Lent
March 27, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 11:1-11

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna!
   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ — Mark 11:8-11

Passover is celebrated as a solemn time of remembrance when, in fear and trembling, the Israelites hid behind the protective doors of their homes painted with the blood of a lamb to ward of the angel of death that brought the final plague to the Egyptians, the death of the oldest child in each home.

•  Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes. Deuteronomy 16:12
• This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. Exodus 12:14
• Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. Exodus 13:3

It was to this celebration Jesus came when he rode in on a donkey to the blessings of the people. He, too, was thwarting the power of the mighty. While the people of Israel were not technically living in slavery they were an oppressed people existing under the Peace of Roman: do what we say and you will be OK.

Jesus saw the oppression of his people and did everything he could to alleviate it up to and including giving his very life for them but that was not the end of the story. He had very carefully planted the seeds of the Kingdom of God, the rule of love throughout the world, and in his death, as with the death of seeds a whole movement toward wholeness, oneness, and justice sprouted and grew. It is still alive today as we are still called to fulfill his mission.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your sacrifice and for showing us the way to live. Strengthen us for the journey. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.