Jesus had been on a journey, and so have we. Jesus’ human life began in Mary’s womb and
ended when he died on the cross. Our
lives began in our biological mothers’ wombs and will end at our death—most
like in a bed, although some folks’ lives will end in a disaster—in a crash, in
gunfire, in a storm, in a flood, in a landslide, in fire . . .
Today, through listening to the scriptures read on this
Palm Sunday, we encounter the last days of Jesus’ human life. On occasion we’ve been asked to imagine
where we might place ourselves in that story, as in the hymn, “Were you there
when they crucified my Lord?”
This can be a fruitful approach for finding meaning in
the Passion Gospel. You may grieve with
Mary. You may get angry at Judas’
treachery. You may eagerly reach for a
piece of bread or the cup of wine at the Last Supper. You may come to understand how frightened
Peter was, which led him to deny Jesus’ three times. You may even go so far as to imagine the
physical and spiritual agony Jesus suffered as he was tortured and crucified.
But an equally fruitful approach might be to recall a
time of suffering for yourself, a loved one or a friend. You can also imagine yourself in the midst of
the suffering of people you’ve heard about or read about in the news.
Let’s pause for a moment and bring such a moment from our
memories into our imaginations.
[Pause]
As painful as these memories may be, God can use such
moments of suffering to help us grow in our understanding of how much God cares
for us. As painful as these memories may
be, through them we can grow in our love for God and our desire to live as God
would have us live: to work for justice and to find compassion in our hearts
for people who suffer.
Dr. David Lose, a Lutheran pastor and president of the Lutheran
Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, tells us how he views Jesus’ Passion:
“Jesus suffers, that is, so that when we are suffering we
know God understands and cares for us. Jesus is utterly alone by the end of the
story so that when we feel alone we know God understands and is with us. Jesus
cries out in despair so that when we become convinced the whole world has
conspired against us and feel ready to give up, we know that God understands
and holds onto us. Jesus dies so that we know God understands death and the
fear of death and reminds us that death does not have the last word.
“All that we see and hear [on this Palm Sunday], all that
we read and sing, all of this is for us. And so the fourth century
theologian Athanasius, speaking of the Incarnation that reaches its climax in
the crucifixion, said that God becomes like us in Jesus so that we may become
like God. And twelve hundred years later, Martin Luther described the cross as
the divine exchange where Jesus takes our life and lot that we may enjoy his
righteousness and victory.”
This Holy Week let us ponder how we might find God in the
darkest moments of our lives. Let us
ponder how knowing God in this way might lead us to become people who work for
justice and practice compassion—who, even when tempted to give up hope, still
can long for and strive for the reign of the risen Christ.
--Dr. David Lose from Day
1 - http://www.davidlose.net/2015/03/palmpassion-sunday-b-entering-the-story/
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