forest hill 
April 13, 2025
Palm Sunday
“Daring Questions:
6. Loving Enemies”
Our worship themes in these weeks before Easter grow out of the daring questions you sent me last month. Here are this week’s questions:
- “Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh”. (1 Peter 2:18) Really?? If an authority belittles us, should we say, "thank you"?
- How should we view the pain of the world we live in and the ones we experience/experienced?
- Why do good people suffer?
I sometimes wonder why Jesus thought it was worth the risk to ride that donkey down the Mount of Olives, and into the clutches of his enemies.
Surely he knew the risks. Surely, he knew that the Romans would be on high alert for signs of rebellion, especially at this holy time of year when Jews were commemorating how God had liberated Pharaoh’s slaves. Surely, he knew that posing as God’s Righteous Ruler, entering the Holy City in Sacred Humility, could only inflame the crowds who were longing for a new Exodus from their new oppressors.
From the Roman perspective, silencing Jesus meant avoiding a much bigger rebellion; better to nab the leader than risk a riot. Bloodshed is so inconvenient! And the fact that during the day Jesus preached in the Temple grounds where he was protected by crowds, but at night left the city to sleep in a secret location out of sight, makes it clear he felt the danger. Only the adoring crowds kept him safe that week, while his enemies bided their time.
Some Christians have believed that Jesus had Divine insight into exactly what was coming, and did everything he could to hasten the cross. Others, who don’t believe that Jesus could predict the future any more clearly than any other human being can, still believe he could see the writing on the wall. Either way, this was a dangerous time to bring demands for a Just Ruler to the attention of the Roman Governor. The odds that he’d pay the ultimate price for his troubles – like John the Baptist had, and so many others – were obvious to everyone.
Why take the risk? Surely he could have continued to preach a message of “fair dealing” and “healing for all” in the countryside for years, without risking everything? Surely a country preacher with a message of generous love wouldn’t have been a threat? Does the message of The Good Samaritan or the Story of the Unjust Judge carry more punch because Jesus died for the cause?
Jesus’ message became a threat when it morphed from inviting people to be kind to demanding that rulers be just. For Jesus, loving enemies meant calling them to become just, not caving in to their abusive edicts.
Our “daring questions” for this week are about why good people suffer, and whether loving enemies means that we’re always supposed to knuckle under when faced with unreasonable demands. Given the impact of US tariffs on Canada and the rest of the world over the past few weeks, these are more than just academic questions! There are good people suffering around the globe right now – losing jobs, medications, even their lives – all because powerful rulers are imposing demands that are designed to impoverish rather than enhance their lives. Victims of oppression always wonder “why” they’ve been singled out. Leaders like Jesus, who pay a horrible price for standing up to bullies, wonder whether their sacrifice has the impact they hope for.
But there is no answer to the “why” questions, except to acknowledge the evil that stalks our world. That evil impacts different people with different levels of severity, with no rhyme or reason, and sometimes all you can do is weep at the unfairness of it all. Rather than ask the unanswerable “why”, it’s better to ponder “what now.”
What can we learn from the ways that Jesus confronted the bullies of his day? What is the value of protesting the decisions of those with overwhelming military might? What are the risks? How might Jesus’ strategy for calling leaders to account inform the ways that we resist injustice? Can we love our enemies at the same time as we actively resist the harm they inflict? Might Jesus’ hopes for his Palm Sunday donkey ride mirror our own, as we seek a path of justice, compassion, and grace?