All Is Not What It Seems

April 14, 2019

Passover and the deep memory of God’s deliverance from Egypt was not the only dynamic woven into the psyche of the people the Gospel of Luke describes as Jesus entered Jerusalem. His entrance into that holy city created “ambiguous complexity” then, just as his presence in our lives still does today. Choices are required. Hear with us his sacred movement into and along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day … and now.

The Traditions of Holy Week 

As we enter this most sacred of weeks, I want to wish all of you a blessed time of reflection, consideration, and gratitude. For hundreds of years, those who have gone before us in the faith have moved through this week between Palm Sunday and Easter with a sense of quiet awe.

Be Still and Know …

Reflecting upon the movement of God’s Spirit and what has gone before us, and considering what God is still doing in and through us, creates the perfect platform for gracious thanksgiving. So often our schedules for this time of year compete mightily with the holy call to “be still and know …”

And yet, even in the busyness of the many demands calling out from the sidelines, I pray that during these next five days you will experience a rising sense of God’s presence in you and around you. I hope that this quiet awe from centuries of faithful gratitude will gently interrupt our distractions with a holy focus.

Jesus Entering Sacred Space

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a humble act of peace, a gentle king riding on a donkey; he was fully aware of the trouble that would bring. He understood the anger and discomfort his symbolic entrance would kindle. And he knew well the likely consequences of making religious leaders and wealthy politicians upset. And still he rode into the sacred space of that Holy City.

For him, events moved quickly; plots twisted and turned. Followers, confused and confounded, found themselves unable to keep up with the latest turn of events. Yet, still Jesus moves on. The events of that first century Holy Week reverberate still among every one of our lives.

So this Holy Week, may you carry in your heart a tinge of heaviness; allow yourself moments of reflection to capture the memory of Jesus’ acts of faith on our behalf. And may you carry on with the knowledge of hope, strength and courage. For what Jesus did then transcended time and space. As one theologian said, “It was not ‘once upon a time,’ but ‘once and for all time!’” Now, therefore, what Jesus did then and is still doing in you now, makes all the difference. 

Gratefully,

David