Then Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” – Luke 22:19
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Abba, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” – Luke 23: 33-34
This Sunday, March 20, is Palm Sunday, a day when we begin the journey of Holy Week, the most sacred week in the Christian church year. The week begins with a palm procession, but moves quickly to a garden filled with prayer and tears, to a table in an upper room, to an arrest, trial and execution on a cross. It is not a pretty story. It begins in triumph and ends in humiliation and death. And as much as it is Jesus’ story it is our own story, too. How many of us have begun a journey in triumph and then find ourselves faced with betrayal and humiliation. Oh, I know that physical death is sometimes the result, but not always. Sometimes the result is spiritual, emotional or relational death. Surely, Jesus’ story is our own.
And yet, the cross and tomb are not the end of the end of Jesus’ story, and it is not the end of our story either. The story continues on Sunday morning when the power of God raises Jesus from death. What follows is an extraordinary story of the presence of the Risen Christ empowering the disciples and followers of Jesus by giving them the Holy Spirit just as Jesus said he would do. You and I are also filled with that same Holy Spirit to empower us to live new lives, whether that means new life beyond the “little deaths” of this life, or life beyond the physical death, the grave, that we will all face. The power of God is alive in this world and in our individual lives to raise us from death to life.
That is why I am always amazed at churches that bypass the story of Jesus making covenant with the disciples, then and now, through the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. It is why churches that forego the story of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross and jump right to the Easter celebration puzzles me. It just seems that if you don’t get the whole story, especially where Jesus chooses forgiveness over judgment, love over hate, then celebrations of new life and resurrection can ring hollow.
As a clergy colleague, pastor and mentor, Rev. Mark H. Miller, wrote in his blog this week: “What’s important to me…is that ALL of life is reflected in Holy Week…from the parade this Sunday to the anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the betrayal and denial, to the fateful Last Supper, to the pierced body of Good Friday. But, thanks be to God it doesn’t end there.
The tomb IS empty and death didn’t win. More to the point, death doesn’t win…ever! Not in the final…and most important…eternal reality. For God prevails. And we can, too. Never to deny the darkness that happens to us, but ALWAYS to believe and experience the darkness DOES NOT PREVAIL.”
Thank you Mark, and thanks be to God.
Holy One, be with us on our journey this week, remind us that you are ever present, in life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone. Thanks be to you O God, our God, now and forever. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson 