Monday 18 August 2014

Background

We are in for a dramatic week! John's Gospel takes us into thefinal days of the life and ministry of Jesus and the tension growsall the time as we move from Palm Sunday to the last meal beforeJesus' betrayal. There are recurrent themes: a polarisation betweenthose who are 'for' Jesus and those 'against' him, disciples whonever seem to understand what's going on, a developing plot againstJesus and then Jesus himself, troubled but faithful to hismission.

Palm Sunday introduces all these dramatic elements as Jesusenters Jerusalem on a donkey and is greeted by a crowd chantingwords from Psalm 118: 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name ofthe Lord - the King of Israel' (Psalm118:26). This is a royal procession, but not the kind that thecrowd - or even the disciples - are expecting. Only later, afterthe cross and resurrection of Jesus, do the disciples put two andtwo together and realise what has been going on.

The story of Jesus entering Jerusalem must have been animportant one for early Christians as each of the four Gospelsrecounts it. John's is briefest of the four, butadds its owntouches. It is John alone who gives us the detail of palm branchesand who links the enthusiasm of the crowd with the raising ofLazarus.

John's Gospel not only tells us about the life of Jesus and itsdeep significance, it also connects us with the lives of theChristian communities facing up to the challenge of Christianworship and witness at the end of the 1st century. It helps usto understand where the original disciples had been slow andfoolish. And it reminds Christians how much they owe to thelanguage and rituals of Judaism.

To Ponder

• What has been your experience of being caught up in an immensecrowd (perhaps like the ones that have recently greeted the Tour deFrance)? What were the dynamics of the crowd - positive andnegative?

• Think of a situation that you didn't understand at the time,but which only became clear later.

• Imagine yourself part of the story of Palm Sunday. What is yourresponse to Jesus?