“When they were approaching Jerusalem”

Read the text: Mark 11:1-11.

When Jerusalem is involved, we are reminded of its fractured history. Its division. Its failure. We even see Jerusalem as a source of emotional (not just literal) pain for Jesus.

We are so taught to approach Holy Week with dread. That we might look past “Hosanna!” to see what is to come. We have borne our crosses through Lent and have arrived here.

Jerusalem.

But today, Hosanna rings and has yet to fade. We arrive at Jerusalem with a big crowd, rejoicing. A crowd, who, in Matthew’s version, are in the midst of a Jerusalem in which “the whole city was in turmoil”. A Jerusalem that will be as much a character in the drama as any other. A Jerusalem that will bear witness to the very Kingdom of God come to earth. The great shalom begins. Today, GOD is here.

[This is Part One of a series of Holy Week reflections. I will be using the gospel we call Mark, which accounts for each day.]