The Shadow of the Cross

As we enter Holy Week on Palm Sunday, a jarring pivot is about to take place in Jesus’ ministry. The acclamation “Hosanna” today will become an angry, bloodthirsty shout by Friday; “God, save us!” (the meaning of the word Hosanna), will become, “God, damn him!”; and within a week, palm branches will become the rough wood of a Roman cross.

The poignant and dramatic juxtaposition of triumphal entry and crucifixion in the lectionary readings seeks to prepare us to live out the Holy Week ahead—and hopefully the entirety of our lives—in the shadow of the cross of Christ.

Not Conventional Wisdom

In this week’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus get’s a visit from some Greeks in Jerusalem for Passover. It’s significant; a real turning point in John’s story.

We’re not told exactly what it was that they were seeking, but what they got was definitely not conventional wisdom.

You Can Go Home

In 559BC Cyrus becomes King of Babylon where the people of God had been carried off as exiles. In a single day he ends their captivity.

How does this king who is called “God’s anointed” foreshadow the King of Kings who was to come into the world?

Merch in Church

The church where I grew up regularly hosted traveling music groups. They’d always have their LPs (yes, LPs) and other stuff—their “merch”—to sell, but at my church they weren’t allowed to do this. At least not in the target-rich environment of the foyer where everyone entered and exited.

The rationale came from this week’s Gospel reading. Jesus clearly didn’t like it when folks hawked their wares around the Temple, and therefore we shouldn’t sell stuff around the sanctuary.

To be sure, the place of worship in first-century Israel and the auditorium of a small independent church in Southern California don’t correspond exactly, but true to Jesus’s words, my church didn’t want the place of worship co-opted as a place of commerce. Which is good.

But is merch in church really the heart of the issue…or is it something more invisible and insidious?

Cardinal Point

There are cardinal numbers, cardinal compass points, cardinal virtues, and Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church…none of which have anything to do with the bird or the color.

Cardinal (cardinalis) is the Latin word for hinge, like a door or gate turns or pivots on.

This week’s Gospel describes a cardinal point in the ministry of Jesus.

From Peter’s perspective, in one brief moment the whole thing takes a turn. And not for the better.