It’s Palm Sunday – the day when we cry ‘Hosanna’ at the start of Holy Week which will change to ‘Crucify Him’ on Good Friday and ultimately to the exclaim, ‘He is Risen!’ on Easter Day. There’s so much to go through, so many familiar sights to see, some traditional, but slightly strange experiences to have – yes, we are offering foot-washing on Maundy Thursday, but it’s not obligatory!
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it all – to let the events swamp and overload us so we don’t know where we are. If we were following the full Bible readings for Palm Sunday as specified for year C, we would read the Liturgy of the Passion from Luke’s gospel which starts at Luke 22 v 14 and ends at Luke 23 v 56! It’s a huge reading that tells in detail the passion (that is, the suffering) of Jesus through all the events of Holy Week, starting with the Last Supper and finishing with Jesus being taken down from the Cross and buried in the tomb.
I’ve been in churches where this has been done and it being our usual practice to stand for the reading of the Gospel, watched movingly as very elderly parishioners have stood for the complete reading of the Passion – wanting to honour the Lord, even though, for them standing for such a lengthy of time was a hard and arduous task.
We’ll be focussing on the Liturgy of the Palms at St Mary’s this Sunday, but I invite you to take some time on Sunday or during Holy Week to get out your Bible, find a quiet place and read the Liturgy of the Passion. Try and identify the ‘one thing’ that jumps out at you – of course, there will be lots you’ll read and perhaps imagine, but think about the ‘one thing’. There may well be one theme, element, word or phrase that you rest upon which might be a key moment of discovery for you.
Perhaps it will be Jesus’ commitment to peace and healing, something so prominent in Luke’s Gospel. When one of the disciples cuts off the ear of the high priest’s slave, Jesus rebukes the appeal to violence and heals him. While on the cross Jesus comforts one of the criminals and prays for forgiveness for those who kill him. Even Pilate and Herod, political enemies to this point, are reconciled in the presence of Jesus. Wherever Jesus goes, forgiveness, comfort, and healing seem to follow.
Or it may be Peter’s failure to confess. So bold and confident the night before, professing his willingness to follow Jesus to prison and even to death, when the moment comes to demonstrate his faith, Peter fails. Not once or twice but three times Peter denies Jesus. And then Jesus looks at him. I wonder what that look expressed? Disappointment, dejection, understanding, comfort?
Whatever is the ‘one thing’ for you, the Scriptures show us that all that is said and done in this dark and sad story, is done for us. Jesus willingly embraces God’s plan as the Lamb of God. He refuses rescue, escape, or to resort to violence.
One of the most moving images for me is Francisco de Zurbaran’s Agnus Dei, the Passover Lamb painted in 1635-1640. The Passover lamb was required to be without blemish, something that Zurbaran captures so exquisitely. It’s a parallel of Christ’s innocence in the eyes of God and his pure sacrifice on behalf of all sinners.
If you look closely, you’ll also see that the lamb’s feet have been tied for slaughter, yet there’s no indication of resistance or struggle. It reflects the prophecy in Isaiah 53 v 7, ‘He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.’
Jesus’ death is no accident. Rather, he follows this road to express to us that God’s love is stronger than hate and that God’s life is stronger than death. Jesus does not die to make it possible for God to forgive us, but rather to show us that God has already forgiven us because God loves us.
That’s wonderful news! Life changing and like nothing else we can ever receive. I trust you’ll join in all the things we are offering at St Swithun’s and St Mary’s as we remind ourselves of the pivotal moment in our Christian faith.
Revd Paul