Palm/Passion Sunday (Year 4, NL)

This month in 1980, the Salvadoran archbishop was assassinated—shortly after preaching on John 12.

Aristotle writes that we would never go to the theater to see terrible things happen to a good man through no fault of his. Yet here we gather, aching for a good man’s sorrows and turning to him to make sense of our own.

Palm Sunday is a story of disappointed expectations, of what happens when someone you admire refuses to be who you think they should be.

The Jesus that John shows us in this week’s Gospel text is not a religious robot, unemotionally prepared to end it all for the cause. He sees the risks, feels them.

In this life, sanctification is gradual and difficult. Why would it be different in the life to come?

The readings for Good Friday conclude with tender and brave acts of love (John 19:38-42). Both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are cautious—Joseph is a secret disciple of Jesus, and Nicodemus had come to Jesus in the night, perhaps with a hood over his head and looking over his shoulder the whole way. Yet these two hesitant men demonstrate courage.

How can Paul navigate the choppy waters of a pagan environment, with its idols and temples? The obvious place to start is the Shema.

As I read the headline yesterday, my heart began to pound and my throat closed up: “School Clerk In Georgia Persuaded Gunman To Lay Down Weapons.” This was a good story—ultimately a hopeful one—but all I could see was “school” and “gunman."

This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King. All of the readings for this Sunday focus on kingship—David’s, God’s, Jesus’. Jesus’ views on kingship are revealed in his famous discussion with Pilate. Jesus makes it clear that his kingship is directed at testifying to the truth.

Jesus is a king with a specific mission: he has come into the world to testify to the truth.

Reconciliation requires relocation. To see the effects of our food choices, we have to get close to the land.

If anything remains sacred in our culture, it’s the family. Yet Jesus challenged the family’s ultimacy.

Psalm 51 does not let any of us off the hook—not the progressives, the evangelicals, or the feel-good agnostics.