In many churches, this is not just Palm Sunday but Palm/Passion Sunday. Over the course of this service, we go from Jesus and the disciple’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem straight through the Last Supper and Gethsemane and into the arrest, the trial, and the Crucifixion. There is a lot packed into this service.
As the Liturgical year developed and still in some churches today, Palm Sunday is technically just the beginning of Holy Week. On Sunday, you celebrate only the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Then other parts of Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem take place the rest of the week. Tuesday is for the Cleansing of the Temple, Wednesday is for Jesus washing the disciples feet, Thursday is for the Last Supper, and Friday is for the long Passion narrative (from Gethsemane to the Cross). Then on Easter Sunday we celebrate the Risen Christ.
But what if people only come on Sundays? What if they can't or won't come to worship during the week? Then you go from Jesus being celebrated and praised as he enters Jerusalem one Sunday to Jesus rising from the dead the next. It had to leave people wondering how that happened. Just last week he was riding into town while people cheered. When did he die?
It would be a little like watching the original Star Wars trilogy and skipping The Empire Strikes Back. We just hung medals on these guys, why is that one a statue on a wall now?
And so, we celebrate it all on this final Sunday of Lent - both the Palms and the Passion.
Showing posts with label sacramentatlity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sacramentatlity. Show all posts
Manifestation: An Ordinary Jesus
A reflection on the Wedding at Cana for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.
Throughout this season following Epiphany, we focus on much the same theme as the one introduced on Epiphany - the manifestation or revelation of Christ to the world. On Epiphany Sunday, we hear about the visit of the Magi. We hear how these wise ones from other lands to the east come to see the newly born king of the Jews. They are not Jewish themselves, they followed a completely different tradition. But they knew that the one foretold by the star would be one of great importance to the entire world.
And so Jesus was revealed to strangers from another land.
Last week, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, the day that Jesus was baptized. We heard how the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and a voice from heaven claimed Jesus as the Beloved Son.
And so Jesus was revealed to those in the crowds that day.
Today we have a revelation of a different sort. Jesus is at a wedding with his mother and some of his disciples. While they are there, the host runs out of wine for the guests. Mary makes a point of telling Jesus.
Now I am trying to imagine being at a wedding and having my mother tell me they are out of wine. I imagine my response would not be too different from Jesus’ initial reaction - what does that have to do with me?
* * *
"Mawwiage! Mawwiage is what bwings us together today."
"Mawwiage! Mawwiage is what bwings us together today."
Well, maybe not us, but a wedding is the setting for today's reading, a reading which follows the trajectory we have been on since Christmas. You see, shortly after Christmas each year, much of the larger church celebrates Epiphany on January 6. Technically Epiphany is celebrated as a single day, but we count the Sundays following Epiphany until Lent begins as the Sundays after Epiphany (though some traditions do think of this as the season of Epiphany).
Throughout this season following Epiphany, we focus on much the same theme as the one introduced on Epiphany - the manifestation or revelation of Christ to the world. On Epiphany Sunday, we hear about the visit of the Magi. We hear how these wise ones from other lands to the east come to see the newly born king of the Jews. They are not Jewish themselves, they followed a completely different tradition. But they knew that the one foretold by the star would be one of great importance to the entire world.
And so Jesus was revealed to strangers from another land.
Last week, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, the day that Jesus was baptized. We heard how the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and a voice from heaven claimed Jesus as the Beloved Son.
And so Jesus was revealed to those in the crowds that day.
Today we have a revelation of a different sort. Jesus is at a wedding with his mother and some of his disciples. While they are there, the host runs out of wine for the guests. Mary makes a point of telling Jesus.
Now I am trying to imagine being at a wedding and having my mother tell me they are out of wine. I imagine my response would not be too different from Jesus’ initial reaction - what does that have to do with me?
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