The light is among you for a little while longer

At the start of worship, you heard me read from St. John’s inspired Gospel, the verses immediately preceding the Gospel lesson presented for our hearing on this Palm Sunday – the Sunday of the Passion. In those verses, John records the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, to the shouts of a burgeoning crowd singing “ Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” (Jn. 12: 13)

The tempo of the Palm Sunday song the Choir just shared with us echoes what must have been the celebratory scene that day: “ Sing praises to God’s Holy Lamb, riding into town. Lift your adoration song! Join the glorious sound! Children in procession shout “Hosanna to the king! Sing praises to God’s Holy Lamb, let earth and heaven ring.” It is a day of great anticipation and High expectation.

In the crowd this day are some who have just witnessed the miracle raising from the dead of Lazarus. John tells us they “continued to bear witness.” They can’t stop talking about the miracle. They’re spreading the news! And the jubilant crowd with great fanfare packs the road, waving palm branches, as a humble Jesus quietly fulfills prophecy, riding into the city “sitting on a donkey’s colt.” Not everyone is excited, though. Most still have no idea who Jesus is. Even His disciples do not understand what is happening – not yet…and they won’t until the sun breaks through the morning clouds and light shines through an empty tomb on the Sunday next.