Holy Week and Easter is the pivotal and most poignant week of the Christian calendar. It is a period that captures a full-range of human emotion particularly if as the people of God we attempt, difficult though it is, to journey with Our Lord from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, as if it were the first time. As Rowan Williams perceptively notes, ‘there is a danger that the alleluias of Easter drown out the cries of the crucified’. It means that we are in danger of treating the tension, anger, betrayal, denial and even death as trivial. They are momentary and fleeting when confronted with the triumph of the resurrection. This is in some ways convenient; we do not do suffering and death. The theme for 2013 that St Michael and All Angels is exploring is deepening darkness and shafts of light dances around two particular verses of scripture: ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it’ and ‘even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.’ The first is from the opening of the Gospel according to John. It is a verse normally used at Christmastime; however it is equally appropriate as we stumble towards Jerusalem, that in spite of the darkness that is about engulf us fleeting glimpses of hope-filled light are still discernible, traced in prophecies of old. The second is from the Psalmist, where he acknowledges that God is present even in places that are bleak. As we journey through Holy Week, our God goes with us as one who will straighten every pathway and bring hope in the darkness. What follows is the booklet given out in Church for people’s personal reflection, with some additions I have mused further.

Palm Sunday – Gathering Clouds

 Luke 19: 35-39

 ³⁵ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. ³⁶ As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, ³⁸ saying,

‘Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!’

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ ⁴⁰ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

Thought for Palm Sunday

Most of us at some point will have been waiting for something to happen; the birth of a child, the forthcoming job interview or the thought of what might be as a relationship blossoms. Many Jews at the time of Jesus were expecting God to intervene to help them. Their land was out of their control, and for the most part important decisions were removed from their hands.  Many Jews just got in with making ends meet, especially those for whom economic grind was part of the daily reality.

Jews though were familiar with the stories of old and experienced within their worship that God’s story shaped their future as it did their past. It was within the present that God seemed silent. It is true that some like the Covenanters at Qumran had heard the word of the Lord, and apocalyptic writers and poets continued the development of Jewish theology, but with the Temple and Land out of their control, it seemed that God had abandoned Israel; and within this Judaism was again trying to redefine itself.

The teacher, Jesus from Nazareth, had changed this for people around him. Suddenly, there were outbreaks of God’s activity in the present. It enabled them to dream. Thus, when they came to God’s holy city, they needed to shout: ‘blessed is the king’. It was in these words that hope came and fear began to creep in behind. For as many who delighted in the man from Galilee, there were more who wondered what it might mean; for whom belief that God could intervene stripped them of their control. For whom the intervention of God remained part of the stories of old, and stayed perhaps fossilised within the annual celebration of Passover. The outbreak of Kingdom activity placed God back on Israel’s throne. and thrust the variety of power bases and cliques away from the centre they claimed themselves. Jesus redefined the centre – and actually still does.

It was for this reason they were sure that Jesus must be dealt with. Once that decision had been made, there was sheer stillness; the absence of anything not silence, as the darkness waited for the opportunity to arise. As we enter Holy Week, where do we stand: are we hopeful or fearful, giving or controlling and what will we do with Jesus as the week unfolds.

More follows on Holy Monday.

Prayer

God of hope and expectation

God of grace and glory

Hold us in the palm of your hand as we journey

In the Name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.