As parades go, it wasn’t much. There were no marching bands, no floats, and no giant balloons. They didn’t have clowns in costume, show horses, or a fleet of fire trucks. It was a people’s parade. Just the people who were around the neighborhood, using what they had easily at hand. They had their coats. They had branches from the nearby trees. They had a phrase from the liturgy of the temple. “Hosanna!” they cried. Some of them called out so loudly they grew horse. Some of them kept calling out even when the Roman authorities tried to get them to be quiet.

When we remember the event, we often exaggerate. That is often the case with people’s parades. And we don’t speak the languages of the day. Most of us don’t read the language of the New Testament. We know the story in translation, and the word Hosanna doesn’t mean much to us other than an ancient and generic word of praise. But those who gathered for that people’s parade knew the difference between “Hosanna” and “Halleluia.”

And the people who gathered for that people’s parade knew the difference between a donkey and a horse.

When we gather for worship on this Palm Sunday, a day set aside for remembering that people’s parade, things that were obvious to those who participated so long ago have become obscured by centuries of tradition, layers of language translation, and the exaggeration of generations of storytellers. There is more meaning in the story from the Bible than a big box of florist palms passed out and waved for a few moments while triumphant celebration songs are sung to the accompaniment of pipe organs and praise bands.

The Gospel of Luke starts with the donkey, and it is a good place for us to start thinking about that event. In Roman Times, military and political leaders rode to battle on horses. The Romans had a successful breeding program and raised some magnificent horses. Good Arabian stock was bred for strength, endurance and speed. And the animals were raised to intimidate those who were on foot. In a time before other military vehicles, horses provided a vantage point above the battle where the rider could see what was going on. Riding a horse into the center of a city was a sign of dominance and a display of power. Jesus didn’t send his disciples for a horse. He sent them for a donkey, and not just any donkey, but rather a colt - a young animal that had not been previously ridden. The animal was short and slow and probably confused by the crowd and the shouting.

Riding a donkey into a place of power was not a sign of war or triumph. It was a symbol of an appeal for peace. Jesus returned to Jerusalem, the city whose name literally contains the Hebrew word for peace - Shalom - riding on a donkey as a sign of peace. The parade was the entrance of a peacemaker, not a leader of a battle.

And the people cried “Pray, save us!” as he procession wandered through the streets of Jerusalem. It was a traditional part of the temple liturgy in which people humbly asked for forgiveness for past sins and wrongs. They asked Jesus to grant them salvation and favor with God - and escape from the harsh judgment some had predicted.

Palm Branches had many symbolic uses in the ancient world. In Egypt, palm branches were seen as a sign of immortality because of their green color. In Rome, it was a sign of victory, sometimes awarded to victors in athletic competitions. For the Jews of Jerusalem, it was a reminder of the festival of Sukkot - the holiday representing the gathering of the people of Israel, who had been spread out over many locations during the exile. It was a harvest festival, celebrated for a week. The tradition was seven days in Jerusalem and eight days in other places. People constructed simple shelters to remind themselves of the harvest shelters farmers made so that they could sleep in the fields during the busy season. The palm branches were used to provide temporary shelter. In the book of Leviticus, the shelters of Sukkot are to remind the people of the tents and other portable shelters that protected the people during 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.

The people of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time would nave known all about donkeys and Hosannas and palm branches. They would have seen them quite differently than the way we use them in contemporary worship. We celebrate Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They could hear the desperation in the voices of those calling for salvation. “Pray, Save Us!” The Pharisees, leaders of a social movement in the time of the Second Temple, asked Jesus to quiet the crowds. They were worried that any failure to keep order among the Jews would bring down harsh reprisals from Roman authorities. Jesus understood that they couldn’t be silenced. He tells them that even if the people could be kept quiet, the stones themselves, would call out for the salvation of the people who had suffered injustices under Roman rulers and generations of oppressors who came before the Romans.

So the people’s parade wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem and Jesus made his way to the temple. It was the temple where he was presented as an infant. It was the temple he visited as a boy. It would be the scene of quite a bit of drama in the week to come. And even after the donkey was returned and the crows were quieted, the appeals for salvation continued to fill the streets and echo from the walls and ring in the memories of those who had been there for that people’s parade.

There are so many layers of meaning to the observance of Palm Sunday. It is much to teach to our children. We begin by asking them to lead the procession instead of the clergy in their vestments and the choir in their robes. The children calling out Hosanna remind us that we are all children of God. And when it comes to seeking peace, donkeys and little children make far better leaders than displays of weapons and power.

May this Palm Sunday invite us to return to the path of peace.