Well, yesterday I posted that I did not want to use this blog for 'religious' ideas, but today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, and the subject matter seemed to be a good place to begin a better habit of writing a daily blog. Since neither A WORD FOR TODAY or MIDWEEK OASIS will focus on the Holy Week events, this is as good a forum as any to share my thoughts about the coming of Easter and the cross through which we have to pass.
I have titled this blog "Palm Sunday" but in many churches it was also called "Passion Sunday." The Church is filled with people who make it into a church building just a few times a year--Christmas and Easter. Some also make the trip to church on Palm Sunday.
The story of the Triumphant Entry is a happy story. Jesus rides into Jerusalem to the shouts of praise raised by the crowds. He is loved. He is adored. He is honored as one who is a king. The donkey seems to us to be a humble beast, unworthy of a kingly rider, but the donkey was often used as the mode of transportation for kings. However, it was a powerful image to the people who were waving palm branches and singing Hallelujah that day. Jesus was the one for whom they were waiting. He was the Messiah. He was the one who would restore Israel.
It is an exciting image. However, the praise quickly died and the atmosphere in Jerusalem changed dramatically. Within days the people were willing to scream "Crucify him!" Whatever made them change tune, something horrific happened later in Holy Week.
However, most of those Christmas and Easter people never hear the story of the cross. If they come on Palm Sunday, they experience the jubilation of praise to the long expected Messiah, but if they wait until Easter to return to Sunday, they generally miss the rest of the story.
Until now. I am not sure how long it has been part of the lectionary, but we now hear the entire Passion Story on Palm/Passion Sunday. Since the cross is vital to the Resurrection, those who do not hear the story only see the triumph of palms and empty tomb do not truly understand the depth of God's love for His people and the sacrifice of Christ's life. Without the cross, the triumph of palms and empty tomb are meaningless.
I love to follow the story throughout the entire week. We had a pastor in California who did that. We had worship daily, following the story as Jesus went from triumph through suffering and then back to triumph again. I suppose that's what I'll do this week. Hopefully I won't get lost in the busy-ness of spring break and manage to find the time to post on the blog.
It frustrates me that we have to hear the entire story in one day. After all, it is an experience to be savored -- not like we savor chocolate or prime steaks -- but as we linger over the stories that change our lives. Good and bad, joy and horror, it is the entire story that makes us who we are. Yet, I'm glad that we do hear the entire story so that those who can't, or won't, get to church during Holy Week will truly understand the depth of God's love which was glorified not in the empty tomb, but on the cross. It is there that Christ overcame sin and death. It is there that we were saved.
Thanks be to God.
