Jesus stands before Pilate, and they look at one another: one with fear, and one with love. Jesus could fight for his life. Pilate is seriously unsure of the guilt of this man, and if Jesus were to just say a few key words, he might be able to convince Pilate of his innocence. All he needs to do is acknowledge Pilate’s authority, maybe plead a bit, and give Pilate a good reason to convince the chief priests he’s innocent, to let him go. But those are precisely three things that Jesus … [Read more...]
The Cross
Hosanna! Hosanna! Crucify him! Crucify him!
A Day of Discordance Did you feel it? The dissonance, the discordance of the morning? Something that doesn’t quite fit, or make sense? Did you feel the tension, the discomfort that’s built into this day, the Sunday of the Passion with the Liturgy of the Palms, a day that involves both triumph and torture? A few minutes ago we were with the crowd shouting out “Hosanna!” and rejoicing in Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And just moments ago, we were with the crowd shouting “Crucify him!” … [Read more...]
Gatewayers and Otherwayers
“The sheep follow [the shepherd] because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers,” (John 10:4-5). As a parent of young children I spend a fair amount of time at the park. My favourite park is about one kilometre from our house and on a beautiful sunny day the girls will hop on their scooters and off we go. This park in particular is in a part of city that has a lot of young families so you can count on the … [Read more...]