Today is Palm Sunday. In many churches we’ll hear 2 Gospel readings. The triumphant entry into Jerusalem will be read at the beginning and then the story of Good Friday later in the service. In the short space of an hour we will walk with Jesus from the height of acclamation to the depths of rejection and death.
Throughout this coming week, many of us will attend special services so that we can enter more deeply into the mystery of Jesus’ final week. With the disciples, we will share in the celebration of the institution of Communion on Maundy Thursday with the commemoration of the Last Supper and on Good Friday they may be Stations of the Cross or a time of meditation and quiet to draw near the Cross and marvel at the lengths God’s love takes. Then on Sunday we will all celebrate the New Beginning of the Resurrection.
For Jesus’ disciples the first Holy Week must have been very emotional and confusing. Jesus enters Jerusalem to the shouts of ‘Hosanna’ and all looks wonderful. But then…He gathers them for a Passover meal, which he transforms with new words. “This is my body…This is my blood of the new covenant” He tells them. They must have been confused. Even more shocking to them is his arrest. They are afraid and flee into hiding. Even though Peter bravely follows the crowd to the courtyard, he cannot acknowledge that he knows Jesus. Instead he denies the relationship and “goes out and weeps bitterly”. We’ve seen that when Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was convinced that she was useless and that God hates her. “Call me Mara,” she says, thinking she has come back home to die.
None of these people knew that just around the corner was a new beginning. The disciples in hiding with their Master arrested, Dorothy left behind by a charlatan, and Naomi welcomed by her old friends all thought that their dream was over. They all thought that they were stuck forever in the nightmare of betrayal, lies, and death that they saw in front of them.
However, God never ceases to act. In Isaiah 57:14, he commands, “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people." A new beginning was actually just around the corner for each of these characters.
For the disciples the Resurrection was only 3 days away. “Didn’t
you know your Silver Shoes* have magic power? They will take you anywhere,”
Glinda tells Dorothy. “Just knock the heels together three times and say where
you wish to go.” Naomi did not know that she would be the great-great grandmother
of the King of Israel, even as she rejoiced in the birth of a grandson. “They
named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ruth
4:17-18)
A new beginning is also just around the corner for you and me, even when we
feel like we’ve reached the end of our rope or find ourselves at a dead end.
Has this Lent been a time of discovering bumps in your journey? Then there is
probably a new beginning in the future-a resurrection coming. There is a sort
of joke about the man walking along the edge of a cliff. He slips and falls,
but manages to catch hold of a branch anchored in the side of the hill. He
starts calling for help and finally hears a voice saying. “Let go, I’ll catch
you.” “Who are you?” “God,” comes the answer. After thinking about it, he calls
out, “Is anyone else out there.” Often we’d rather not let go and fall into the
arms of God, but like for Naomi, Dorothy and the disciples, a new beginning can
come when we reach the end of the rope and then let go. I hope you will have the chance to take advantage of some time with God this Holy Week so that you’ll find a new beginning in the Easter season. We'll start a new adventure together after Easter.
(This cake picture was too great not to share-it shows the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and each layer represents a character! Besides, it shows that everything can have a sweet ending.)
*Frank L. Baum's actual book has Dorothy wearing Silver Shoes. Hollywood changed them to Ruby Slippers.
