Palm Sunday

 

He knew what was coming. He could have easily avoided it or made it go away. But he did not because of his love for us.

Palm Sunday 2012

Two years ago, I did a series on Holy Week - here's my Palm Sunday entry.

One further addition to that - picked up today - if people were willing to have their coats trampled by a donkey for Jesus, then they must have clearly loved him. Who of us here has ever done that for someone who isn't a head of state or our significant other - if at all?

Holy Week 2011

It's Holy Week this week. Last Easter I posted seven posts on the subject of Jesus' last week before his death. To avoid repeating myself, I'll link them here. Please take a look at them, hopefully you'll learn something.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven

Holy Week 6: Dead and Buried

So, Jesus was dead. In fact, they stabbed him with a sword just to make sure. A Jewish leader kindly let Jesus be buried in his family tomb- I don't know where he would have been buried otherwise, but I doubt it would be pleasant.

The tomb was sealed and two soldiers were placed on guard. A fully healthy man would have had difficulty getting out, let alone a dead one.

But the stone would be removed. Clearly you're not dealing with any ordinary man.

Jesus: fully human and fully divine. Omnipotent, omniscient and now, in the Holy Spirit, omnipresent.

There's more awesome to come.

Holy Week 5: Good Friday

Good Friday's name seems like a bit of a misnomer. How can Jesus' death be good?

He was convicted of stirring up rebellion in a show trial. In fact, it wasn't even that- it was done "in camera" at night and with a bunch of bribed witnesses.

Then he was subjected to the most agonising form of execution imaginable, a humiliating barbaric punishment that often took days to kill its victims. The Roman Empire did not allow it be used on Roman citizens (a status held by a minority of Roman people, although Paul held it).

Jesus died in three hours, but those hours would be agonising to watch (especially for his mother), let alone actually experience.

However, it wasn't the action, but the result. Jesus opened the way to heaven for us sinners. Only the shedding of blood could ensure forgiveness in Jewish tradition- and God's son was the ultimate blood price.

That's why we call this Friday "Good".

Holy Week 4: A Final Meal and a Final Night

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day when we remember the Last Supper.

Jesus and his disciples were having the traditional Passover meal, remembering another awesome moment of God, the rescuing of the Israelites from Egypt long previously. Then Jesus said "Take eat, this is my body".

Jesus was symbolising the fact that he was about to become a human and divine sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. This was very much his last meal before the horror of the following day.

Now, I was a Doctor Who fan before it was cool. Russell T Davies may be an atheist, but he's worked a fair number of religious metaphors into his scripts.

One scene you may well remember (in fact, you almost certainly do if you watch the show) is that scene from "The End of Time". The Time Lords have vanished and Wilf is stuck in the radiation booth. The Doctor realises that the only way he is going to stop Wilf getting a lethal dose of radiation is to go in there and take it himself.

Now, the Tenth Doctor rather likes being the Tenth Doctor and doesn't want to die. He gives an anguished, angry speech, then he sacrifices himself.

The Garden of Gethsemane is basically what was recreated (it's happened more than once in this show). Jesus, a man who makes the Guardians and the Time Lords look like Paul Daniels, wasn't happy about what he was about to go through.

But he did it. For all us poor Wilfs.

Holy Week 3: The Treachery of Judas

30 pieces of silver for telling someone where someone was and identifying them in an age without photographs.

Judas got a fairly large sum for his treachery and his name became a synonym for treason.

It was all part of God's plan, although I can imagine that Jesus still wouldn't have been happy. He knew that he was going to be betrayed, but it still would have been a cruel moment.

Let's go back to the Pharisees. They wanted Jesus dead for one reason: to protect their position. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, as our Lord said.

May we never love material things more than God and may we never allow our greed to make us do terrible things.

I say that, of course, but we have all been Judases at some point or another.

Holy Week 2: Driving Out The Thieves

A short one today and some food for thought:

There are still thieves in the House of God. They just con people in different ways and for different goals.

The Ultimate Crowning Moment of Awesome: Holy Week

I'm a member of a site called TV Tropes (see my link bar), where we have a section of great, punch-the-air moments called "Crowning Moment of Awesome".

As a Christian, there is one moment that outshines them all as it involves the King of Kings, Jesus himself. Namely his death upon the cross and resurrection, allowing the forgiveness of our sins and admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven, which will put even the finest palaces to shame.

I'm starting this series, which I hope to do daily up to Easter Sunday, to reflect on this period and share the awesomeness of Jesus.

Firstly, there's the donkey-riding bit. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowd throwing palm leaves in his path. I guess that's to protect the feet of the donkey, who is really the ultimate donkey. Donkeys are a bit of maligned species, compared to horses and ponies. It's a sign of our Lord's humility that he chose a donkey rather than the traditional horse of a conqueror.

Since we're on the subject of conquest, the crowd thought that Jesus would come to liberate them from the tyranny of the Romans. He wasn't, but he will one day (we don't know when) come to liberate all of us from sin, evil and the works of the ultimate Big Bad, Satan.

That final battle will be ultimate form of Nightmare Fuel, but what we get afterwards will be worth it for those who follow Jesus.