Palm Sunday starts the most solemn week of the year for Christians.聽
We remember the crowds acclaim Jesus as King as he rode into Jerusalem; they lay palm branches and cloaks before him on the road. A few days later those same crowds bayed for his blood 鈥� a reminder to all who lead how fickle the crowds can be.
In a short video, the Revd Andy Braunston, Minister for Digital Worship for the United Reformed Church, offers this reflection for Holy Week:
What kind of King are you, Lord?聽 We鈥檝e got a king again now; and we鈥檝e known of kings for years.聽Kings wear crowns, have retainers and flunkeys, command armies, live in unimaginable wealth, have stories fed to the press to keep the positive news flowing 鈥� though that doesn鈥檛 always work of course.聽Kings have families who we are taught to honour and respect.聽Kings have security 鈥� discrete agents, hidden weapons, and security vetting.
Yet none of that seems to be accurate for you.聽You were born in a stable, not a palace.聽Your first years were spent in exile not private school.聽 You didn鈥檛 wear a crown 鈥� you seemed to own nothing except your clothes.聽When you were crowned it was with thorns as a cruel mockery of your reign. You had disciples not flunkeys 鈥� and some of them weren鈥檛 very reliable.聽You had no armies to command, no weapons to rely on.聽No press in your day of course but I can鈥檛 imagine you having stories planted on the sly.聽 You had heaven鈥檚 armies to protect you – but they didn鈥檛 do a good job now did they? What type of king are you, Lord?
What type of priest are you, Lord? We know about priests 鈥� though we have lots of different names for them 鈥� ministers, vicars, pastors, presbyters 鈥� but the job鈥檚 the same.聽They have to look holy, often wear odd clothing, tell of God鈥檚 actions, be a bit distant, mix with the right people 鈥� marry the type of person who is acceptable in a range of settings. They have to balance being radical with being careful, navigate a plethora of difficult people with tact and, often, seem to follow establishment lines.聽They have to be creative in liturgy honouring both tradition and change.
Yet none of that seems to be accurate for you.聽We don鈥檛 know where you trained but your command of the Bible and its teachings is second to none.聽You didn鈥檛 seem to look that holy, you didn鈥檛 keep that professional distance that ministers are supposed to have.聽You really mixed with the wrong people 鈥� sex workers, collaborators, and dirty gentiles.聽Your marital status would have led to some questions at a ministry interview 鈥� close to John and Mary; that would have raised some eyebrows.聽And what about tact?聽You really can鈥檛 call people 鈥渨hitewashed tombs鈥� and get away with it!聽You can鈥檛 call the king a 鈥渇ox鈥�! (See my earlier comments, Lord, about kings.)听听I learned very early on in my ministry not to call the church members 鈥渕orons鈥� 鈥� yet you always seemed to be doing that. You called the religious people 鈥渟nakes and vipers鈥� and implied some people are pigs.聽All I can say is it鈥檚 good you didn鈥檛 have a difficult Eldership to work with!聽You鈥檇 not have lasted long.聽And your preaching … not very focused on the Establishment was it?聽You seemed to sit fast and loose with tradition 鈥� stretching laws to breaking points, reinventing liturgy, bringing new meanings and offering mystery not explanation.聽What type of priest are you, Lord?
What type of leader are you Lord?聽 Leaders have to be slick; they need mission statements and visions for the future.聽They have focus groups quietly working out what鈥檚 the best way to get a hearing.聽 Leaders now avoid saying what they really think but want, instead, to please their base.聽Leaders offer cheap tricks where they blame outsiders for the ills of the world and build themselves up.聽Leaders need to be popular 鈥� don鈥檛 you know that, Lord?
Yet none of this seems to be accurate for you.聽That nice rich guy who wanted to follow you 鈥� you told him to give away all that he had!聽Come on, wouldn鈥檛 a nice donation have been good enough?聽Your message is memorable, I鈥檒l give you that, but would it get through a focus group.聽Turn the other cheek? Love your enemies? If asked for our coat we have to give our shirt as well!聽 See you in the poor and naked and hungry and imprisoned!聽And then there鈥檚 all that stuff on money.聽You just wouldn鈥檛 get a hearing now Lord. Couldn鈥檛 you offer a bit of cheap grace now and again 鈥� Your Church often does after all!聽You didn鈥檛 seem to please your base either 鈥� you were nasty to the Pharisees and often told Jewish people that gentiles were more righteous than them.聽You didn鈥檛 find a scapegoat for social problems did you Lord?聽Look where that ended you up.聽What type of leader are you, Lord?
What type of victory did you win Lord?聽 Victory is, well victorious Lord.聽It involves, often, bloodshed, stunning military or political tactics, the vanquished foe being left to slither away, or being put on trial for their聽 crimes.聽Victory is about triumph, noise, joy, pomp, marches, celebrations.
Yet none of this seems to be accurate for you.聽You let yourself be captured.聽You let Judas, of all people, betray you.聽You were rude to the High Priests and so wilful to Pilate.聽You could have summoned the angels and have had a bit of smiting there.聽That would have been a victory; that would have unseated the might of Rome 鈥� imagine the songs your mum would have sung then!聽Instead, you let them release the insurgent and drag you off to Calvary.聽You let them strip you naked 鈥� where鈥檚 the victory there?聽 Where鈥檚 the dignity?聽You let them nail you to the Cross and then be left to slowly suffocate.聽That鈥檚 not victorious!聽You let them mock you, hang a sarcastic sign over your head, torment you with temptation to summon High Heaven鈥檚 Host 鈥� that would have shown them if you鈥檇 done that!聽Imagine their faces if Michael had been let loose there on Calvary; imagine if Gabriel had done his thing with the Chief Priests!聽That would have been victorious.聽Yet you forgave the centurion and his guard.聽You promised paradise to a good for nothing thief 鈥� you didn鈥檛 even check he believed the right things.
And then you cried with anger, pain, and desolation, turning the ancient Psalm back on God, knowing you鈥檇 been forsaken.聽That鈥檚 not victory. What type of victory is that?
滨尘补驳别:听/Wikimedia/Public Domain.