Thursday Offering From Fr Marcus 25th March 2021
My Dear Friends,
I hope you are having a good week, and looking forward to our celebration of Holy Week and Easter.
It is a time of passion and mixed emotions, and throughout we are led to great highs and lows.
Palm Sunday is a great example. All four Gospels tell the story of the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem.
This year we read John’s version in church, so I am including here Luke, as it has the sentence about the stones at the end
Luke 19:28-40 New International Version
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Our emotions at this point are at an all time high, ‘The whole crowd of disciples are publically praising God for all that they had seen, and were proclaiming Jesus as King.
In the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar this is such an exciting moment. It is as if love and acceptance have taken hold of the city, and Jesus is embraced by all.
The inclusion of everyone in the narrative is extraordinary, so much so that when Jesus is told to quieten his disciples, Andrew Lloyd Webber composes the lyrics
Why waste your breath
Moaning at the crowd,
Nothing can be done to stop
The shouting,
If every tongue were still
The noise would still continue
The rocks and stones themselves
Would start to sing
Hosanna Hey sanna sanna sanna
Hosanna Hey sanna hosanna
I knew the story from Luke, but this musical version really brought it alive when I first saw it in the 70’s (I still have the LP, and I shall be playing this track on the radio on Sunday at 7pm). www.puregold.fm
The whole of creation was giving thanks and praise to God.
Our first thoughts may be that this is not how we ought to think – rocks and stones have no senses and cannot show emotion or understanding, but this concept is not new, and was not invented by Jesus. Just listen to the beauty of these verses from the psalm
Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
( I was just going to use the verses about the sun and moon, the stars, the mountains, lightening and hail, but it was too beautiful to cut any out!)
Anyway, my point is that Jesus understood that the whole of creation is Blessed by the wonder and presence and power of God, and responds!
How can we not! Surely our response to the incredible things that God continues to do in our lives is to Praise the Lord!
But as I said earlier, the emotions of all run amok this week. Once Jesus has entered Jerusalem with such triumph, he goes to the Temple, and throws out the money changers.
My house should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Get out!
From this moment on people question Jesus’ authority, and within the week the crowds are baying for his crucifixion. By Three pm on Friday there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Jesus gave up his spirit and the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
At this stage our hearts are shattered, and all seems lost. But we are in a different position from those who stood at the foot of the cross, because we know the whole story. We know this is not the end, but there is a new beginning. The best is yet to come.
We know this. We know the glory of the resurrection. We know the Joy of Mary Magdalenetelling the disciples ‘I have seen the Lord’. We know of Simon Peter going to the tomb, and he saw and believed. We know of the disciples at Emmaus recognising the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread. We know of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
We know, that we, along with Jesus are Glory Bound for we are a Resurrection People, and Alleluia is our name! And we never lose sight of that come what may.
Because we know all of this we are able to put the difficult events of our life into some perspective, and we can rejoice in the trust and commitment of Jesus who encouraged the rocks and stones to start to sing.
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you,
As ever,
Fr Marcus