Holy Days - Palm Sunday: An Easter Tale

The angel Gabriel had almost literally seen it all.

Angels came forth sometime before the earthly realms. They were never God; they were never omniscient, omnipresent, certainly not omnipotent. But they were certainly privileged.

But they could observe. Gabriel had done a great deal of observing. He saw what humans got up to. He saw the many ways they envisioned faith. He saw the many varieties of religion, how they started, how they played out, the effect they had on humans. He knew God’s relationship with humanity was complicated. God didn’t just pop in for a visit with anyone. Most of the time it was completely a matter of faith, and believing what was said, and knowing what to believe.

Every now and then, Gabriel was sent to intervene. That was something he’d done, when Christ was born, into the world. None of any of that was a mystery to Gabriel. He knew from the moment of his announcement how it was all going to play out.

So on the Sunday before the end of that brief life on earth, he watched with some curiosity how Christ’s day progressed. He watched Christ’s friends procure the donkey. He saw the happy frenzy in the streets, as word spread. He may have watched humanity since its infancy but he honestly couldn’t say he understood it any better than he ever had. 

He simply allowed himself to get caught up in the moment, even knowing where it was leading. 

Humanity can be fickle. If the right people align, then it can be an organic miracle. That, he thought, was what Christ had always tried to say. If the wrong people align, it can be a disaster. That’s what he thought God had been trying to say since Eden., since the serpent, since Cain. Listen to the wrong people, get caught up in yourself…

But this moment, this perfect, impossible moment. For Gabriel it seemed to symbolize what Christ’s life was all about. Not what would happen in a handhold days, which again, even someone who doesn’t see all time all at once knew was coming, since for God, for Christ, was known from the beginning, and was an open understanding in Heaven. No. It was watching people be joyful. 

Which was really why he’d taken the assignment to announce Christ’s birth. It was indeed a privilege, getting to see these humans, who struggled so much, happy. They didn’t know what to expect. Gabriel knew and he was still happy. He didn’t know about this day, that this would happen, too. But he hadn’t needed to.

So that was also why he so enjoyed watching Christ make his way through the streets, through the palms. This was Gabriel’s faith.