Expose Yourself to the World

On Palm Sunday, Christians celebrate Jesus’ solemn entry into the town of Jerusalem. The fact that this is a feast could be seen as a somewhat morbid view on life, if you consider the gruesome events that took place right after this famous festive entry. As always, I follow here the Christian tradition because of the meaning of the story, not because I aim at confirming any historic fact - I don’t.

There is a good reason however, to celebrate this moment in religious terms. This is the most decisive and dramatic moment in the New Testament. Christ must have known what risk he took with this triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The entry on a colt of a donkey is traditionally presented as a paragon of humility and so it is. But for those in power, it was certainly also a provocation, and the subsequent events prove that. Obviously, we will never know for sure how difficult this decision could have been for Jesus and perhaps we don’t even need to know. What matters is that He decided to expose himself to the world in which He lived. It was the core of his vocation as the ‘son of men’. After this moment, He became a prisoner of his town.

The story encourages each of us to expose ourselves to the world, with all positive and negative consequences this may have for us. In her weblog the Marginalian, Maria Popova cites Tibetan Buddhist nun and teacher Pema Chödrön in her book When Things Fall Apart. “Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.”

Jesus transferred his indestructibility to us. This is what we yearly relive in the so-called Holy Week. Self-Exposure is scary because of our vulnerability, but it is the source of all resilience in life. Without self-exposure, there is no love and no transfer of life. For a true Christian self-exposure leads to resurrection. Christ tried to make clear to us that this truth is valid for each of us. Exposing oneself to the world is at the same time the most beautiful duty and the greatest act of courage.

I also refer to my Dutch blog Accepting the Challenges of this World.

Picture: Christ on colt, procession piece of sculpture in Saint Gorgonius church Hoegaarden (B), 2025 ©Wim Lahaye