Palm Sunday: the Kingdom of God and a new social order
by Archbishop Cranmer:
The Kingdom of God was heralded by the Messiah riding a donkey. By reason and provocation, He urged anyone who would fully accept that Kingdom to enter into its reality. It was not about mythical notions of the nationalism, or of cultic, legalistic or apocalyptic understandings of spacial and temporal rule: the Kingdom of God was and is about riding the donkey of divine transcendence.
The Church is the visible Kingdom of God on earth (Mt 16:18f), and its mission is to dispense grace through the ages, to multiply and to become self-governing, self-supporting and self-extending. It is not about a future promise, but is present now and intrinsically engaged with the exigencies of life. Salvation is a process which begins now with a Kingdom commitment (1Cor 11:17-22 cf Acts2:44), bringing healing in a total sense: the healing of the person, restoring fullness and completeness.
The urgent needs of real people take precedence over heavenly issues, even though those heavenly thoughts speak of the ultimate eschatological hope. God and His Kingdom are not remote or aloof: they are present and immanent in redemptive nearness. Unless the proclamation of salvation makes an impact now, we are only playing with words. We are here to demonstrate the love of God by riding on a donkey; not by asserting, coercing, bulldozing or Bible bashing.
Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God incorporated a historical demand for justice in word and deed. Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10) experienced salvation not only personally, but also relationally as he severed links with an unjust tax system and his unjust treatment of the poor. Jesus’ offer of grace to all people is a challenge to break down those barriers that prevent communion with others who differ from oneself in terms of race, class, sex or circumstance.
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