Illuminate - Pastor's Pen for 29th March 2026

Palm branches at Sunset, Forrest Hill

This Sunday, the tradition of the church marks Palm Sunday. Jesus entered Jerusalem not on a war horse, but on a donkey. Celebrated by the crowd on that day, but humble. Palm branches waving, but soon to be executed by the imperial power with the complicity of the religious authorities.

The gospel illuminates and stands against the misuse of temporal and spiritual power in every era of human history. Speaking of Palm Sunday in 2025, Kathy Escobar wrote;

"This story took place two thousand years ago, yet the irony is that many of the exact same basic human dynamics are still in motion today - only with more technology and scarier global consequences. Empire continues to dominate and oppress, powerful structures and people continue to resist sharing power, and the most marginalised continue to live with the consequences."

An horrific, live action illustration of this very thing unfolds before our eyes with the USA-Israel war on Iran currently. A segment of the evangelical church sees this as some sort of prophetic fulfillment of scripture.

Pastor Brian Zahnd writes; "The hyper-violent, doom-oriented, war fantasy, aberrant eschatology of Darby, Lindsey, LaHaye/Jenkins, Hagee, Cahn, et al. is one of the most damnable religious ideologies to arise in the modern era. Tragically, it turned millions of would-be followers of the Prince of Peace into de facto warmongers. Don’t be among them."

We follow Jesus, who commanded Peter to put down his sword, who journeyed to the cross, lamb of God, suffering servant. This is who we follow. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6b)