathers. Roman soldiers and their centurion, having led Jesus on the ‘shameful’ and dehumanising ‘way of the cross’ to Calvary, have now violently executed the prince of peace. Some of them begin to mock him while posting the sign on the cross that reads ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. They go on to divide the spoils, gambling to divide his garments among themselves. Also among the crowd are the passersby who also subject him to mockery, disdain, and ridicule asking him to come down from the cross and save himself.

Finally, some remnants of the pilgrim crowd are also present. Mary, other women and John stand by Jesus in perhaps the most lonely moment of his life. They were fighting their own demons too: despair, death of a loved one, uncertainty about their future. The crowd is thus a perplexed one including the violent executioners, unsympathetic passersby, and the suffering pilgrims. Interestingly, the final moments of Jesus on the cross transform this perplexed crowd into ‘witnesses’. The earth quakes, rocks split, darkness descends, the Temple veil tears open, and the crowd’s fear slowly gives way to the revelation of Jesus’ identity and the significance of his sacrificial death. The centurion proclaims on behalf of the now-transformed crowd, “Surely, He was the Son of God”.  

As we enter the Holy Week, we need to ask ourselves, “Which crowd am I in?” Am I a part of the pilgrim crowd? Do I walk with Jesus (joining hands with the ‘outsiders’) into the passion week eager to personally experience the salvation of this Passover? Am I part of the political crowd? Can I abandon my hidden agendas and unholy motivations to let the sacrificial death of Jesus achieve something new in my life? Or am I part of the perplexed crowd under the cross? How do I let this week’s events heal my violent tendencies, rejections, unholy habits, and doubts and thus transform me into a witnessing disciple?