It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. These words come to us from Charles Dickens’ in his famous historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The novel is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution. These famous words begin the story.
The Palm/Passion Sunday narrative could also be seen as the best of times and the worst of times. The Palm Sunday story begins this important week. Jesus comes into Jerusalem. The Week of Passover is about to begin. Jewish followers are about to go to the Temple and remember the freedom they were given.
Later in the week, Jesus gathers with the disciples in the Upper Room for the Passover Seder meal. Jesus gives new meaning to the meal by breaking the bread and sharing the cup. It is revealed that Judas will betray Jesus. After the events in the Upper Room, the drama moves to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays the hour might pass from him. Judas arrives in the early morning hours and betrays Jesus with a kiss.
After this, events move to the House of the High Priest, Caiaphas. Jesus is bound hand and feet by the guards. It is said that he will destroy the Temple in three days and it is claimed he believes he is the Christ, the Son of God. Some lies are told. Jesus is silent. He doesn’t “come back” at these leaders with his own defense.
Moving forward Jesus is brought to the Antonia Fortress, home base for Pontius Pilate. The religious leaders did not have the power to execute him. This means that Pilate had to be involved. In front of Pilate, Jesus does not “defend” himself. He is labeled as guilty.
Eventually, Jesus carries an ugly cross to Golgotha, where he will be crucified. At Golgotha, he is tied to a post and beaten. Nails go through his hands as a crowd yells and religious leaders laugh. He will die later that day.
Throughout the Palm/Passion narrative we go from the best of times to the worst of times. We go from the joy of Palm Sunday to the difficulty of the Passion Narrative. In the midst of these times though, we journey with Jesus, and we learn about ourselves, we learn about God, and our relationship with God.
And of course, we learn what we can do. Even in the midst of the most trying of times, we can take action and we can remain hopeful. And this is the Good News. And this leads to the best of times once again. More on this with Easter Sunday. Stay tuned! Blessings,
Pastor Scott