Easter erupted amid grief, pain and despair. The death of Jesus appeared to be the death of the campaign for the kingdom of God: the hoped-for realm of peace and justice. A people’s movement slaughtered with its leader. The votes…
A Holy Week choice between two parades
Some years ago, I led an adult formation (Baptists, read “Sunday school”) series for the good people of Calvary Episcopal in Bastrop, Texas, on The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem, a book…
‘Not of this world’: Jesus, Caesar and Holy Week
In Luke’s Gospel, the Jesus story begins with these words: “And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” The Gospel of John describes a…
Re-imagining Palm Sunday: Jesus – and Pilate – enter Jerusalem
Imagine that on Palm Sunday, both Jesus and Pilate, enter Jerusalem from the same gate. The tension created in this imaginary scene introduces us to the underlying tension of Holy Week. And we must decide which parade we will attend.
Arkansas plan to execute 7 men in 11 days strengthens faith, death penalty opposition
It was a Holy Week unlike any other for death-penalty opponents in Arkansas and the rest of the nation. It began with outrage over the state’s plan to begin executing seven men the day after Easter. It was filled with…