03-27-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 27, 2026
From where I am seated, I can see Holy Week. Actually, some of the Maundy Thursday Service is pulled up alongside where I am currently typing. So yes, I can see part of Holy Week. If this phrase is new to you, don’t worry. There is a wonderful tradition within Christianity, a way of teaching the story of Jesus, while also creating a rhythm to the Christian life. The week prior to Easter, to the story of resurrection, is a whole journey centered around the Jewish Passover Meal, a ritual that itself tells the story of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, and of course, God hearing their cries and liberating them. There is preparation that is required for the Passover Meal, and there was no DoorDash to bring you all the needed food and symbols. Finally, on Thursday of that week, as the meal was made ready in what is often called the Upper Room, but it might more accurately be called a guest room, Jesus celebrated Passover and then took the experience another step. Yet when you think about it, what becomes the Last Supper is not a dramatically different story from its original context. Jesus is a reminder of God’s faithfulness, and how God hears the cries of the people and responds. Jesus is that response as savior, redeemer, and liberator.  His story of love shifts the narrative in the same way the angel of death’s Passover changed Israel’s narrative. Both are stories of God finding victory when those who made the odds were betting against God. And though the Passover liberation is focused exclusively on Israel, Jesus takes the story and applies it to everyone.

Thank you, Holy One of Liberation and Transformation. You continue to find a way, even when the bookies are betting against you. Amen.