SUNDAY OF THE PASSION/PALM SUNDAY
April 10, 2022
“The Long Road to Jerusalem”
“They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them . . . He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; . . . they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.” (Mark10:32-34)
As Palm Sunday arrives, it becomes apparent that our Lenten journey has culminated, with the coming week moving toward observing the most holy days of the Christian calendar. There’s a familiarity to these unique days, but it’s far from comfortable. You might say we know too much, and we can’t help but sense a dark cloud of dread looming over even the celebratory entry into Jerusalem.
The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ ministry tell of our Lord and his disciples traveling throughout Galilee and Judea teaching, preaching, and healing the people who came out in ever-increasing numbers. The twelve had walked alongside him on the dusty roads of the region, listening, learning, and following the one they called “Rabbi” or “Teacher”. Their relationship with Jesus had grown, along with the understanding and belief that he was indeed the Messiah, God’s own Son.
It could appear that Jesus and the disciples wandered almost aimlessly, crisscrossing and backtracking, going from village to village. And they did make repeat visits, as the new believers needed to learn more lessons and principles through parables, sermons, and personal conversations. It took time to process the radical idea of being freed from the rigidity of the law alone and being invited to enter into a relationship with God as a loving heavenly father.
These verses from Mark take us to the point at which the journey to Jerusalem begins. Jesus becomes noticeably more intentional, with a specific destination and the clear knowledge of what lies ahead. He has already told the disciples twice that he will be condemned, tortured and killed, and now he tells them again, this time including the promise of his resurrection. But they struggle to comprehend what he is saying. For three years they have listened to his teachings of peace, love, forgiveness, and selflessness, and now he speaks of leading them into an arena of violence, viciousness, and death. No wonder their reaction is to ignore or deny this terrifying picture.
As the journey brings us to Jerusalem, we see Jesus enter the city to the cheers of the crowd, hear him instituting the Lord’s Supper, and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. But then our journey ends, as it is Jesus alone who carries the burden of sin for all, Jesus who accepts the torture and death on our behalf, and it is Jesus who triumphs over death and rises from the grave, giving us the promise of a resurrection like his.
Humbled at the promise of new life,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers