Palm Sunday Reflection April 13, 2014
Episcopal Church of the Ascension The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess
The Crowd. And so the Passion of Jesus, the Christ, begins. And we have front row seats as the drama unfolds. Actually, I am mistaken ~ we are not in the audience this morning ~ we have a leading role in how the drama plays out. We are the crowd. Initially, we are part of the cheering throngs that welcome Jesus, joyfully shouting “Hosanna, Hosanna” and waving our palms in the air. Some of us have seen Jesus heal others, even bring Lazarus back from the dead. Some of us, or members of our own family, may have experienced Jesus’ healing touch. And if we have not seen or experienced the miracles ourselves, we have heard eyewitnesses describe them. We welcome Jesus like a king, because we know that he is a king. After all, hasn’t he descended from the line of King David?
But the plot of this Palm Sunday drama twists and turns. Jesus has missed a moment when he might have seized control of the capital from the Romans. He does not “seize the day,” but instead goes silently, and in the days that follow he provides precious time to his adversaries to plan his demise. We are still part of the crowd, and we are waiting for something to happen. But our attention span is short. The next thing we hear is that Jesus is arrested late Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could have fled into the wild hills beyond Jerusalem, but he stayed in the garden. We learn that Jesus’ disciples have deserted him and that the High Priests and the Sanhedrin have accused him of blasphemy.
News spread like wildfire in the incredibly packed city of Jerusalem. When the crowd learns that Pilate has examined Jesus and is about to make a public pronouncement of his judgment against Jesus, we, the crowd, rush to see what will happen. Except now we, the welcoming crowd of Palm Sunday has metamorphosed into a lynch mob. When Pilate offers to release Jesus, we shout, we shout angrily, “Let him be crucified! Let him be crucified!” What has he done, this gentle Jesus? Now the Passion drama will play out – although with a surprise ending. But we get ahead of ourselves.
We ~ you and I ~ we are the Crowd! Why are our loyalties so shallow? Why is our memory so short? Why do we defer so readily to those in power, rather than have the courage to stand up for what is true? We are so fickle, this crowd of ours. And yet in spite of all that, Jesus dies for us. Ponder anew the power of this story.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

St. Patrick: Intimacy with God

The Reverend Christopher Hogin St. Patrick: Intimacy with God Jeremiah 31:31 – 34; Psalm 51:1-3. The Episcopal Church of the Ascension March 17, 2018 Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. All sort of celebrations commenced. In Chicago, they dyed the river green. In Boston, a massive St. Patrick’s Day parade was held. Yet few people know about the man they celebrate. When asked the question, “who was Saint Patrick,” taken from a video clip, here was one of my favorite replies from a partygoer in Boston: “Uh yeah, he’s the guy on the Lucky Charms cereal box. He drove the snakes into the ha-bar!” Not exactly, but he is both a Roman Catholic AND an Anglican saint? Here at Ascension, we have a stained-glass window of him. Patrick, or Patricus (his Latin name), was born in 390 on the northwest coast of Britain. He grew up in a comfortable home. By all accounts he was a beloved child. His grandfather was a priest (when priests could still marry), and his father a de
Read more

Savior, Teach Us So to Rise

“Savior, teach us so to rise” The Rev. Canon Patricia M. Grace Lent IV – Year B Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21 Church of the Ascension                                  March 11, 2018 “The soul of the people was greatly discouraged because of the way” Numbers 21:4 (KJV) Many years ago I was in trouble.   No, not legal or financial trouble – I had trouble in my soul…             the problem was spiritual. I was in a situation in which I felt unfairly treated, even somewhat abused             by someone I worked for; someone I also deeply respected and loved as a friend. I struggled daily with intense feelings of rage and resentment,             desiring revenge and retribution… even though I knew there had to be a better way to handle things. Over time, I began to live only in that space of anger and bitterness… those emotions becoming like close, comfortable companions, something I nurtured, tended to – and not in a good way.
Read more
The Brightness of True Light The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess Christmas Eve 2012 The Episcopal Church of the Ascension I. Introduction . Sacred space is filled with light. On our recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a group of us ascended to the top of Mount Sinai. We had anticipated a cold and treacherous trip to the mountaintop, first on camelback and then on foot, which would begin at 2:00 am. Leaving in the middle of the night allowed us to watch the sun rise from the peak of the mountain. Our small Ascension band was excited, but also apprehensive about mountain climbing in the pitch darkness of the middle of the night. But the experience was not to be what many of us had expected. In the midst of the darkness, we were enveloped in a canopy of stars that illuminated our way and permitted us to see the shadows of those next to us, in front of us, and behind us. And there were multiple shooting stars that punctuated God’s active presence
Read more