"Where are you headed?"
Matthew 21:1-11
Palm Sunday
Rev. Emily Labrecque, Westmoreland UCC
March 29, 2026
[Pray: Speak to us God for we are listening. Speak to us God for we are waiting for your voice. Speak to us God in our hearts and all around. Tell us what will be, what will be.]
Palm Sunday tells the same story every year. And yet every year, we seem to glean something new because of the realities of the world around us. This year is no exception. In fact, I have really been feeling the tension and emotion of this passage this week in the midst of the national and international headlines.
You see, there were two parades happening that day. It was the beginning of Passover which meant Rome sent their governor, Pontius Pilate and the imperial guard to march into town to show their prestige and power to the thousands of Jews gathering for the holy days. This was meant to intimidate them, to show them “who’s boss.” To remind them that if, when, however they might make a ruckus and stir up trouble, these mighty men on their well dressed horses with shiny swords would be right there to shut it down.
Meanwhile, Jesus approaches the same main thoroughfare from the East. No pomp. No circumstance. No red carpet. Just Jesus on a donkey, an unsaddled beast of burden, riding over palm branches and cloaks.
You might imagine the crowds shouting toward Pilate: Save us! Lower our taxes! Keep the foreigners out! Increase our job opportunities!
Whereas the crowd facing Jesus was shouting: Hosanna, Save us from tyranny! Bring us peace! Bring us freedom! Save us from the Empire!
In order to truly understand Palm Sunday and the rest of Holy week, we have to understand the geopolitical scene at the time. Because that day when Jesus rode to town on a donkey was in fact a subversive and deliberate public demonstration.
The crowds who were out to cheer on Pilate were complicit in the Empire. They weren’t bad people, they had simply become convinced that imperial power brought them safety. That militaristic presence in the streets and at outposts helped to keep them safe and kept the right people ‘in’ and the wrong people ‘out.’ But it wasn’t just that. You see, empires can’t survive by their military, political or economic power alone. Palestinian pastor and scholar Rev. Mitri Raheb reminds us that along with that power has to be some sort of ideological or theological framework to make it make sense. They don’t violate human rights in a vacuum, they do it based on this ideology. Often, that sounds like “This is just the way the world is supposed to work .” Or, “This is how God has made the world to be.”
This was true for the Roman Empire, which believed it was to bring peace to the world through domination. It was true for the Byzantine empire, which followed the Roman Empire, for the Crusades, launched by the papacy, who were trying to clear the land of “infidels” through their violent military campaigns. And too for the Islamic Empire trying to bring “the world out of ignorance.” It was true for the colonizers who believed in Manifest Destiny and the genocide and displacement of American Indians for the sake of territorial growth. And again, we face the same type of theological rhetoric regarding the state of Israel today.
In modern history, empires have justified their expansion and acquisition of other lands and people by casting colonized populations as backwards and inferior, and framing imperial conquest as a civilizing and enlightening mission.[1]
Systems of domination rely on a few key characteristics. The first is the religious legitimation I just mentioned. The idea that what the empire is doing is “the will of God.” Second is that of economic exploitation. In the 1st century, the Jews were facing an empire that stole societal wealth from the agricultural profit driven by lower class workers. They also worked the system to use taxation, debt, and ownership laws to make the poor poorer and the rich richer.
Empires have never survived on swords and coins alone – they need a story, and that story has almost always claimed God's blessing. From Rome to the Crusades to the colonizers, the powerful have wrapped their domination in the language of divine will, all while picking the pockets of the poor and calling it providence.
This is why it matters, then, that we rehash the historical and political context of Palm Sunday.
Because Jesus was not that kind of King.
Jesus didn’t need a chariot or a horse or a golden crown.
Jesus had spent his whole ministry trying to help people see that the power the empire proclaims is all smoke and mirrors. Jesus had a following. He could have started a political party. Jesus could have become the Chief Rabbi in his hometown. Jesus could have ventured to the big cities to get the word spread to more and more people.
But no. Instead, Jesus spent his energy on people, not politics. He traveled from village to village, building a coalition of followers who understood the need for something more life-giving than swords and taxes. Jesus was powerful, he could have convinced more of the militia men to join his cause but instead, he sought out followers who didn’t have any power or significant wealth – fishermen, farmers, homemakers, tax collectors, and teachers. Jesus focused his ministry on cultivating peace-making across cultures and identities.
All of this he did to counter a violent system of domination and to bring the Peaceable Realm closer to reality.
Now, we have ideas of what it looks like to follow Jesus by way of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and giving to the poor. And those are important. But those practices only go so far in resisting systems of domination. Here’s what else could it look like, practically speaking?
One way to resist the domination of empire is by shopping at local and minority owned businesses as frequently as you are able instead of big box stores like Target and Walmart, or mega online retailers like Amazon, Temu, and the like. Yes, our lives are busy and so yes they are incredibly convenient. However, there are great alternatives. And in using those alternatives, you may develop relationships with other customers, employees, and neighbors.
I had been an avid user of an Oura Ring for several years. It tracked my biometric data, helped me figure out how to sleep better and how exercise was affecting my body. I loved it. I found it so helpful. Then I learned that they partnered with the Peter Thiel founded organization Palantir to extract military data for analysis. So I took my ring off, cancelled my subscription and never looked back. Try to avoid companies that use digital tools to track behavior, monitor populations and control narratives. Other platforms that provide this kind of surveillance include Ring cameras, Amazon Alexa and Google Home type devices, and anything that uses AI algorithms and facial recognition to turn a picture into a caricature or unlock your phone.
Another idea is to build communities of intersectional alliances that connect people to each other for resources such as Mutual Aid. Build and support third spaces like community gardens and cooperatives. Jesus taught us the resources are there, it’s just that the distribution is wrong. We can spread our wealth and presence more evenly by giving and participating in such ventures.
The crowd cheering for Pilate wasn't made up of bad people. They were ordinary people who had been shaped by a system that told them this was just the way things are. We are not so different. For those of us who are white, non-hispanic people in the world, we need to be educated and grow in our awareness of white supremacy, patriarchy, colonization and exploitative capitalism. There are so many systems we are a part of simply because we exist. But that doesn’t mean we can’t educate ourselves to resist those systems.
The Empire thrives on suspicion, hate, and fear. So, the more we can lean into curiosity, compassion, and care, the more we will be able to resist the domination systems at play all around us and follow the way of Jesus.
There were two parades that Sunday. One with gold and swords and power. One with a donkey, palms, and cries of liberation!” To which parade are you headed?
Amen.
